Chase Reveals Sopranos Origin, Previews MKUltra Series
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- David Chase created The Sopranos after every US network rejected the script; HBO offered him only two notes during the show's run, both of which he ignored (one about the title, one about the "College" episode where Tony murders an informant in cold blood).
- David Chase, now 80, based the Sopranos premise on his relationship with his mother, who in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War told him: "I'd rather see you dead than avoid the draft."
- David Chase delivered James Gandolfini's eulogy after the actor died in 2013 at 51, though Chase credited line manager Ilene Landress with handling Gandolfini's on-set disappearances and downplayed them compared to the dysfunction he witnessed on Northern Exposure.
- HBO passed on Chase's long-gestating passion project "A Ribbon of Dreams" about early cinema, insisting on shooting in western Canada — a decision Chase called deeply disappointing, saying "I don't even want to go into this."
- David Chase is developing a limited series about the CIA's MKUltra program, focusing on scientists Sidney Gottlieb and Jolly West, with the show exploring what Chase calls LSD's "spiritual side," from its origins in a rye fungus to its weaponization.
- The HBO Max UK launch in London featured Lisa Kudrow, Noah Wyle, and Steve Carell, with the piece positioning Chase as the singular figure who turned HBO from "a little-seen backwater" into the standard-bearer for prestige television.
Why it matters: David Chase is returning to television writing for the first time in 19 years with a limited series about the CIA's MKUltra program — a project he describes with rare enthusiasm, in stark contrast to the shelved A Ribbon of Dreams, which HBO killed over a filming location dispute. His candid, fresh-on-the-record reflections on James Gandolfini's on-set struggles — handled by line manager Ilene Landress rather than Chase himself — add new texture to one of television's most studied productions.
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