Do you guys think Old Man DiMeo was a front Boss, while Jackie, Junior and Feech LaManna really ran things? Or was he Boss in name and everything until his conviction in '95?

Points in favor of him being the real Boss
-Jackie speaks of him reverently.
-Ray Curto says the Old Man (as well as Jackie) envisioned Tony someday being Boss.
-Tony says the Old Man would've wanted Ray Curto to be Boss
-Tony B. remarks, upon coming back from Prison, saying how weird it is seeing his cousin "on the old man's chair"

Points in favor of him being the front Boss
-While Jackie is referred to as the Acting Boss, none of the Bosses after Jackie refer to DiMeo in any way after.
-There is no honoring of Old Man DiMeo in Jersey the way the guys in NY honor past Bosses (the portraits of Carmine and Johnny on the wall in the bar)
-Tony says in the finale episode to Junior that he and Johnny Boy "ran North Jersey."

So as such Old Man DiMeo has always been a mystery. Was he an old mustache ala Vito Corleone who simply gave his Capos a long leash? In a way due to Vito's leadership, Tessio and Clemenza were basically semi-autonomous Capos, almost mini-Bosses. Was perhaps DiMeo the same? Or was he actually a feared and respected Boss, but seen as being an irrelevant and senile old fuck by Tony due to generational differences and Tony's disdain for authority?

I find him the biggest mystery of all the Sopranos' characters.

Good Topic. Like you said not much was given about him. But i think he dealt with legal issues for years so his capos had a longer leash. Also in regards to Tony we know he had jealousy issues with old school gangsters like feech, phil,richie,and even junior so im not surprised if there was contempt for dimeo

There was so little about him throughout the show that it could be anyone's guess. I think the writers just added a boss in prison to give the show authenticity. After all, just before the show premiered, Jersey really did have a boss doing life in prison, and a street boss dying of cancer, similar to Jackie Aprile. Some of the characters and stories in season 1 were based on the real life DeCavs.

At some point they would have to account for Jackie being such a young boss so they created this "imprisoned boss" for some back story.

We never saw his picture, wife, kids, brothers, nada. It would have been good to have had Junior and Tony go see him after Jackie died.

It could have made for some great story lines. Maybe DiMeo trying to hold onto power and running things from the inside and the guys out on the street resisting.

Instead we got story's about Meadow's Puerto Rican or black boyfriends and her fat roommate pulling her hair out.

Gotta appease the female demographic (in the most dumbed-down way possible).

In the real Jersey mob just before this show premiered, Jersey had a boss in prison, a street boss dying of cancer, and a feud that ensued between people who wanted to take over as street boss. The Sopranos patterned the DiMeo Crime Family after the DeCavalcante Family in season 1. By season 2, most of the mob story lines were fictional, or based on stand alone events.

The ‘Old Man’ was the boss. While he was fighting indictments, Dimeo installed Jackie as the street boss. This instability within the brugad was the main reason for the sit down between Jackie Aprile and Junior Soprano. A power vacuum was created and Junior felt after so many years of fealty that he should rightfully ascend the throne.