What was the fcuking big deal about the Sopranos?

Necro

meeeeh wrote: »

As for Sopranos it was well made but I am not overly into mafia stuff. For me The Wire is above everything else, brilliant characters, brilliant acting and (ignoring last season) brilliant storytelling.

Yeah I loved the Wire too. But Season 5 (as you mention above) left a sour taste in my mouth.

Silentcorner

The Sopranos had it all.

Visually impressive, from the Pine Barrens in North Jersey to the fairly bland North Jersey townships it nailed the grittiness and the mundane nature of suburban America.

Great character development and execution of believable situations often with humour, everyone one of the characters, including the priest, were drenched in the rotten culture of it all!

Above all else the soundtrack was superb in my opinion ( a fine example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lbju1WpsQ )

We will never see the likes of The Sopranos again.

sheroman01

Women without Makeup wrote: »

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".

You seem like the kind of person whose favourite dessert is vanilla ice cream.

Try to expand your mind a bit, read a book or two, and then you might appreciate in depth shows like The Sopranos and The Wire. What makes them great is the amount of detail that goes into them, seeing things from different perspectives and getting inside the lives of multiple people, families and cooperations. There are so many layers to those shows.

Motivator

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

The Sopranos was and will be the best series I’ll ever see. Not a chance there will be anything to ever match it never mind surpass it. From the first episode to the last, the writing was incredible and the way the characters and the story developed over the years was the best thing about it. For those who haven’t seen it, watch it but before you do - forget that it’s based on the New Jersey Mafia. Just enjoy a quality series. It’s just an incredible show and I’ve about 25 episodes that I keep rewatching because everything about them just draws me in.

Sycamore Tree

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I take it by this statement you're not a fan of The Wire either. In which case you have no business commenting on what's good or bad TV.

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.

greencap

Women without Makeup wrote: »

Nip/Tuck and The Mentalist.

I liked Mad Men just a little bit too.

The mentalist!

You're the mentalist.

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

Lucy8080

Quasimodo predicted that someone would start a thread like this!

Sardonicat

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Women without Makeup wrote: »

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Nidge is pretty much an homage to Tony and portrayed in the exact same way.

Another stupid show. I could see it a MILE away that the guards would NOT be the ones to take down Nidge. I could see it a mile away.

A FCUKING MILE AWAY!

Again, it wasn't about the plot. It was about the characters.

Sardonicat

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Sycamore Tree wrote: »

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I take it by this statement you're not a fan of The Wire either. In which case you have no business commenting on what's good or bad TV.

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 amazing! Some series are better than others but overall it's up there as some of the best tv ever. I haven't watched it in a while, think it's time for a rewatch.

Dyr

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Maybe out there you can go on about Breaking Bad or whaddeverda**** but in dis house it's still da mid 2000s and da Sopranos is still da best TV show in history.

*Breathes heavily through nose*

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.

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Let me tell you where I stand. Poll incoming

RobbingBandit

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Paulie Walnuts.

RobbingBandit

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Greyfox wrote: »

Walter white was more complex than Tony Soprano.

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

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!

rob316

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

It the greatest drama of all time IMO and Tony soprano is one of the greatest tv characters. Television was looked down on by Hollywood until the Sopranos, now it's as big as the movies.

I rewatch the entire series every year without fail. The depth and quality of gandolfini's acting brought Tony Soprano to life. You felt you knew him, you loved him, you hated him.

Sopranos wrote the blue print for all the shows we enjoy today.

buried

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

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. 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!

Give em both another go, definitely get The Sopranos boxset. I felt the same the first watch of The Wire myself and shut it down, but went back to it and got into it real deep. The second season of The Wire is really brilliant modern day storytelling, its total gold, try give it another go!

Necro

rob316 wrote: »

It the greatest drama of all time IMO and Tony soprano is one of the greatest tv characters. Television was looked down on by Hollywood until the Sopranos, now it's as big as the movies.

