Sopranos not hold up?

[G0UCONN]

When I saw it years ago I thought maybe best series ever. Always been in my top 5 list. Especially the first few seasons with Liv and Junior going after Tony. As good as TV gets.

Anywho watched it again recently with my son who had never seen it. Still real good but....just not as great as I remember it. Can’t put my finger on why. Maybe because have seen so many great series since that are better IMO....like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy. Or maybe I am just insane.

Anyway I was surprised at my opinion seeing it the second time. Still real good. Still in my top 10....but now closer to 10 and not as great as when first saw it.

 

[SubbaBub]

Maybe because have seen so many great series since that are better IMO....like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy.

This is exactly why.

 

[Mano]

I'll probably never find out, I have a real problem when rewatching stuff that I've already seen. Tend to fall asleep.

 

[manbyrd]

Watched entire series for the first time last summer. I'd put it top 5 for sure. Keeping in mind that it kicked off the prestige TV drama run HBO had and set the bar for years.

I think dramas don't hold up on rewatch because the shock is gone, and unless its a show that is so intricate you have to rewatch to catch everything, there's not much you can get out of rewatches. Whereas I can watch the office or seinfeld episodes time and time again and still enjoy them as long as the jokes are still relevant.

 

[John]

Watched entire series for the first time last summer. I'd put it top 5 for sure. Keeping in mind that it kicked off the prestige TV drama run HBO had and set the bar for years.

I think dramas don't hold up on rewatch because the shock is gone, and unless its a show that is so intricate you have to rewatch to catch everything, there's not much you can get out of rewatches. Whereas I can watch the office or seinfeld episodes time and time again and still enjoy them as long as the jokes are still relevant.

I didn't sense that the Sopranos had the layers of nuance that the Wire (as an example) had. I've watched the entire Wire series three times now, and new things have jumped out at me each time. I've only watch Sopranos series once, but I don't remember it being particularly layered. It was what it was.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think the Sopranos is still fantastic. It is a family drama, set with a very unusual family. Tony, Carmela, Junior, Livia, Meadow and their various cousins and associates are one of the most interesting collections of characters in any TV show in history. AJ sucked, but that was Robert Iler got cast because he looked right, not because he could act, and there was no way to fix it later. The fact that none of the key child actors in Game of Thrones face planted the same way is just dumb luck.

I think the dialogue is still fantastic 20 years later. Combining key characters' ignorance with enough street sense to make them credible as running a multi million dollar criminal enterprise is not easy, and the Sopranos pulled it off. A mother ordering a hit on her son seems much less shocking in a show like Peaky Blinders than it did in the Sopranos. The antagonists were excellent, from Richie Aprile to Ralphie to Johnny Sack to Phil Leotardo.

And the genius of the Sopranos was not just the villains or the big stories, but the themes of family and loyalty, especially when Tony's allies kept screwing up and getting him into trouble, especially Christopher.

Some of the best shows on TV since (Big Love, Mad Men) have followed a similar twisting of the classic nuclear family drama.

 

[Walker11]

I just finished my first watching of the series tonight after a month long binge. The show definitely holds up. The quality of characters is second to none. As mentioned above, the dialogue is fantastic (the malapropisms are hilarious and I imagine I would pick up 3x more on a second rewatching) and Tony Soprano is probably the best character I have seen on t.v. My only qualm is that there were a handful of silly episode long subplots but the show spanned 86 episodes so its understandable.

Edit. I posted this in the middle of watching the finale. I had already read about the ending and heard all the people complaining. And I was still taken aback by how unsatisfying it was. Just terrible.

 

[8893]

I just finished my first watching of the series tonight after a month long binge. The show definitely holds up. The quality of characters is second to none. As mentioned above, the dialogue is fantastic (the malapropisms are hilarious and I imagine I would pick up 3x more on a second rewatching) and Tony Soprano is probably the best character I have seen on t.v. My only qualm is that there were a handful of silly episode long subplots but the show spanned 86 episodes so its understandable.

Edit. I posted this in the middle of watching the finale. I had already read about the ending and heard all the people complaining. And I was still taken aback by how unsatisfying it was. Just terrible.

I can never hear “All That You Dream” or “Don’t Stop Believing” without thinking about it.

 

[Walker11]

I can never hear “All That You Dream” or “Don’t Stop Believing” without thinking about it.

I imagine I will be the same way. I can't believe I am unsatisfied with the uncertainty of the ending. I mean, I knew people said it was unsatisfying and that Journey plays and that the screen fades to black and it is unknown if Tony lives or dies but the screen still cut to black way before I expected. Still, what a great show.

