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The Sopranos dominated awards shows from its onset--not through extortion like its mobsters did on the show, but because of its spectacular drama. At its first Emmys in 1999, the drama was nominated for five major awards, and won one.

The nominations included Outstanding Lead Actress for Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco, Outstanding Lead Actor for James Gandolfini, and last but not least: the big shebang, Outstanding Drama Series.

VIDEO: Emmy Flashback: Julia Louis-Dreyfus '96

Falco, who played the wife of mob boss "Tony Soprano," went on to win The Soprano's first award, which proved to be the only Emmy for the show that year. After receiving the award, Falco received a special message from then-Mayor-of-New-York-City, Rudy Giuliani.

"[I'm] absolutely bewildered, I must say," Falco says in the featured video flashback. "This whole experience is so surreal, truly, and doubled with the fact that I haven't eaten--I wasn't kidding (in her acceptance speech)--there's no way to digest all of this. It's very off-the-beaten-track from the rest of my life."

VIDEO: Emmy Flashback: Meryl Streep '04

While she may have been caught off-guard for her first Emmy, the Brooklyn native learned the drill, as she would be nominated for an Emmy on five more occasions for Sopranos, and would take home the same award twice more.

Although The Sopranos ended in 2007, Falco has earned Emmy acclaim once again for her comedy Nurse Jackie, for which she won the Outstanding Lead Actress award in 2010 and is once again nominated this year.