The Sopranos - The Complete First Season (2000, VHS)

Pity poor Tony. Despite a career in what he coyly terms "Waste Management Consulting," his life is rapidly going to hell. Enough to where he's going to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). And that's the problem -- if anyone he knows finds out, he could get wacked.

HBO put together this wicked, wild tale of Mafia shenanigans in 1999 and it's been a hit with viewers ever since. With John Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, it's the exploration of a man with a violent temper, questionable morality, and yet -- and yet you like him. We can all see in ourselves a little of Tony Soprano, as he copes with his marriage to Carmela (Edie Falco), and his two teenage kids, Meadow and Anthony Junior; coping with his friends and gang, Big P*ssy, Chris, and Jimmy and let's not forget the very difficult relationship with his 'boss,' Uncle Junior. And then there's Livia (the late Nancy Marchand), the mother from Hell. It was this last relationship that really got to me, this rising tide of rage and anger that Tony feels towards his rapidly going senile mother, who's one of the most vile creatures I've ever encountered in film.

In a set of four DVD discs, we get the entire first season here, in more than eleven and a half hours of prime time fun. Each disc has four episodes on it as follows:

Disc One:
The Sopranos Our introduction to the vivid Soprano family, from Tony (James Gandolfini), his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), and two kids, Meadow and Anthony Jr. There's also the mother from hell, Livia (Nancy Marchand), Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) and the rest of the crew.

46 Long Two of Tony's soldiers, Chris (Michael Imperioli) and Brendan decide to go highjack one of Uncle Junior's trucks full of Italian suits. This isn't a particularly good idea. Especially when the driver turns up dead, and it's Tony that has to make it up to Uncle Junior.

Anger, Denial, Acceptance When Tony helps out a friend of a friend, we get to see just how bad it can be tangling with the Hasidic Jews. There's a terrific sight gag when the father of a woman trying to get a divorce comes to meet with Tony in front of the pork market.

Meadowlands For Tony, things are going from bad to worse, as his friend, the underboss passes away from cancer, and he's certain that Uncle Junior is planning to kill him. Not only that, but he's facing trouble from Chris, and continues to have Dr. Melfi followed.

Disc Two:

College Tony is schlepping his daughter Meadow in search of an appropriate college experience. Whilst in the middle of this bonding experience, Tony runs into an old 'friend' turned government snitch and decides to even the score. Unfortunately, his daughter is around. Decisions, decisions...

Pax Soprana With the death of the Jersey boss, Jackie, the rivalry between Junior and Tony gets ratcheted up several notches and there?s trouble ahead. Turns out that Junior isn't honoring some deals and not letting some of the money trickle down to the guys below. This is creating some tension and that?s the last thing Tony needs right now.

Down Neck There's also trouble with Anthony Jr as he starts to show normal teenage behavior - such as showing up drunk for gym class, which leads to a trip down memory lane for Tony, as he remembers his father and the very strange relationship that he had with his mother. Things are starting to heat up as the FBI begins to look a bit closer at the family, and there's a sudden urge to move the stash at home somewhere else. Like Livia's closet.

The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti Armed with a computer, Chris embarks on his project of writing a screenplay ? based on the mob, of course. He's also getting frustrated with not being 'made' yet, and it's driving him nuts. Along with his girlfriend, Adriana (Drea de Matteo).

Disc Three:

Boca Deciding to take it easy for a while, Uncle Junior decides to take a little vacation in Boca Raton with his girlfriend. But as we discover, he doesn?t have it any easier when it turns out that his girlfriend has a big mouth. When she blabs about something very personal about Junior, he finds out that he's a laughing stock of the gang. Pity that Junior doesn't have a sense of humor ...

A Hit is a Hit Young Chris decides to support his girlfriend, Adriana's, venture into the music business after falling in with a big time gangsta rap singer and learning first hand just how crazy the music world is.

Nobody Knows Anything Seems someone in the family is wired for sound, courtesy of the Feds, and Tony is just itching to find out who it is. Problem is, it could be one of his best friends.

Isabella Tony's in desparate straits after the disappearance of his friend, Big P*ssy. Now he's stuck in bed, gobbling down lithium and prozac, and everyone's worried. Not to mention a bungled hit on Tony. Nothing can lift your spirits like a messed up assassination. And then there's Isabella, which makes Tony's heart beat a little faster...

Disc Four:

I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano Everything is coming to a head here, as Tony notes pithily "C*********s and psychiatry brought us to this." Bodies are dropping everywhere, the indictments from the Feds are flying about like a blizzard in Upstate NY, and Livia, the darling, has been following her own agenda. Which in turn, leads Tony to face some hard truths about himself and how he feels about the people around him...

The rest of disc four contains background featurettes and trivia about the series that isn't included in the VHS version. There?s also an alternate audio commentary by series creator David Chase and director Peter Bogdanovich.

This isn't a series for those of you with high moral standards, a weak stomach or you get offended by certain four letter words in the English language. But it's also a bitterly funny series, and it gives some insight into human character.

What I discovered that I like most of all about this is Tony Soprano himself. Seems he's been having a bit of a moral crisis himself, and despite his urge to maim and hurt, he?s got a soul after all, and it's this transformation that kept me watching the later episodes. It's a pity that this one keeps getting skipped over in the awards shows, because it really is a knockout in terms of pacing, direction and editing, not to mention the feeling that it's honest. It might be a parody of the mob in some respects, but compared to a lot of the tripe out there now, it's a great series.

Me, I'm going to try and get my hands on a copy for my video collection and reserve the second season at my local library.