The Sopranos is a good TV show. When it's at its best, it's extremely good. But I've never felt it anything more than that - just one of many really good shows. Other people disagree. Here's a quote from a review of the S6p2 DVD's:

When the history of television is written, The Sopranos will loom large in the narrative. This groundbreaking series changed how we watched television, how the stories were told and how the information was communicated to the audience.

Is The Sopranos really an important series that will change television for ever? Or is it just a good show?

"This groundbreaking series changed how we watched television, how the stories were told and how the information was communicated to the audience."

Groundbreaking? Overstatement of the century. It's no Simpsons.

Perhaps it demonstrated that it's possible to have good programing on cable television? I don't know but I do know the finale left an awful taste in everyone I knows mouth.....And I wasn't one of those "whack a week or it sucks" types.

i don't know about "groundbreaking"... it certainly seemed to be "appointment tv", but that was hardly groundbreaking...

something like "all in the family" was groundbreaking... the sopranos is just good entertainment...

my opinion only... that and a buck 75 gets you a medium at the local dunkin'... :)

I don't know if it was revolutionary. However it was very well written and succeeded in capturing a bigger audience share than any other series - as long as you understand that one had to be a premium cable or DSS subscriber to be in the audience. (Yeah I know you can argue figures lots of ways, but if you just count the percentage of people who had HBO (the only possible viewers) who watched this show - it's the hands-down winner.)

The Sopranos could never have been made had not Coppola made the Godfather films and miniseries first, of course - demonstrating that an audience could identify and even sympathize with criminals. This was followed by several mob-themed films the most notable of which is Goodfellas, which actually provided several cast members to The Sopranos.

I had long thought The Sopranos was the best HBO series, until I viewed Carnivale earlier this year - then that series took over my #1 spot and Tony and his boys took second place.

HBO clearly has more hits than any other cable network. I wish they would do more science fiction themed shows than they have so far. I think they could blow away the likes of Firefly, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica if they really tried.

Perhaps it demonstrated that it's possible to have good programing on cable television? I don't know but I do know the finale left an awful taste in everyone I knows mouth.....And I wasn't one of those "whack a week or it sucks" types.
I loved The Sopranos. It’s true that a many, maybe most, viewers didn’t like the final episode, but many of us thought it was an effective way to highlight the moral ambiguity that pervaded the series from beginning to end. See this thread, beginning with the posts following the last episode on 6/10/2007:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=831376&highlight=sopranos

Many TV series have been groundbreaking but I think that The Sopranos was in the very first rank of such shows. It really did break new ground, it seems to me.

I would say it is one of the finest works of art ever to be produced in the television medium, if that fits your definition of important.

When I think of something as important in the scheme of life, television is vastly overrated. It's just a TV show, hehe. Arguably then, the only important television would be programs with educational or journalistic content.

You can immerse yourself in the story - that makes a good show and book. Both are hard to find nowadays.

it was the best until "deadwood" arrived....without a doubt the best thing ever shown on tv...if you don't care about calamity jane then you're just not part of the human race

(unpaid fawning fanboy rant complete)

Using the words "Important" and "TV Show" in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Unless, of course, the word NOT is sprinkled in liberally.

For years I've been saying "The Sopranos" was/is the best show in the history of the TV medium. Then over the summer I caught the first season of "Dexter" and I'm currently watching the 2nd season on Showtime. You won't be hearing me say what I said before about "The Sopranos" anymore! :)

Many TV series have been groundbreaking but I think that The Sopranos was in the very first rank of such shows. It really did break new ground, it seems to me.

Agreed. It is hard to believe that this question is even being asked.

The Sopranos is an "important" show not because of it's quality or subject matter, but because is was the first cable of any consequence that took advantage of the extra liberties premium cable channels could offer.

I love Dexter but I feel that it is not on a par with Sopranos. It's an exciting, compelling show but for example the kids seems stilted and artificial. Compare them with the complexity of Meadow and AJ, or any supporting character on Sopranos for that matter. That's not a knock on Dexter, I do love watching it.

The Sopranos was one of the great shows ever, but it's no The Wire.

I love Dexter but I feel that it is not on a par with Sopranos. It's an exciting, compelling show but for example the kids seems stilted and artificial. Compare them with the complexity of Meadow and AJ, or any supporting character on Sopranos for that matter. That's not a knock on Dexter, I do love watching it.

I know "Dexter" and "The Sopranos" orbit different spheres of the TV medium (one's a complex family/mob drama, the other a glorifed crime procedural). I guess what I'm saying is that "Dexter" is the only premium cable show in recent years to be worthy of comparison (at least in sustained quality writing, acting -Michael C. Hall carries this show in his shoulders- and plot twists) to "The Sopranos." Being good-enough to be mentioned in the same sentence with Tony Soprano's saga is more than what I ever expected a Showtime TV show to achieve. Then again, I'm the guy who turned away from "Deadwood" after three episodes in Season 1 because I just didn't 'get it.' What the hell do I know? :rolleyes:

The Sopranos jumped the shark at the end of season two, when Tony shot Pussy (yeah, I understand that Pussy had to die, but the writing didn't have to die, also).

The show drifted away from anything that could be called groundbreaking (such as psychoanalysis of a guy who murders people for a living) and just drifted off into being yet another mob story.

Also, has any TV show left so many hanging plot threads?

