19 years later, NJ still can’t stop searching for The Sopranos

Nineteen years. That is how long it has been since "Don't Stop Believin'" cut to black and Tony Soprano's fate got left hanging in a diner booth forever. And according to new research, New Jersey still cannot stop thinking about him.

A study from BetMGM Casino analyzed search data tied to IMDb's most popular TV series, measuring search volume state by state to find each state's single most-searched show. In New Jersey, "The Sopranos" came out on top — beating out far newer, currently-airing series like "Stranger Things," "From," "Off Campus," and "Severance." A show that ended in June 2007 is still outsearching shows that are actively putting out new episodes right now. The study found "The Sopranos" ranks 54th among more than 2,800 tracked shows nationally for overall online popularity. Not bad for a show that has been off the air since before the iPhone existed.

I checked independent data this week too, and the pattern holds. As of July 16, "The Sopranos" is sitting at #47 among today's most popular TV shows tracked across streaming, Reddit, Wikipedia and torrent activity — up a spot from the day before. Its subreddit has more than 445,000 members. People are still visiting its Wikipedia page by the thousands every single day. This is not nostalgia. This is an active, living fandom.

Why this state, specifically

I don't think this is a mystery, honestly. "The Sopranos" was not set in New Jersey the way a lot of shows are vaguely "set" somewhere. It was New Jersey — the Turnpike opening credits, the diners, the strip malls, the very specific cadence of how people here actually talk to each other. David Chase built a show about a very particular kind of Jersey life, and this state has never stopped recognizing itself in it.

We still drive past Holsten's in Bloomfield and think about that booth. We still know exactly which stretch of the Turnpike Tony drove in the opening credits. The show gave the rest of the country its idea of what New Jersey sounds like and looks like, for better or worse, and nineteen years later, we are apparently still the ones searching for it the most.

The broader study also found something interesting about how people talk about TV now versus how they search for it. Looking at podcast mentions specifically, "Game of Thrones" came out on top nationally this year with nearly 6,900 mentions, overtaking "Stranger Things" in that particular measure. Different behavior, different result — people talk about "Thrones" out loud, apparently, while New Jersey quietly keeps Googling Tony Soprano.

SEE ALSO: You need to sit in Tony Soprano's booth at Holsten's — before everyone else does 

SEE THIS TOO: We went to the movies on a rainy weekend — and NJ was everywhere 

Holstens Bloomfield NJ | Google Maps

Nineteen years and still first

I have written before about the Jersey film and TV locations that keep drawing visitors — Holsten's, the Office Romance filming spots, the Four Seasons Season 2 locations down the Shore. "The Sopranos" started that whole tradition. It made this state a character worth searching for, long before streaming turned "filmed in New Jersey" into a marketing line other shows now chase.

Nineteen years after the cut to black, we are still the ones who can't stop searching. That tracks.