A closer look
HBO executives originally wanted the opening sequence of The Sopranos to feature a different song for every single episode instead of the iconic track by Alabama 3. Creator David Chase fought tooth and nail to keep Woke Up This Morning as the permanent theme, arguing that viewers needed a familiar anchor to ground them in the mob boss's commute from New York to New Jersey. If the network suits had won that argument, we would have been subjected to an eighty-six episode mixtape of random late-nineties alternative rock, completely ruining the moody atmosphere of television's greatest drama. It is a sobering reminder that executives have absolutely terrible instincts and will actively try to sabotage their own masterpieces just to feel like they contributed something