For example, what the hell ever happened to the Russian?!?! That alone moves The Sopranos into the category of shows with unforgivably bad hanging threads. You're really telling me that if the Italians pulled this stuff with the Russians there wouldn't have been hell to pay?

The Sopranos, therefore, cannot be considered groundbreaking when it can be argued it wasn't even true to itself or its best writing impulses. If you take the series writ large, it is hard to even call The Sopranos an OK show.

It doesn't even deserve the forgiveness The Simpsons have received, where the show's golden age more than justifies its never-ending later bronze age.

Entertaining yes, important no.

Is The Sopranos really an important series that will change television for ever?Yes, without question.

Nothing is more subjective than deciding how “important” one TV series was compared to another. Still, I can’t think of another series that is more widely regarded as having been “important” than The Sopranos.

I thought that Tony’s elimination of Big Pussy was one of the most interesting and convincing threads of the entire series. The man had betrayed Tony, so he had to go. The curious combination of the brutality of Pussy’s murder and Tony’s calculation and cold-bloodedness in disposing of Pussy’s body was great, great theater. But there was a LOT of great, great theater in The Sopranos, one of the greatest TV series.

Influential might be a better word.

Influential might be a better word.
Arch, I think that characterization compromises the extent of the enormous impact that The Sopranos had on television generally, not just in the way the audience defined the medium, but the networks as well.

Let me put this another way, how much of a chance to succeed do you think shows like Deadwood, Dexter, The Brotherhood, etc. would have been given if The Sopranos had not paved the way?

___________________________________________________
Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

Important in that it had much of the country talking about it in the media and at watercoolers- not confined to a small core of fans.

I said "influential" might be a better word because that would be hard to deny. 'The Sopranos' was groundbreaking in terms of paving the way for the edgy, risk-taking, hyper-realistic dramas to follow, yes, but "important" is a more subjective term. I happen to agree with it in this case because of the show's impact on the medium, but others might not if they have different criteria.

The Sopranos enjoys the unique position in that, however you spin it, the style and quality of the show are impervious to criticism. If you love the way it ended and how it fundamentally changed television, then you're adding to the praise. However, if you hated the ending and are pissed about the direction of the show over the past couple of seasons, then you simply don't get it and are therefore unimportant in the grand scheme of things. I personally think the show went to sh!t starting with season 5, but I remained loyal until the end, hoping to change my opinion. Overall, I think the show was groundbreaking for all the previously listed reasons. But one of the best in the history of TV? I don't think so.

It was an important show for Italian-Americans. It showed that they aren't limited to careers as pizzeria owners and organ grinders - they can also flourish in organized crime. :D

It was an important show for Italian-Americans. It showed that they aren't limited to careers as pizzeria owners and organ grinders - they can also flourish in organized crime. :D
You make a very interesting point here. Most people are unaware that prior to his rise in organized crime, Don Corleone was well-known for his portrayal of Mr Bacciagalupe, on the Abbot & Costello show. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zLaCuJmvNg

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

Agreed. It is hard to believe that this question is even being asked.

The Sopranos is an "important" show not because of it's quality or subject matter, but because is was the first cable of any consequence that took advantage of the extra liberties premium cable channels could offer.Guess you never saw the first season of Oz then.

Groundbreaking? No.

I'll say it was groundbreaking for this reason: Sopranos struck me as being the first heavy duty quasi-movie caliber TV show. There had been miniseries like 'Roots', but they were constrained to broadcast standards. Things have changed a lot since then, there have been several shows with high powered production values, big name writers, actors etc.

Wow. Roots. Now THAT is groundbreaking and important.

Wow. Roots. Now THAT is groundbreaking and important.

Yes, it was. So important it won a Peabody award, among many others.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075572/awards

the people that are the first to realize that sopranos has nothing to do with the mafia are the ones who can appreciate the fact that this series is far and away the best drama television show in history.

the people that are the first to realize that sopranos has nothing to do with the mafia are the ones who can appreciate the fact that this series is far and away the best drama television show in history.

I wouldn't say it had nothing to do with the Mafia, but it could be said the story could have been told with a number of other backgrounds. Probably not as interestingly, though.

the people that are the first to realize that sopranos has nothing to do with the mafia are the ones who can appreciate the fact that this series is far and away the best drama television show in history.

The Wire beats it by a mile.

The Wire beats it by a mile.

You already said that. We get it.

The Sopranos is a good TV show. When it's at its best, it's extremely good. But I've never felt it anything more than that - just one of many really good shows. Other people disagree. Here's a quote from a review of the S6p2 DVD's:

When the history of television is written, The Sopranos will loom large in the narrative. This groundbreaking series changed how we watched television, how the stories were told and how the information was communicated to the audience.

Is The Sopranos really an important series that will change television for ever? Or is it just a good show?

I felt the first two seasons were the show at it's best, and it kind of went downhill year after year. Well, not so much downhill, just not as great as the first two seasons. Even though, I never stopped watching it, and was dissapointed with the final season, not so much the finale, but the final season in general.

I remember watching that first season and being blown away, especially the first episode when Tony is first describing his life to Melfi as he narrates over different scenes. Than the second season came around, and I thought it couldn't get any better, and unfortunatly, it didn't:(

...this series is far and away the best drama television show in history.

:eek: <spyder peers over the ledge, afraid of what remains from that gigantic leap> :rolleyes: