Television The Sopranos

Solius

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Thinking about making this the next show I watch. How good is it? No spoilers please.
 
The best show ever, the only show I could see being rated higher than it is The Wire. Great characters, interesting side plots, and interesting developments throughout the course of the series.
 
I thought it was alright, not all that it was cracked up to be, there were some brilliant moments, and some boring moments. Good watch overall though, but don't be expecting much action - its not your typical mafia family.
 
datura said:
And very funny in places.

I keep intending to watch it through again some day.
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Good call Paulie Walnuts is hilarious as are a lot of the other characters in parts.
 
Absolutely brilliant, only bested in my view by The West Wing, I've watched The Sopranos all the way through twice and I'v not long since started again, definitely watch it.
 
R_Nick said:
Absolutely brilliant, only bested in my view by The West Wing, I've watched The Sopranos all the way through twice and I'v not long since started again, definitely watch it.
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Good shout on The West Wing. If politics were really that interesting I might pay more attention.
 
I think it's a bit overrated really, it doesn't have the consistency of the likes of The Wire and Deadwood and there are some completely irrelevant episodes at times with stupid plots and story turns.

Saying that, I only mean overrated in relation to the fact that it's widely proclaimed to be the best tv show ever, when in fact it's probably in the top 5.

It's brilliant, but some people (*cough* Alex *cough*) think it's better than it is :D
 
I can only think of one episode that was irrelevant and that I didn't like, which over 6 seasons I think its pretty consistantly good going.

The character development and interaction is fantastic as is the acting and the writing is exceptionally strong.
 
Can somebody pm me some rapidshare links for Season 1? I'm 6 episodes in but Warez-bb is down and i can't seem to find anymore links.
 
The opening is fecking awesome:




Another of my favorite shows has a great opening:

 
The Wire is good but nowhere near as well written as the Sopranos
 
It's impossible to say "The Wire" is better than "The Sopranos" since both series are completely different.In "The wire" it's like there's no main character, it's like a documentary focusing on so many different aspects of Baltimore's police,gangsters,politicians and even journalists.
I prefer "The Sopranos" because it's more entertaining and funny while being an amazingly well written series, it just depends on what you're looking for
 
The Sopranos is better than The Wire in my opinion. Both are great, obviously, but The Sopranos just edges it.
 
The Sopranos is a cracking show, but there was a drop in quality in the mid to late seasons, from memory. It's still up there though.
 
Can't agree with the idea of a drop in quality Brophs, with the exception of one episode that I can think of it was ridiculously consistent in its quality in my opinion.
 
MikeUpNorth said:
The Sopranos is better than The Wire in my opinion. Both are great, obviously, but The Sopranos just edges it.
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I used to have this opinion to however after watching the wire again through to season 4 with only 5 to come I've had to concede that The Wire is the greater show.

The Sopranos for the most part is the analysis of one character and how his life effect those around him, as a piece of entertainment it is unparelleled, however The Wire deals not just with one character but with the a whole society(Baltimore) and the problems it faces because of the drugs trade.

For me that takes alot more skill and has greater scope making it by far the better drama, its been said before that its like a novel rather than a show and I agree and got much more out of it, than I did the Sopranos(which I have watched and loved for 10yrs).

It also has less plot holes due to superior script writting.
 
Im not a massive fan of either The Sopranos nor The Wire. For me Dexter is better.
 
What I really liked is that most actors on this show were real Italian-Americans, it really added it in terms of atmosphere.I basically checked everyone and 9 times out of 10 the actor corresponded to his supposed ethnic identity.
 
Just randomly started watching this again in the middle of the second season. The one with Jon Favreu, Chris knobs Alicia Witt. The actor that plays her bf/Chris's cousin plays Nurse Jackie's husband in erm, Nurse Jackie.

It's such a great show. Paulie Walnuts is fecking awesome.
 
The last 2 seasons of the Sopranos (which in reality is called season 6... with a break in between) were pretty weak.... But the first 5 seasons are among the best on TV.

The Wire is solid throughout, although Season 2 threw me for a bit of a loop.

Deadwood was of course outstanding, but the way it was ended / cancelled leaves a sour taste in many people's mouths.

Breaking Bad is fast moving into the rarefied air occupied by the Sopranos and the Wire as the best shows ever.
 
I disagree 204red. Sopranos was pretty good throughout all seasons except for the beginning of that one season where Tony is in a coma and dreaming (that was shit). The wire is a great show but I wouldn't classify it as one of the best shows ever. The 2nd season of it I didn't like. I can see why some would say it's the best show ever though, I would just put in the tier right below sopranos.

Another show that I really like and has become one of my fav is game of thrones. I really can't wait for the 2nd season of this. It's just too amazing.

Boardwalk too obv although I didn't like season 2 as much, hopefully season 3 will shift to NY and Chicago with lucky and capone being more prominent figures in the show.
 
It certainly wasn't what I expected, I got bored halfway through the first season and gave up first time.

It's a good show, but it's definitely behind my favorites like The Wire and Twin Peaks. It's more a comedy than anything, and it's more about the Soprano family than the mafia Soprano family. So be prepared for lots of Jersey Housewives style complaining about anything and everything.

