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This is fresh air.
I'm tv critic David Biancouli.
25 years ago, in January 1999, HBO premiered a new drama series called the Sopranos, created by David Chase and starring James Gandolfini as New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano.
It had a major impact on television viewers and tv history from start to finish, especially that infamous finish on the show's silver anniversary.
HBO looks back with a new documentary on the Sopranos and the people who collaborated to make it.
We'll look back too, revisiting some of our archival fresh air interviews from some of the artists who worked on the series.
But first, let's start with my review of the new HBO documentary.
Director Alex Gibney's two part documentary, presented this weekend on HBO and then streaming on Max, is called wise David Chase and the Sopranos.
It's new to television, but already premiered in June at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In Gibney's long career, he's done deep dive documentaries on everything from Enron and Scientology to Robin Williams and Pornhub.
Last year, he directed an outstanding two part documentary called In Restless the music of Paul Simon.
And now Gibney directs another inventively framed two parter, one that also aims to examine the life and process of a creative artist.
David Chase, this profile establishes quickly, was turned on by movies.
Fellini's 8.5 was the first lightning bolt, followed by films by Polanski, Goddard and others.
Chase's dream was to write and direct for the big screen, but he ended up working in television instead.
Gibney speeds through the apprenticeship phase of Chase's career much too quickly.