When The Sopranos debuted in 1999, the series moved the cultural needle in innumerable ways — not least with its depiction of a hypermasculine man in a therapist’s office.

Over six seasons, the series featured eponymous mobster Tony Soprano’s regular visits with Dr. Jennifer Melfi — a subplot so socially impactful that actress Lorraine Bracco was once honored by the American Psychoanalytical Association.

In the decades since the HBO series challenged white men’s historical aversion to the therapist’s couch, men of color have remained largely absent from that needle-shift. Shows like Atlanta and This Is Us are among the few hits in the past quarter century in which a man of color visited a therapist.

When The Sopranos debuted in 1999, the series moved the cultural needle in innum

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