ok, as i stated in a previous post, i've been re-watching the seasons of the sopranos and have noticed the big difference made by the passing of nancy marchment(sp). she was the perfect foil to tony's character, and was a delight to see on screen. i read somewhere that the series was originally supposed to end with the death of livia, but unfortunatly poor nancy died before shooting began on the third season, therefore, in my opinion, the old arc for the sopranos needed to be changed and revised. now i definatly think that the sopranos best seasons are the ones with livia...i would like to know if everyone agrees? and what do you guys think might have been different if nancy had lived? do you think she would have testified against tony?

I think the series went through its best Season when Nancy left. I thought Season 3 was vintage Sopranos and due to her enormously little screen time in Season 2, its was expected, she was being phased out. I think the whole plotline of her testifying is dumb on principal.

The first time around I really didn't like her character at all, but after I watched it the second time I found her character very humorous. She grew on me after the second time I had watched it. Season 1 is my favorite season, and the second time around I found more enjoyment in it with her.

they weren't phasing her out, she had cancer and wasn't able to be in as many episodes because of the treatments...she was supposed to stay until the very end...

I do personally enjoy Season 1 the most, but not specifically because of her. Although she adds to it, I dont feel like season 1 is better than the others because it has her. Season 3 is my 2nd favorite, where she isnt in it at all. But I do like her character, and Im sort of glad they didnt use the storyline where she testifies.