Producers of The Sopranos had to digitally remove the World Trade Center towers from the show's iconic opening credits following the tragedy of nine-eleven.

A closer look

Producers of The Sopranos had to digitally remove the World Trade Center towers from the show's iconic opening credits following the tragedy of nine-eleven. For the first three seasons, Tony Soprano's drive from New York to New Jersey featured a quick glimpse of the Twin Towers in the rearview mirror, perfectly establishing his geographical and psychological domain. Removing them was a subtle but necessary edit to avoid traumatizing viewers every Sunday night while they were trying to enjoy a show about a depressed mob boss eating copious amounts of gabagool. It is one of those tiny pop culture shifts that perfectly encapsulates how completely the world changed, casually altering a beloved television intro because reality had become far too grim for premium cable. Now, binge-watching the early seasons feels like a bizarre time capsule, reminding you that before everything went completely off the rails, the biggest problem on television was just a mobster dealing with his incredibly toxic mother