Catching Up With My Fave TV Family: The Sopranos

When "The Sopranos" premiered in January 1999 on HBO, I was living and working in Reno, Nevada. New to the big sandbox, I took up watching HBO after work. This show started off weak, in my opinion, but that quickly changed for me. I fell in love with it after watching four episodes and I've been hooked ever since.

I loved everybody from Big Puss to Paulie Walnuts. Watcing this show and the movie "Goodfellas" taught me that Italians and Hispanics have much in common -- except that Mafia thing. LOL Our language is very similar, we are die-hard Catholics and family is the strongest link. Our men think and act alike as do our women. They're strong, loyal and long suffering at times. Anyway, read on about what the actors have been up to since the show ended.

"The relatively unknown cast was immediately hailed by critics and the series deemed groundbreaking. By the millions, fans became obsessed with the gritty and volatile characters of this Jersey crime family. The cast had struck TV gold. Now that it's over, the "Sopranos" street cred lives on, boosting its actors' careers in every realm, including film, TV and fashion. Take a look at what your favorite family members have been up to since the series' infamous sign-off in 2007. "
James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano)Playing the role of mercurial patriarch Tony Soprano made him a household name. Watching Tony struggle to balance the role of husband and father with heading up the DiMeo crime family was a central focus of the series from the first episode, when he suffers a panic attack and begins to seek therapy from Dr. Jennifer Melfi. After eight years on "The Sopranos," Gandolfini is now a Hollywood heavyweight — he’s appearing in "God of Carnage" on Broadway and has a ton of films in the works, including an update of "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" and a voice role in the much-anticipated "Where the Wild Things Are," both due out later this year. The actor calls New York home and is frequently spotted playing the part of doting dad to son Michael near their home in Greenwich Village.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano)In her eight years as Tony and Carmela's oldest child Meadow Soprano, Jamie-Lynn Sigler took the character from brooding teenager to accomplished college grad. Aware of the family profession but choosing to rise above, Meadow's main source of drama was her tumultuous series of relationships, some squelched by her protective, prejudiced dad. The 27-year-old continues to nurture a film career, co-starring in indie-flick "Son of Mourning" with her old "Sopranos" pal Lorraine ­Bracco last year. Sigler also launched a jewelry line called CJ Free and is rumored to be dating "Entourage's" Jerry ­Ferrara.

Robert Iler (A.J. Soprano)Iler's character, younger son A.J., wasn't slated for mob life like his father. But he got into plenty of trouble just the same, from flunking out of college to chronic unemployment to a suicide attempt. Iler had a wild-child incident in his personal life as well when was arrested as an accomplice in a mugging in 2001. His co-stars voiced their support during that tough time, with series creator David Chase saying, "Robert is a really great kid. I'd be proud to have him as my son." Iler has turned over a new leaf these days. In January, the ­ex-Soprano ventured back into television when he guest-starred as a murder suspect on two episodes of "Law and ­Order." The native New Yorker ­escaped ­tragedy last year when a crane near his upper East Side ­apartment building collapsed, ­killing ­seven and injuring many others. The 24-year-old ­reportedly rushed to help ­victims on his block.

Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts)Peter Paul Gualtieri, aka Paulie Walnuts, was Tony's underboss and right-hand man, with a colorful past that lent humor to the sometimes somber series. The Brooklyn-born Sirico, who is of Sicilian descent, seemed ready-made for the role - he already had a string of gangster credits to his name including the films "Goodfellas," "Gotti" and "Mickey Blue Eyes." The 66-year-old also stars in the 2009 ­family film "­Karma Calling." He launched his own cologne, Paolo per Uomo (named ­after his "Sopranos" character), in ­November

Lorraine Bracco also starred in "Goodfellas" another favorite of mine! I loved her role on "Sopranos" as the Therapist of Tony Soprano. I felt "abandoned" strangley when she dropped Tony as a client. I felt like she allowed professional and personal influences guilt and embarass her into dropping him although she knew he still needed her services.

Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer Melfi)As Tony's therapist and confidante, Bracco's character, Dr. Melfi, may have been the one who understood him best - and their ongoing flirtation kept fans wondering if their relationship would ever stray beyond the professional. Bracco, a native of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, received numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her work on the show.

Steve Van Zandt gets two gold stars in my book. Not only does he play for one of the best musicians in the world (Bruce 'the boss' Springsteen), but he was one of my favorite sub characters on "Sopranos" playing consigliere Silvio Dante.

Van Zandt's character was Tony's loyal, sometimes ruthless consigliere - and, equally important, the owner of their favorite hangout, the Bada Bing strip club. Van Zandt was handpicked for the role of Silvio by series creator David Chase, even though he had no acting experience at the time. It must have helped that Van Zandt has New Jersey cred to match his character's - he's resided there since he was a child. It's no surprise Van ­Zandt went right back to music after the series finale. The guitarist performed alongside Springsteen at the ­Super Bowl halftime show in February and will play at England's Glastonbury Music Festival in June. But fans of Silvio Dante can still get their fix of fuhgeddaboudits by listening in on his satellite ­radio show, "Little Steven's Underground Garage.

Michael "the nose" Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti). I never really liked Christopher. He came off like a weak, spoiled, sniveling punk. He treated Adriana (Drea De Mateo) like dirt and was more jealous of his Uncle Tony than he needed to be. His death was long-coming if you ask me. He had been messing up for years and Tony finally got tired.

Imperioli's character evolved over time from Tony's driver to an official made man, with plenty of personal drama along the way. His film career is also picking up: Later this year, expect to see the 42-year-old alongside Mark Wahlberg and ­Rachel Weisz in the big-screen drama "The Lovely Bones," playing a detective

I liked Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano) when she was on HBO's "Oz." She played a prison guard/single mother who got caught up with one of the inmates and that brought her a lot of drama and led to her departure. Not long after that, she surfaced as Carmela Soprano Tony's long suffering yet loyal wife. Carmela put up with a lot over the years, from her hubby's frequent absences, to his infidelity, to, you know, that mafia thing. Devout Catholic, protective mother, loving wife that she was, she struggled with leaving Tony Soprano, but stayed true to her Catholic roots in the end. - with just the right mixture of strength and vulnerability. After a stint as a frisky congresswoman on NBC's "30 Rock" in 2007, the ex-­Carmela ­Soprano, 45, stars in "Nurse ­Jackie," a New York-based dark comedy that premieres on Showtime in June. In her personal life, Falco decided early last year to adopt a baby girl, Macy, who joins her 3-year-old son, Anderson.