 

[Guapo]

I'm currently rewatching it again with my wife, and I think it hold up surprisingly well.

This is the first time in years that I've watched it and it almost has a period piece aspect to it now. A great little time capsule about what life was like in late 90's/Bush-era America. Kinda interesting.

@John while I agree that it's not as nuanced as a show like the Wire, it does have a layers and I'd recommend rewatching it again.

It's incredibly ahead of its time, it's the Beatles of prestige TV. Without it; Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad etc etc would never have existed.

 

[August_West]

Maybe because have seen so many great series since that are better IMO....like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy

None of those shows touches the Sopranos. Even today. (my opinion) . Breaking bad is the closest to that stratosphere but still a distant 3rd behind Sopranos and Wire (which are 1 and 1a - and you can flip flop which is 1 and which is 1a and I wont ever argue it).
Mad Men and GoT great shows. Not in the top 3 already mentioned though.

I didn't sense that the Sopranos had the layers of nuance that the Wire (as an example) had. I've watched the entire Wire series three times now, and new things have jumped out at me each time. I've only watch Sopranos series once, but I don't remember it being particularly layered. It was what it was.

Its way worth the rewatch. Nothing will EVER be like the Wire as far as the layering and rewatch value, but one thing about the Sopranos people forget is it couldve won awards as the best COMEDY on TV too. There is stuff in the Sopranos that makes me laugh harder than any intentional comedy ever written. I think you appreciate it more on the 2nd and repeated viewings on that front.

I can never hear “All That You Dream” or “Don’t Stop Believing” without thinking about it.

Some of the greatest use of music ever on TV in that episode. What a feeling those tracks set up into that last scene. And they used Music so well throughout the whole show.

 

[August_West]

Some classic Sopranos humor moments.

Chrissies intervention has to be about at the top of the list.

The scene where all the crew is discussing Cleaver as "producers"

Every scene with Little Carmine.

 

[Guapo]

Some classic Sopranos humor moments.

Chrissies intervention has to be about at the top of the list.

The scene where all the crew is discussing Cleaver as "producers"

Every scene with Little Carmine.

"You killed the dog!? I outta kill YOU!" - Tony

(Can't remember the actual line, but yeah the intervention is hilarious)

Also, Paulie at the psychic

 

[John]

Some classic Sopranos humor moments.

Chrissies intervention has to be about at the top of the list.

The scene where all the crew is discussing Cleaver as "producers"

Every scene with Little Carmine.

I like the episode where Paulie and Chris get stuck in the freezing woods when their car breaks down.

 

[Guapo]

"'Elvis Country'; where there are no Jews or Italians" - Paulie

"Italians are Jews with better food" - Tony

 

[August_West]

I like the episode where Paulie and Chris get stuck in the freezing woods when their car breaks down.

fantastic


"he was from Czechoslovakia, he was an interior decorator"

"but his house looked like sh!iitt"

 

[John]

fantastic


"he was from Czechoslovakia, he was an interior decorator"

"but his house looked like sh!iitt"

and Drea de Matteo, she's an entire new thread in her own right.

 

[August_West]

and Drea de Matteo, she's an entire new thread in her own right.

How about when Chris pays for her to be a band manager/producer and she hires that ex boyfriends band (who is now sober) and Chris comes to the studio and the musicians dont want work anymore and Chris throws a syringe and some drugs at the guy and says " Spike up and get back to work" LOL

and then beats him with a guitar.

 

[storrsroars]

Some of the greatest use of music ever on TV in that episode. What a feeling those tracks set up into that last scene. And they used Music so well throughout the whole show.

It must've been nice for the producers to work with a budget that allows for royalties. I agree they did a great job. I'd often watch the full credits to identify songs I wasn't all that familiar with.

Mindhunter is getting close in use of contemporary tracks. Episode 4 which closed with the very obscure "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" by Klaatu from the mid-70s set up a brilliant closing scene.

 

[gampelcrazies]

The Sopranos > Breaking Bad

 

[Kolumbo]

I am currently watching The Sopranos from start to finish, for the first time in its entirety. My current theory on the final episode: Nothing happened because it is completely left up to the viewers' imaginations. Members Only Guy was actually a friend of T's there for protection.

 

[gampelcrazies]

The Sopranos > Breaking Bad

I still stand by this

 

[temery]

I still stand by this

I couldn't get into Breaking Bad. The idea of a drugged up crazy science teacher just doesn't seem believable.