I rewatch the entire series every year without fail. The depth and quality of gandolfini's acting brought Tony Soprano to life. You felt you knew him, you loved him, you hated him.

Sopranos wrote the blue print for all the shows we enjoy today.

Ha me too. Sopranos boxset is one of my most cherished. Still love collecting TV boxsets for easy rewatching, even though I know I could put them all onto a hard drive. Have loads of TV Show boxsets and rewatch most every year at some point.

buried

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

There is just so much cool $hit layered into the entire work. Even the usage of music at the end credits is genius. They play this track at the end of season three, the episode titled "army of one"

The usage of that track in the credits at the end of that season is pure genius, the sound of the dark, modern day gloom.

After what happens to young Jackie Jnr in that episode, you get the sense, the game is up for these murdering hoors, or will soon be up, the violence, the hypocrisy and the lies won't last and will only go one way, the end for it all

and the use of that track was total genius to let you half know its on the way.

Feckin brilliant stuff all over the shop.

Dyr

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

buried wrote: »

There is just so much cool $hit layered into the entire work. Even the usage of music at the end credits is genius. They play this track at the end of season three, the episode titled "army of one"

The usage of that track in the credits at the end of that season is pure genius, the sound of the dark, modern day gloom.

After what happens to young Jackie Jnr in that episode, you get the sense, the game is up for these murdering hoors, or will soon be up, the violence, the hypocrisy and the lies won't last and will only go one way, the end for it all

and the use of that track was total genius to let you half know its on the way.

Feckin brilliant stuff all over the shop.

The story was that David Chase wanted to have different opening title music for every episode but HBO refused so he got them agree to let him change the end title music

buried

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Bambi wrote: »

The story was that David Chase wanted to have different opening title music for every episode but HBO refused so he got them agree to let him change the end title music

Class B man, I never knew that! Probably worked out better in the end for it though!

Nodster

We were on a visit in 2002 to the bro-in-law who ran a sports bar in California. One midweek night we were having a few brewski's when he said "Y'know this place will empty in 30 minutes" As the Soprano's was on HBO, the place soon emptied and they all returned after the show, naturally everyone chatting about that episode. Think that was the first time I heard of the series.

"With due respect" we loved The Soprano's

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

The Wire and The Sopranos are simply the best TV ever made in my opinion. Better Call Saul is modern TV's closest from what I've seen, though I haven't been watching much new stuff from the last three years.

Why? People have explained their reasons here better than I could. But they're shows about people and their relatable troubles. The plots of each of them are merely a vehicle for that exploration.

Not surprised so many don't like them. They're not particularly easy entertainment, and I wouldn't always be in the mood for them. Can't wait to rewatch them again when I get the urge.

Strumms

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

I think the depth of the characters, the fantastic acting, the gritty realism, the unpredictable nature of the show, the fact that most of them were wànkers but somehow some reason you could empathize with them at times. It wasnt predictable at all, it was almost not made to entertain yet it did... I don’t ever recall a show that had the absolute capacity to shock, entertain, repulse, make you laugh out loud, cry, almost **** yourself and all in a single episode. Still to be surpassed.

batgoat

I'm an idiot who knows nothing.

Deleted User wrote: »

The Wire and The Sopranos are simply the best TV ever made in my opinion. Better Call Saul is modern TV's closest from what I've seen, though I haven't been watching much new stuff from the last three years.

Why? People have explained their reasons here better than I could. But they're shows about people and their relatable troubles. The plots of each of them are merely a vehicle for that exploration.

Not surprised so many don't like them. They're not particularly easy entertainment, and I wouldn't always be in the mood for them. Can't wait to rewatch them again when I get the urge.

I think there's another gem Six Feet Under, the characters are superb and they were ahead of their time in many respects in terms of how it handled topics. Also, I rave about my adoration for Twin Peaks but you'd never have gotten those dream sequences in The Sopranos without. You had a few shows that really raised tv to the level where it was comparable to great cinema.