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Child Item

What was the fcuking big deal about the Sopranos?

Women without Makeup

Dare I say, how did it end up being considered the best show of all time by so many. Is it just that anything about mafia is always considered good tv? Do people pretend to like to look cool... like the way people pretend to think Brando was a good actor. I can't say I've watched the entire series from start to finish. And is it just a coincidence that anyone who likes it also likes 'The Wire'.

I get that there's the shock factor of the way they just murder some poor innocent fellow or the street and then laugh about. I mean that would grab anyone's attention, but it doesn't make it good drama. Especially when you always know who's going to get killed. When Christopher kicked the **** out of a fella in acting the acting class, I could see it coming a mile away.

I can a lot of people who know me well telling me "you'd definitely like it". All I think to myself is "you're so poor at understanding people if you don't if see that someone like me wouldn't be into that".

NOTE TO MODS - PLEASE REMOVE THAT POLL QUESTION. I DIDN'T PUT IT THERE

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Gwynplaine

The Mentalist is rubbish. Same format for every episode.

killbillvol2

Women without Makeup wrote: »

Yeah it just shows how stupid people are.

I'm not dumb enough to root for a murderer just because he cries when his tomatoes don't grow! Stupid Soprano fans

You really shouldn't sell yourself short. You're more than dumb enough.

AllForIt

To answer the OP question its because it was a 'real guys show'. In the same way soccer is considered the best sport cause it's a propper blokey sport and in the same way bands are considered the best kind of music because it's good blokey no nonsense stuff. All these things are totally untrue but that's the way blokey blokes think.

donegal_man

Like everything to do with art, tv, music it's a subjective opinion whether you 'like' something or not. For what it's worth I didn't like the Sopranos. I appreciate that it was technically well made and contributed to changing the language of drama but I just couldn't get into it.

Ken.

Let me tell you where I stand. Poll incoming

RobbingBandit

Supporting cast were excellent metaphor of family struggle of dominance and power both personal and professional Tonys secret appointments and his mental health issues Junior slowly succumbing to old age, Christopher (the kid Spider from Goodfellas) Tony trusting the wrong people out of traditions how many people he killed how many he didn't protecting his family both the deals he did and absolute improbable ties he made to continue as the capo, the show was very insightful.

PropJoe10

Sycamore Tree wrote: »

Serious question - is the Wire that good? I haven't seen and have no idea what it's about but I think it's on Netflix.
I need something new to get into.

The Wire is that good, and no, it's not on Netflix. It's the greatest television show ever, in my book, with Sopranos a close second. Breaking Bad is great, but nowhere near the level of the two I mentioned. Just my opinion.

dhaughton99

Paulie Walnuts.

RobbingBandit

dhaughton99 wrote: »

Paulie Walnuts.

Vinnie the dog in Family Guy

tritriagain

I tried to watch sopranos 2 or 3times and couldn't get into it. I watched breaking bad and loved it. Then tried to watch the wire and didn't like the 1st couple told me to watch first few with subtitled on to get the lingo. Did this and Wow what a series. Then went and watched sopranos and now if you asked me to pick between the wire and sopranos the answer could be different every day. 2 remarkable shows and i have yet to see better.

Billy86

I would consider the wire to be the best show ever on its own merits, but Sopranos literally changed tv in a way maybe never seen before or since. You would probably have to go back to whomever invented the laugh track to find something as influential. Almost every good drama of the last 15 years owes a lot to the show.

In a queue right now so I'll be brief, but it basically changed the story structure from being inherently inferior to movies to being inherently superior, by ending the need for 24 or 48 minute plots and replacing it with multiple overlapping arcs lasting dozens, even hundreds of hours that when done right bring a sense of realism and depth to the stories and characters that just simply is not possible to do in the 1.5-3 hours a movie lasts. Most top tv shows follow this formula now, but nobody was even really entertaining it before Tony visited Dr. Malfis office.

Remember the Russian that went missing in the woods? His shadow lingered over the 4 odd seasons after, constantly, despite almost never even being mentioned. That type of thing just wasn't really possible beforehand, due to episodic nature meaning the audience simply wouldn't even think about it.

Technically Oz beat them to it, but Oz was still fairly episodic and never got anywhere close to the appeal or influence of Sopranos.

Billy86

The high horse brigade wrote: »

The Sopranos was responsible for killing two shows that should've been let run to completion as both were amazing, Carnivale and Deadwood. The Sopranos was such a success HBO dropped both and added their budgets to the Sopranos bringing it up to close to $1 million per episode

I wonder if they learned from that as they stood by the wire a few years later despite it rein a complete money sink with iffy viewership... a move that paid off massively, somewhat ironically, after the show had ended.

RobbingBandit

The coma fantasy go into the light(heaven/afterlife/paradise) being a secluded joyful family get together with no fighting no family squabbling humanisation of Tony and his longing for approval from his mother but the unwillingness to cross over seeing the flashes of light calling him back to reality and his unfinished business was so relatable.

super_furry

Nevermind the Sopranos, what's the deal with everyone pretending that Breaking Bad was good?

