The Sopranos: The Complete First Season: Disc 1

Released 1999
Starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco, Nancy Marchand, Dominic Chianese, Michael Imperioli, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, Vincent Pastore, Aida Turturro, Drea de Matteo, David Proval
Directed by David Chase

Please note that this is volume 1 of a 4 disc set. For the full season, please rent discs 2, 3 and 4.

Meet Tony Soprano: your average, middle-aged businessman. Tony's got a dutiful wife. A not-so-dutiful daughter. A son named Anthony Jr. A mother he's trying to coax into a retirement home. A hot-headed uncle. A not-too-secret mistress. And a shrink to tell all his secrets, except the one she already knows: Tony's a mob boss. These days, it's getting tougher and tougher to make a killing in the killing business. Just because you're "made"--doesn't mean you've got it made.

Episode 1: The Pilot
Tony Soprano tries to be a good family man on two fronts -- to his wife, kids and widowed mother -- and as a capo in the New Jersey mob.

Episode 2: 46 Long
Hot-headed Chris, and his even hotter-headed friend, Brendan Filone, wanted to make some extra cash, so they started highjacking trucks.

Episode 3: Denial, Anger, Acceptance
Although Christopher and Brendan returned the stolen goods to Comley Trucking like he demanded, Comley thanked Tony for it, not Junior. Now Mikey Palmice is telling him that if Tony won't do something about those two guys, somebody else should -- and Junior's starting to agree with him.

Episode 4: Meadowlands
Tony called in Vin Makazian - a police detective with a gambling habit - to get information on Jennifer Melfi, but didn't tell him why. So Makazian, assuming Melfi was one of Tony's goomahs, did Tony a "favor" by beating up a guy she's was on a date with.

Summary by www.netflix.com

HBO makes great television. Look at their track record of "It's Garry Shandling's Show," "Dream On," "Brothers" (at the time), "The Larry Sanders Show," and "From Here to the Moon." "The Sopranos" is one of their best. It balances crime with family and the responsibilities of a man in charge of both. --Bill Alward, December 20, 2001