The Sopranos: Chris Albrecht's Fear and David Chase's Blunt Reply
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HBO had already taken a gamble on The Sopranos, picking it up after every network rejected it. Its CEO, Chris Albrecht, still blanched when showrunner David Chase wanted Tony Soprano to garrotte Febby, fearing viewers would not root for a protagonist who strangled a man in cold blood.
Chase's reply was blunt: if Tony did not do it, the character would be full of shit, and therefore so would the show. He got his way, and viewers loved it.
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Albrecht's worry is the classic note to protect the lead's likability. The better argument is Chase's: a protagonist who refuses the ugly job when the story demands it stops being believable.
But “viewers loved it” only establishes what this audience accepted in this case. It does not make Chase's rule a general law about antiheroes.