God yes. What made it so poignant was watching every episode all the way through in chronological order. By the end, I knew these characters so well I actually FELT something. It wasn’t fair what happened to Keith.
Not only that but it was tony getting his hands directly dirty, something that he was avoiding and would usually get crissy or paulie to take care of, It showed tony at his most brutal and cunning, sneaking up on someone and choking the shit out of them, GREAT episode…
You really won’t appreciate it if you have no back story to relate it to…
Like The Shield, its the portrayal of evil people, but in a manner which actually makes you want them to succeed…
In Soprano’s specifically, its the normal everyday mundaneness of a mans life, with sometimes unexpected bursts of violence which remind you of the evil you are watching. You often understand why they kill, even if its a parking attendant, its because they can’t kill the one they really want to…
Some nice insights into the mafia too and it can be pretty funny sometimes…
I don’t remember that being very graphic…certainly not the most graphic part of the series. Sure, there was a lot of implied gore (and the comic moment with the toupee), but the same could be said about several other parts of the show.
There are many funny moments in the Sopranos, and Uncle Junior cracks me up, and I love Janice, she is my fave!
I know its on A&E but with commercials and the scenes they cut not worth it to watch imo. I catch it on HBO on demand. I may have to resort to netflix cause I cannot wait. Rome as well, I am on a Rome kick right now, that is a gorgeous show and the actors are so perfectly cast. Fun to watch with the directors commentary on.
Not to hijack your thread but I think the real question should be, “How can the Sopranos be so popular in a world that decries bullying so loudly?”
Seriously, what message are kids getting from parents who say they are against bullying but then speak admiringly about this show/these characters with their friends? That’s not counting the number of parents who think it’s okay for their kids to watch it because they themselves enjoy it!
If you want to watch it, as a parent, I get that you’re an adult and should be able to, if you so choose. But could you please have the intelligence and maturity to not crow about your admiration for these fictional misfits in the presence of your children.
All those parents supporting ‘zero tolerance’ bullying policies at their kids schools and standing around the same school yard yakking to the other parents about, “Did you see the Soprano’s last night?” Terribly do as I say, not as I do. Talk about your mixed messages, do they think their children are deaf and blind, or just not very bright?
Sorry, I’ll get off this soap box now.
You just watched the first great episode of an excellent TV series and you’re wondering why it’s popular? “College” is the episode where The Sopranos started to be The Sopranos. Or at least that’s how I remember it. I don’t know what it looks like after the cable stations edit the thing.
Yeah, it’s nothing like the movie Cleaver or anything.
Anyway, people seem to forget it now, but when Sopranos started, the whole idea was really out there. Our collective notion of the mobster (a pretty prominent archetype in American myth) had been formed by Godfather and the like, and here’s a guy who lives in a McMansion in New Jersey, and goes to see a shrink, and has issues with his Mom, etc.
Think about how funny that college episode is in theory. Just like a billion other well-moneyed New Jersey guys, he’s bringing his daughter around New England to visit the elite liberal arts colleges, but in his world, he sees a rat who needs to be whacked.
I think that the show had a lot to say about greed, and deception, and the American Dream while being couched in a pretty entertaining show with sex, violence, and humor.
Good, now smash that soapbox to little pieces.
Well-adjusted adults can enjoy a show about things that they would never even think of doing. So can children. The guy in Saw may be fun to watch, but no one sane is going emulate his actions. Speaking personally, I love action-adventure shows with lots of gunplay; I love to play first-person shooters. Once I leave that fantasy world, I have a strong antipathy towards firearms.
Why do some busybodies keep wanting to take away my escapism because they can’t reconcile the difference between fiction and reality?
I think the show lost its stride in the final season, and don’t get me started on the ending. But when it was good, it was brilliant (especially 3rd and 4th seasons). I’ve never seen that level of character complexity on a TV show.
After the actress who played Livia (Nancy Marchand?) died, the show lost direction. They were never big on tying up loose ends (what ever happened to the Russian mobster Paulie and Chris tried to kill being the classic example) becuase, as I read somewhere, life doesn’t always give closure. After Livia’s demise, it seemed like they’d never resolve anything. The last episode seemed like a big loud “fuck you” to people who had watched for years.
What is your idea of a mafia film?
It was such a creative spin on the idea of a mafia TV show. It was really my introduction into the mafia genre–I’d never been into it before. But going back and watching “The Godfather” or “Goodfellas” and the like–they’re still good, but…limited, somehow. The beauty of “The Sopranos” was all the little mundane details. Carmela getting the house re-wallpapered or building her spec house, the nth scene of people just eating together, the kids getting into college…and of course, all the whackings. But really, these were people you could identify with, in a way that we could never ID with Michael Corleone. Not larger than life figures anymore…the mafia deconstructed.
I’ll agree with that insofar as to say they definitely had to fumble around a bit. There were plots where Janice (in particular) was obviously doing things they had intended Livia to be doing, and Tony’s willingness to overlook Janice’s shortcomings never did make as much sense as his willingness to overlook Livia’s. But they made do a lot better than some shows have that lost major stars. At least they didn’t try to slip a different actress playing Livia in front of us.
At the other end of his casual cruelty sprectrum was
using his connections to get that cop (Charles Dutton) demoted because he gave him a ticket, then when he saw he working at the garden center to make some extra cash, trying to lay a couple hundred on him out of guilt. Glad Dutton wouldn’t take it.
Ralph124c, you should also check out the whole schmiel just to hear all of the Freudian slips and mangled metaphors. Those alone are worth the trip. 
I’ve only seen a dozen or so of the episodes, but this is what I’d say, too. It’s a well-crafted character study of an American subculture that most of us really know very little about, with great acting and intriguing stories.
I’d like to echo what everyone else here is saying. It’s one of the best television dramas of all time. And please don’t watch the edited versions! Rent them, from season one, and enjoy. You have to start from the start so you can have the perspective, backdrop and characters painted for you first.
Riveting, thrilling, brutal, and unpredictable.
Seriously, are you kidding? Since when is the merit of a creative work dependent on the moral virtue of the characters depicted therein? The Sopranos goes to great lengths to remind the viewer that its characters do not deserve admiration.
Ummmm, maybe the message that “things that TV characters do” and “things that are acceptable to do in the real world” are different?
Ahem, need I remind you of a little show called Everyman? Best. Morality Play. Ever!