20 things you (probably) didn't know about The Sopranos

6 seasons, 86 episodes, and arguably the greatest television series of all time, The Sopranos was a cultural phenomenon, dominating the start of the new millennium. And now there is a prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark to watch!

This got us thinking about the original series. We all imagined ourselves as Tony, heading up our own crime family - and no doubt were busy taking notes throughout.

However, we'd be very impressed if you knew any of these little-known facts below. If you do know them - maybe you should crack on with building that mob empire sooner rather than later...

1. A real-life New Jersey sports shop was portrayed as going out of business in one episode - so many people thought that this was really the case that the owners had to place adverts to assure their customers that they were still open for business.

2. In a similar case, a race track used in Season 5 - the Riverhead Raceway in Long Island - was portrayed as being sold to a new firm. The actual owners were inundated with so many people asking if they had, in fact, sold up, that they were forced to erect a sign to clarify the matter.

3. Federico Castelluccio, who plays Furio Giunta) was an extra in Crocodile Dundee II.

4. Denise Borino and Steven R. Schirripa both wear body armour to make them appropriately fat.

5. A story about Feech La Manna murdering a New Jersey man for refusing to vacate his favourite seat in a bar was based on a real-life incident involving Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo - a former Philadelphia crime boss.

6. Most background scenes in The Sopranos feature a payphone and a character with a shopping bag in the background.

7. Meadow’s soccer coach, Don Hauser, comes back as a FBI agent in season 3.

8. The Coalition of Italian-American Associations issued a join statement in 2000 condemning The Sopranos for perpetuating negative Italian-American stereotypes.

9. The high-pitched squealing sound heard in the background of some outdoor scenes is the noise made by the No. 7 train going around a sharp turn, one block away from the studio in Queens where many scenes are filmed.

10. Tony makes a series of contradictory statements about The Godfather. AJ mentions that Tony says that the scene where Michael kills his father's assassins in The Godfather is his favourite scene of all time. Yet Carmela says that Tony's favourite scene in The Godfather Trilogy is when Vito goes back to Sicily in the second film. Yet, Tony also says that his favourite scene in this film is when young Don Vito kills Don Francesco in Italy.

11. In season two, when Spoons Parisi is supposedly at Newark International Airport, he is in fact Teterboro Airport - located around 10 miles north.

12. Tony Sirico, who plays Paulie Walnuts has been killed 17 times in the various movies he's starred in.

13. Senator Zellman's office interior is in a high rise building in Newark, whereas its exterior is a 3 story building located in Jersey City, New Jersey.

14. Ralph's 'secret ingredient' for scrambled eggs is sour cream.

15. In season 6, a rabbit is shown eating Artie's lettuce - the specific type is an Arugula lettuce, and the seeds for it were brought over from Italy.

16. Joseph R. Gannascoli plays Gino in Season 1, and then returns as Vito Spatafore in Season 3.

17. Svetlana wears a boot bearing the name of designer Kenneth Cole on her prosthetic leg when Janice decides to make it disappear.

18. The chain-link fence in the front yard of Livia's house is a prop - the actual house is not fenced in.

19. The house used for external shots of the Sopranos house is located at 14 Aspen Drive in North Caldwell )their address in the show is 633 Stag Trail Road, North Caldwell, New Jersey).

20. Jamie-Lynn Sigler was credited at such in Seasons 1-4, then became Jamie-Lynn DiScala in Season 5, before reverting back to her maiden name in Season 6 after her marriage only lasted 2 years.

• These are the best Sopranos episodes, ranked.