The Sopranos finale gave television audiences a moment that might feel completely different in the streaming era. For Throwback Thursday, revisit 2007, when a television screen going black could send viewers wondering whether the problem was their cable connection or something else entirely.
Ryan O’Donnell considers it one of television’s greatest endings. But what made that final scene so controversial, and why are people still debating what happened to Tony Soprano nearly twenty years later? Even the music from that moment has an extraordinary story attached to it.
Meanwhile, 2007 brought the first iPhone, Netflix streaming and a changing relationship with technology. Yet answering machines, fax machines and old-fashioned routines remained part of everyday life. Was this really the year we crossed from analog to digital?
Topics: The Sopranos finale, 2007 nostalgia, cable television, Netflix streaming, analog technology
Originally aired on2026-11-05
