The Sopranos by HBO
The Sopranos or how TV obsession came to be 🤷🏻♀️
Exactly two decades ago TV wasn’t cool. They were the outsiders and misfits to the movie-making game.
TV Shows didn’t get hottest, most talented actors, didn’t have bright screenplays, good directors, screenwriters or cinematographers. And it was chained. Because its lack of talent they weren’t popular but they lacked talent exactly because they weren’t popular. It’s the job-experience-job paradigm. So how do you get out of it? Well.. you don’t.. until you do.
Nowadays, in 2019 TV is seemingly more popular than cinema. How’s this even possible? Scorsese’s shooting for Netflix, Meryl Streep, Kidman, Witherspoon, Spacey, Kostner, McConaughey, Hopkins, Hathaway are all doing different shows and many more are lusting after it.
The answer, of course, is STREAMING. Netflix broke the game. TV modified itself and became a true artistic stage. Ah, I forgot, even Refn shot a series for Amazon (!!!). So art cinema’s also moving towards the streaming craze.
But there was a show, one particular show that set all of this into motion. It was The Sopranos by HBO. 20 years ago they introduced smth not yet seen on Television before. A show that could boast about its script, acting, cinematography and direction. It inevitably became massively popular. Won dozens of awards including 5 Golden Globes (23 noms in total) and hundreds of Emmys (Oscar for TV).
Being the one genre I adore — crime, somehow I managed to miss it.. until now.
6 Seasons, 86 Episodes. I watched it in two months. I would’ve wrapped it up in a week, be it 10 years ago 👵🏻. However, I must say — It’s incredible. It should be on everybody’s must-see list. The Sopranos is like a bible. Srsly.
The premise, the structure, story and acting are smth out of this world. And you learn a lot too. I’m absolutely positive more people died here than in GOT. Almost every episode has a funeral 😂
After The Sopranos, they started making more and more quality TV Series every year. A year after its finale, Breaking Bad came out for AMC, 3 years — Walking Dead, 4 years — GOT and since 2013 Netflix has been breaking everyone’s balls untiiiil 2019 when everybody decided to open up a streaming channel — Apple+, Disney+, Amazon, Paramount and etc.
The Sopranos is addictive. It’s not the best TV show ever made or smth but it was the best for at least 8 years and that’s saying a lot. Had it premiered nowadays it would’ve faced some serious competition but back in 1999 it was a gem. Mind you, nowadays it wouldn’t be bad or anything. On the contrary, it’d be at least on Top 5.
I personally didn’t like the final season and not all plotlines culminated according to my desire but it’s not important. There was quality and you can’t run from it.
See The Sopranos