The high horse brigade

super_furry wrote: »

Nevermind the Sopranos, what's the deal with everyone pretending that Breaking Bad was good?

It was good, just nowhere near the Sopranos or the wire which are on another level

123balltv

Loved Silvio in Norway's Lillehammer all brilliant actors in Sopranos.
James Gandolfini badly missed

Greyfox

super_furry wrote: »

Nevermind the Sopranos, what's the deal with everyone pretending that Breaking Bad was good?

Breaking bad is amazing, a little slow at the start but gets better and better. Walter white was more complex than Tony Soprano. The Sopranos and the Wire are both excellent with superb acting. The Wire is all about realism and showing why America will never win the war on crime. The odd episode can bit a bit slow but thats only because it shows you how things happen in real life. Game of thrones is the actual best show on tv as the writing, depth and complexity of the characters and unpredictability put it a step above every other tv show

Ulysses Gaze

It took me a long time to get into The Sopranos.

I just thought "Meh...they've just turned a mixture of Goodfellas, Casino and Mean Streets into a TV series."

But it is genius and borrows heavily from Shakespeare.

I still think Oz is amazing even though it is what 20 years old now?

buried

Greyfox wrote: »

Walter white was more complex than Tony Soprano.

[Deleted User]

I'm abstaining from your Poll OP.

Poo poll and Poo thread.

Richard Hillman

It had a great ambiance. It made you feel like you were there. The Wire also did this very well. There were no good guys v bad guys. It was very natural.

Dyr

Greyfox wrote: »

Game of thrones is the actual best show on tv as the writing, depth and complexity of the characters and unpredictability put it a step above every other tv show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzqccyhIu5I

Markx

AllForIt wrote: »

To answer the OP question its because it was a 'real guys show'. In the same way soccer is considered the best sport cause it's a propper blokey sport and in the same way bands are considered the best kind of music because it's good blokey no nonsense stuff. All these things are totally untrue but that's the way blokey blokes think.

But a huge part of the show was about Tony confronting his vulnerabilities and how he was worried that the other characters wouldn't think he was a 'real guy' because he was getting treatment....did you not pick on that aspect of the show?

tipptom

Jeez,even just the end monologues from The Sopranos that merges in to some perfect song just bats any other drama out of the park alone.

Just check out what it does to heighten songs like The Eurythimics "Saved the world today".

Or the beginning of the end of The Sopranos when Phil tells Butchy,"No more Butchy,no more of this",and John Cooper Clarkes "Evidently Chickentown" creeps in with menace.

Keep watching it on repeat and keep finding more and more.

Potential-Monke

Never got into the Sopranos. I think I might like it, but something I've noticed lately is I find it hard to get into older shows, due to the lack of modern technology. Sounds stupid, yes, but that's how I feel. Everyone harping on about The Wire, I tried to watch it. Just couldn't. It didn't so a single thing for me. I was bored watching it. Apparently that means I have no taste, but that's ok, each to their own. Most of what I watch would be considered childish, even if the story and character development is far greater than any realistic tv show.

So while I can talk for hours about my favourite shows and how I believe they are better than the majority of what people consider good TV, it's all individual tastes. Yes, one has to be willing to accept the bat-shit crazy stuff in what I watch, but there are very few realistic tv shows that leave me with my hands in the air, mouth open in silent amazement of what just happened.

buried

I f**king love it lads. Can't get enough of it still. Watch the whole thing again every year at least twice a year. You can always see new things in every single watch even to this day. It is so cool. You see and understand new portrayals of characters after multiple watches. You see new things all the time, even 20 years later, its just so deeply layered and at the same time easily accessible to everyone. Genius stuff. God bless it. Great work. It will be remembered 100's of years from now, no doubt about it.

buried

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Never got into the Sopranos. I think I might like it, but something I've noticed lately is I find it hard to get into older shows, due to the lack of modern technology. Sounds stupid, yes, but that's how I feel. Everyone harping on about The Wire, I tried to watch it. Just couldn't. It didn't so a single thing for me. I was bored watching it. Apparently that means I have no taste, but that's ok, each to their own. Most of what I watch would be considered childish, even if the story and character development is far greater than any realistic tv show.

How long did you watch it for P?

super_furry

The Wire was great for the first three seasons but went way downhill after that.

buried

Third season was the apex alright, I like the fourth season too, grim as it is, but I shut it down before the fifth. Poor tack. Nowhere on the level of the work done on The Sopranos. Pity Deadwood didn't get another run either. Will also watch that at least once a year too. Wouldn't watch yearly repeat viewings of The Wire. I look forward to doing so with The Sopranos and Deadwood

Potential-Monke

buried wrote: »

How long did you watch it for P?

The Sopranos? Kinda watched it on and off while it was coming out on TV. Never sat down and binged on it.

The Wire? Half way through the first season I had to give up (this was about 2 years ago). Some may say that's not enough time, but if something doesn't catch me in the first few episodes, I'm out. Ain't nobody got time to wait for something to get good these days, i've too much other stuff to watch/play!