How many Emmys did The Sopranos win?
The Sopranos won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards from 111 nominations over its six seasons, which aired on HBO from 1999 to 2007 [1]. It was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in every year it was eligible, seven in all, and won it twice, in 2004 and 2007. The 2004 win made it the first series on a cable network to take the top drama award [1].
The show won at least one Emmy for every season, as the dashboard by Andras Johancsik shows. Here is how the nominations and wins fall by season, with the Emmy ceremony each season competed at and the main awards it won [1][2]:
| Season (aired) | Emmy ceremony | Nominations | Wins | Main wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1999) | 1999 | 16 | 4 | Lead Actress (Edie Falco), Writing (“College”), Casting, Picture Editing |
| 2 (2000) | 2000 | 18 | 1 | Lead Actor (James Gandolfini) |
| 3 (2001) | 2001 | 22 | 4 | Lead Actor (Gandolfini), Lead Actress (Falco), Writing (“Employee of the Month”), Makeup |
| 4 (2002) | 2003 | 13 | 4 | Lead Actor (Gandolfini), Lead Actress (Falco), Supporting Actor (Joe Pantoliano), Writing (“Whitecaps”) |
| 5 (2004) | 2004 | 20 | 4 | Drama Series, Supporting Actor (Michael Imperioli), Supporting Actress (Drea de Matteo), Writing (“Long Term Parking”) |
| 6 (2006 to 2007) | 2006 and 2007 | 22 | 4 | Writing (“Members Only”), Drama Series, Directing (“Kennedy and Heidi”), Writing (“Made in America”) |
| Total | 111 | 21 |
The per-season figures on the infographic add up to the totals in the Wikipedia list of the show’s awards, and the wins by ceremony match it exactly [1][2]. Season 4 aired in late 2002, so it competed at the 2003 Emmys, and the show was not eligible in 2002 or 2005 because of the long breaks between seasons [1].
The Sopranos Emmy winners
James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, who played Tony and Carmela Soprano, won three Emmys each in the lead acting categories. Gandolfini won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2000, 2001 and 2003, and Falco won Outstanding Lead Actress in 1999, 2001 and 2003 [1]. Three supporting actors also won: Joe Pantoliano (Ralph Cifaretto) in 2003, and Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Drea de Matteo (Adriana La Cerva) in 2004 [1].
The writing was the show’s most consistent winner. The Sopranos won Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series six times, every year it competed except 2000, with creator David Chase sharing or winning it three times and Terence Winter, who later created Boardwalk Empire, twice [1]. Alan Taylor won Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2007 [1].
Other Sopranos awards
Beyond the Emmys, The Sopranos won 91 awards from 308 nominations across all award bodies, by Wikipedia’s count [1]. The main ones are:
- Golden Globes. Five wins from 23 nominations, including Best Television Series, Drama, for its first season in 2000, the same year Gandolfini, Falco and Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) won acting Globes. Falco won again in 2003 [1].
- Peabody Awards. Two, in 2000 and 2001 [1].
- Screen Actors Guild Awards. Eight wins from 26 nominations, including the award for best drama ensemble in 2000 and again in 2008 for the final season [1].
- Writers Guild of America Awards. Four wins from 11 nominations, including best dramatic series in 2007 [1].
- Directors Guild and Producers Guild. Two Directors Guild awards and three Producers Guild awards [1].
In 2013 the Writers Guild of America named The Sopranos the best-written television series of all time, and TV Guide ranked it the greatest show of all time in the same year [3].
The Sopranos ratings
The Sopranos was a hit with critics and audiences. It has an overall score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and 94 out of 100 on Metacritic [3]. On IMDb its episode ratings, as shown on the infographic, range from 7.8 at their lowest, in seasons 1 and 4, to 9.7 at their highest, in seasons 3 and 5, and the series as a whole was rated about 9.2 when the dashboard was made [2].
Viewing figures grew sharply after the first season, even though HBO was a pay channel in far fewer homes than the main networks [3]. These are the US Nielsen averages for each season, in millions of viewers:
| Season | Aired | Average viewers (millions) | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January to April 1999 | 3.46 | 98% |
| 2 | January to April 2000 | 6.62 | 94% |
| 3 | March to May 2001 | 8.87 | 100% |
| 4 | September to December 2002 | 10.99 | 92% |
| 5 | March to June 2004 | 9.80 | 93% |
| 6, part 1 | March to June 2006 | 8.60 | 89% |
| 6, part 2 | April to June 2007 | 8.23 | 84% |
Source: Wikipedia, from Nielsen and Rotten Tomatoes [3]. Season 4 was the most watched, and its premiere drew 13.43 million viewers, more than any other season premiere or finale. The final episode, “Made in America”, drew 11.9 million [3]. Nielsen figures before 2004 are not entirely accurate, because they included viewers watching other HBO channels at the same time [3].
Why The Sopranos changed television
The Sopranos is widely credited with starting the period critics call the second Golden Age of Television, when serialised, film-quality dramas became the most talked-about shows on TV [3]. Its central character, a mob boss in therapy, was not the first anti-hero on television, but as the infographic notes, the show set the stage for anti-hero dramas such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Game of Thrones [2]. Several of the show’s writers went on to run major series of their own, including Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) and Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) [3].
The infographic makes the same point with data on 1,936 US drama series from 1983 to 2023. Only 71 of them won an Emmy for every season they ran, and most of those 71 had an anti-hero at their centre [2]. Johancsik’s dashboard is interactive on Tableau Public, where you can hover over each nomination to see who was recognised [2].
Questions about The Sopranos awards
Did The Sopranos get an Emmy?
Yes, 21 of them, from 111 nominations. It won Outstanding Drama Series in 2004 and 2007, the first cable series to win the award [1].
How many Emmys did James Gandolfini win for The Sopranos?
Three, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2000, 2001 and 2003. He was also nominated in 1999, 2004 and 2007 [1].
How many Golden Globes did The Sopranos win?
Five, from 23 nominations: Best Drama Series in 2000, Gandolfini in 2000, Falco in 2000 and 2003, and Nancy Marchand in 2000 [1].
What is the best season of The Sopranos?
There is no single answer, but season 3 is the only one with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes [3]. On IMDb, seasons 3 and 5 contain the highest rated episodes, both at 9.7 [2]. Season 4 drew the biggest audiences [3].
What is The Sopranos rated on IMDb?
About 9.2 out of 10 for the series, according to the IMDb data behind the infographic, with individual episodes ranging from 7.8 to 9.7 [2].
Sources
- Wikipedia, List of awards and nominations received by The Sopranos.
- Andras Johancsik, #IronViz 2025, The Sopranos, Tableau Public. The original interactive dashboard, using IMDb data, made for Tableau’s 2025 Iron Viz contest.
- Wikipedia, The Sopranos (ratings, critical response and legacy).
Last reviewed 8 November 2026