 

[gampelcrazies]

I couldn't get into Breaking Bad. The idea of a drugged up crazy science teacher just doesn't seem believable.

Don't get me wrong I love Breaking Bad but I can see where you are coming from. Breaking Bad's plot isn't the greatest especially compared to The Sopranos .

People probably won't agree with me on this but I think Breaking Bad's spinoff/prequel Better Call Saul is better than Breaking Bad.

 

[JCSuperstar]

I am currently watching The Sopranos from start to finish, for the first time in its entirety. My current theory on the final episode: Nothing happened because it is completely left up to the viewers' imaginations. Members Only Guy was actually a friend of T's there for protection.

He killed him. On first watch I they were showing the viewers the uncertainty of Tony's condition, how it could all fall apart at any minute, but in retrospect and particularly looking at the evidence laid out here, I don't think there's any ambiguity about the fact that he was killed.

https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

Soprano's was the best show ever made even with its flaws. To this day, I can waste an hour and a half letting YouTube autoplay one Soprano's clip after another. So many enjoyable characters and great writing.

Leftovers and The Wire up there too, Breaking Bad is 2 tiers down. Fake artsy openers, lousy characters, the "You're goshdarn right" scene had me laughing out loud...ooof.

 

[gampelcrazies]

He killed him. On first watch I they were showing the viewers the uncertainty of Tony's condition, how it could all fall apart at any minute, but in retrospect and particularly looking at the evidence laid out here, I don't think there's any ambiguity about the fact that he was killed.

https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

Soprano's was the best show ever made even with its flaws. To this day, I can waste an hour and a half letting YouTube autoplay one Soprano's clip after another. So many enjoyable characters and great writing.

Leftovers and The Wire up there too, Breaking Bad is 2 tiers down. Fake artsy openers, lousy characters, the "You're goshdarn right" scene had me laughing out loud...ooof.

I don't think he died. They had scripts to bring back the show with Tony in it.

 

[temery]

I don't think he died. They had scripts to bring back the show with Tony in it.

At the time the show aired, I highly doubt there was even a thought of killing their golden goose.

Unless of course he was killed, cut up, dropped in dumpsters along the same route, and somehow gets put back together and is reanimated, but with a cleaver as his right hand.

 

[Dogdeacon]

To me Sopranos was always the dumbed down 'B' or TV version of the Godfather that rode the 'this is what the mob is really like' stylistic choice past most criticism into revered status. For me it was very good, but rarely transcendent and I was always able to check in & out without caring or noticing what I missed too much. I love Gandolfini in it and to lesser extent Bracco and Falco, but it was way more typical TV to me than the prestige dramas over the more recent 7 years or so.

 

[Kolumbo]

He killed him. On first watch I they were showing the viewers the uncertainty of Tony's condition, how it could all fall apart at any minute, but in retrospect and particularly looking at the evidence laid out here, I don't think there's any ambiguity about the fact that he was killed.

https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

Soprano's was the best show ever made even with its flaws. To this day, I can waste an hour and a half letting YouTube autoplay one Soprano's clip after another. So many enjoyable characters and great writing.

Leftovers and The Wire up there too, Breaking Bad is 2 tiers down. Fake artsy openers, lousy characters, the "You're goshdarn right" scene had me laughing out loud...ooof.

I'm half way into season three, Joe Pantoliano recently arrived, Burt Young came and went in one episode, I see the trend. The final episode. No way a hit man would walk in the door with AJ like that and make himself overly visible. I've read all the theories but it just makes no sense at all. All that POV malarkey. If there were anything to that, we would have seen Tony's view of Meadow walk in the door because Tony looks up for a good second or so before it goes black.

 

[JCSuperstar]

I'm half way into season three, Joe Pantoliano recently arrived, Burt Young came and went in one episode, I see the trend. The final episode. No way a hit man would walk in the door with AJ like that and make himself overly visible. I've read all the theories but it just makes no sense at all. All that POV malarkey. If there were anything to that, we would have seen Tony's view of Meadow walk in the door because Tony looks up for a good second or so before it goes black.

If you're enjoying the series, watch to the end before you make up your mind. Almost three seasons isn't enough. I don't know how you can call it "POV malarkey". The shots and sets and direction are deliberate decisions made by the people running the show. That stuff doesn't happen by accident or coincidence. You can not like the choices, you can think its a lousy way to tell a story, but you can't hand wave it away because it doesn't make sense to you.