INTERACTIVE
Browse through our "surveillance photos" from the premiere of the new "Sopranos" season

January 7, 2000
Web posted at: 5:08 p.m. EST (2208 GMT)

(CNN) -- A year ago, not many people outside of HBO offices had heard of "The Sopranos." The darkly comic drama about anxiety-riddled mafia man Tony Soprano was ready to air its first episode of its first season.

"The Sopranos" was a gamble for HBO. At $2 million an episode, it was one of the most expensive series in television history. And its centerpiece, Tony Soprano (played by James Gandolfini), is not your typical hero. He's a complicated guy who uses deadly force to lay down family law, cheats on his wife, sees a psychiatrist, cries over ducks, hallucinates into existence a beautiful young Italian woman, and loves his two children like any normal suburban dad.

The show was created by David Chase, who was a writer-producer on TV hits like "The Rockford Files" and "Northern Exposure." But even he didn't have much hope for it.

"None of us on the show," says Chase, "ever thought it would do anything."

Television audiences disagreed. By summer, "The Sopranos" had racked up 16 Emmy nominations for cast and crew, including one for Gandolfini as best dramatic actor.

Now, the second full season of the show -- 13 episodes -- begins January 16, with much anticipation. An estimated 1,300 invited guests packed a recent New York premiere party for the show, including the stars.

Edie Falco plays Tony's wife Carmella

Everyone was talking about the show's main attraction.

"Tony Soprano is an everyday kind of guy, bringing up teen-agers, having a daughter, trying to get her into a good school," says Lorraine Bracco, who plays Soprano's psychiatrist. "God, half of America can deal with that."

"I think people can relate to a lot of these characters," says Edie Falco, who won a best dramatic actress Emmy for her role as Soprano's caustic, tender wife. "They say, 'Oh, I am sort of like that, and my kids go through stuff like that, and I had to deal with that.' And then Tony Soprano goes and kills somebody."

"Here's the don of the Mafia," says Jamie Lynn Sigler, who plays Soprano's in-the-know 16-year-old daughter. "He's supposed to be in charge of everything -- this big, tough guy -- and he's going to a psychiatrist, crying in her chair because he can't handle all this pressure."

Viewers have grown to enjoy a De Niro-esque relationship with Gandolfini's character. One moment, they love him. The next, they fear him. The next, they feel sorry for him.

Here's a mafia guy, in fact, who in the show's first season started taking Prozac, knocked off a few people, and fell for a flock of ducks that landed in his pool. When the ducks flew away, you'd have thought Tony Soprano would lose it, and no one wants to be around when Tony Soprano loses it.

Lorraine Bracco plays Tony's psychologist

Here's a mafia guy, as the show enters its second season, who just wants a little respect, but he's getting attacked from all flanks. His own mother, played with a disturbing mix of clarity and aloofness by Nancy Marchand, may have ordered a failed hit on her son. (Tony told the hit men fuggedaboutit, in no uncertain terms).

"You never heard me order a hit," Marchand tells CNN correspondent Bill Tush at the premier party. "No, no, no."

That remains to be seen -- it's just one plotline to be developed further this season. The cast, however, refused to sing when asked what the new episodes hold for viewers.

"They made us take an omerta," says Drea de Matteo, who plays the gum-snapping Adrianna. "You can't talk. It's confidential. That's it. Otherwise I get my head cut off."

"If I tell you I have to kill you. I can't tell you nothing," says Kathrine Narducci, loyal to her role as Charmaine Bucco.

"No way, nobody's going to snitch," says Marchand.

Well, somebody snitched. Reports in entertainment magazines reveal story lines to expect, including an episode guest-starring Janeane Garofalo and Sandra Bernhard, and another featuring a trip by Soprano and company to Napoli, where they meet the female crime boss.

Tony's sister, played by Aida Turturro, will make her debut in the series, as well.

"She's great," says Turturro. "She's a great character, and she's fun."

More fun, more violence, more anxiety -- it's all in store for viewers of "The Sopranos."

Correspondent Bill Tush and CNN.com Senior Writer Jamie Allen contributed to this report.