La Piovra is a highly regarded Italian TV drama miniseries centered around the Mafia. The narrative was crafted by Sandro Petraglia, with Luigi Perelli overseeing the production design. The series’ music was initially composed by Riz Ortolani, with Ennio Morricone later taking over to score several sequels.

All ten seasons have been made available on DVD in Australia by Aztec International Entertainment, complete with English subtitles, after originally being broadcast on the Special Broadcasting Service channel. In the United States, it aired on MHz Networks, while the first three seasons were shown in the UK on Channel 4.

The series achieved immense popularity in the USSR, where it was broadcast on state television in 1986, and in Bulgaria, where it aired in the late 1980s under the title bg:Октопод, captivating audiences with its intense and dark narrative from beyond the Iron Curtain. In 1987–1988, La Piovra was also shown in communist Albania, where it became a massive success and continues to be a cult classic, with its characters and phrases deeply influencing the culture, language, and society.