AJ is possibly the worst character I've ever seen in any show. He's pointless, he has no development, he has no emotions besides being depressed. You can tell the writers weren't interested in him beyond what a 'son' would mean to a mafia boss.

The psychology stuff is okay, but it never really goes anywhere, Tony never tries to change in any really meaningful way that would challenge his identity as a mob boss. It's danced around, but it's never really discussed that you can't be a healthy person and make the sort of decisions a mob boss has to make. For example, he has to womanize or the others in the gang will think he's weak, that there's something wrong with him, but it practically ruins his relationship with his wife.

They do spend time with Tony trying to find middle ground, but it could have been much better if Tony was constantly battling with trying to be a better person and not resorting to his mob persona so easily.
 
I wish they weren't stuck on season 1 for the blu ray releases. Guess I'll just have to rewatch the DVD's. It's been far too long, the GOAT. And without it, you wouldn't have half of the great shows you've had the past decade, a huge influence on cable channels taking chances on bigger and bolder shows.
 
gooDevil said:
It certainly wasn't what I expected, I got bored halfway through the first season and gave up first time.

It's a good show, but it's definitely behind my favorites like The Wire and Twin Peaks. It's more a comedy than anything, and it's more about the Soprano family than the mafia Soprano family. So be prepared for lots of Jersey Housewives style complaining about anything and everything.

AJ is possibly the worst character I've ever seen in any show. He's pointless, he has no development, he has no emotions besides being depressed. You can tell the writers weren't interested in him beyond what a 'son' would mean to a mafia boss.

The psychology stuff is okay, but it never really goes anywhere, Tony never tries to change in any really meaningful way that would challenge his identity as a mob boss. It's danced around, but it's never really discussed that you can't be a healthy person and make the sort of decisions a mob boss has to make. For example, he has to womanize or the others in the gang will think he's weak, that there's something wrong with him, but it practically ruins his relationship with his wife.

They do spend time with Tony trying to find middle ground, but it could have been much better if Tony was constantly battling with trying to be a better person and not resorting to his mob persona so easily.
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To be fair I'd disagree, especially from about Season 2-5 there's a lot of focus on the "mafia family" rather than the actual Sopranos themselves. Whilst they are obviously shown and have storylines I don't think they're the main focus as the series progresses as much, they're more filler than anything. Essentially everything always relates back to Tony and his mafia side to, or so it seems.

I didn't particularly like AJ either but he does have some kind of character development, I always thought the whole point of AJ was kind of the fact he was a bit pathetic in everythng he did. It was showing he'd never be able to take over from Tony despite how much he tried and ends up in a constant spiral unlike Meadow who was clearly never interested in that life and is implied to be going on to other successful things.

The show had it's flaws, I was never a massive fan of Janice she was just a very grating character but again she did have a point in the show. I think it's more down to the actress than the character itself.

It's probably one of my favourite TV Shows ever, did enjoy the Wire but I only saw the 1st 2 series and then lost the rest so will have to get round to finishing it off so I can't really compare them at the moment.
 
204Red said:
The last 2 seasons of the Sopranos (which in reality is called season 6... with a break in between) were pretty weak.... But the first 5 seasons are among the best on TV.

The Wire is solid throughout, although Season 2 threw me for a bit of a loop.

Deadwood was of course outstanding, but the way it was ended / cancelled leaves a sour taste in many people's mouths.

Breaking Bad is fast moving into the rarefied air occupied by the Sopranos and the Wire as the best shows ever.
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Come into a thread about The Sopranos and then start babbling on about other shows that you think are/aren't bether for it and you've a recipe for disaster
 
Oggmonster said:
To be fair I'd disagree, especially from about Season 2-5 there's a lot of focus on the "mafia family" rather than the actual Sopranos themselves. Whilst they are obviously shown and have storylines I don't think they're the main focus as the series progresses as much, they're more filler than anything. Essentially everything always relates back to Tony and his mafia side to, or so it seems.

I didn't particularly like AJ either but he does have some kind of character development, I always thought the whole point of AJ was kind of the fact he was a bit pathetic in everythng he did. It was showing he'd never be able to take over from Tony despite how much he tried and ends up in a constant spiral unlike Meadow who was clearly never interested in that life and is implied to be going on to other successful things.

The show had it's flaws, I was never a massive fan of Janice she was just a very grating character but again she did have a point in the show. I think it's more down to the actress than the character itself.

It's probably one of my favourite TV Shows ever, did enjoy the Wire but I only saw the 1st 2 series and then lost the rest so will have to get round to finishing it off so I can't really compare them at the moment.
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I would put it in my top 10 tv shows for sure, but it doesn't have that same feel of something like Goodfellas, that gritty realism that's so appealing when it comes to gangster films.

Perhaps you're right about there being as much or more about the mafia family, but most of that is about people complaining and finding reality to not match their idea of how things should be. There's only a smattering of gangster activity. Not that that's a problem per se, just warning anyone so they didn't get their hopes up.
 
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