# Was The Sopranos as good as Deadwood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320 "2005-05-11T01:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/1 "2005-05-11T01:17:58Z")
I became a **crazed obsessive newbie Deadwood fangirl** when the first season of **Deadwood** came out on DVD, and I was able to rent it from Netflix. I’m mesmerized by Deadwood. My husband and I discuss it for hours not only after the show on Sunday night, but throughout the week. Was \*\*The Sopranos \*\* as good as **Deadwood**? I’ve never seen The Sopranos. I know it had some very loyal fans. Are the two shows comparable? Another way of putting my question: _“Alas! How shall I live my life, whatever shall I do when the second season of Deadwood ends in a few weeks?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/2 "2005-05-11T01:57:06Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > Was \*\*The Sopranos \*\* as good as **Deadwood**? I’ve never seen The Sopranos. I know it had some very loyal fans. Are the two shows comparable? I’d put both of them in the same general class of truly excellent television. I’ve gradually come to the conclusion that I think **Deadwood** is a bit better, but really that is very subjective and I wouldn’t have any problem who thought otherwise. There is no guarantee you’ll like **The Sopranos** just because you like **Deadwood** - the characters and setting may do nothing for you. But I’d say odds are good that if you like one, you’ll like the other and I think **The Sopranos** is actually just a bit more accessible - **Deadwood** took me a couple of episodes to truly buy into, but **The Sopranos** hooked me instantly. TV dramas just don’t get any better. If you like a little of the surreal and supernatural with your drama, **Carnivale** is also quite good, if a bit slow-moving in the first season. Not _quite_ as good as the first two IMO, but that’s hardly faint praise. HBO has a heck of a drama triple threat going with those three. We’ll have to see how the new Rome series measures up. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/3 "2005-05-11T02:32:39Z")
I agree with **Tamarlane** – I’m not sure The Sopranos was _quite_ as good as Deadwood in the first season, but it was hella close. The show fell off considerably in S2 and never reached its original heights again. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/4 "2005-05-11T02:48:03Z")
I’d say that overall they are both excellent shows, but I’d give the nod to _Deadwood_ simply because it is more ambitious. The Shakespearean writing, the incredible range of characters, etc. Both are very well acted (amazingly well), but the _Deadwood_ actors have the more difficult job. My .02 ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/5 "2005-05-11T04:13:31Z")
I remember the Saturday Night Live skit about the excessive praise The Sopranos was getting during its first couple seasons. In the format of a movie ad scrolling reviews from various sources, this was a mock Sopranos ad with the reviews scrolling, with announcer reading them aloud: [Some very positive review] [Another one, a bit over the top] [Way more praise than is appropriate for any form of entertainment] “Uuuuunnn Unnnnn Unnnnnnnnn” (Could hear reviewer orgasming) “If given a choice to watch one more epsiode of the Sopranos or to have all the secrets of the universe revealed to me in one glorious instant of total epiphany, I would think for a second, and then choose the Sopranos.” hehheh, I loved that bit. Deadwood is deeper and richer than the Sopranos, but if Deadwood weren’t on the air, the Sopranos would be the best show on television. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/6 "2005-05-11T07:14:23Z")
I still prefer The Sopranos, but then I’ve had five seasons to fall in love with The Sopranos and only about two to fall in love with Deadwood. Time will tell which one I end up liking more. While the first season of The Sopranos was the best, I think season 5 was pretty damn close. It’s possible that season 6 will be better yet, giving The Sopranos a strange “quality curve”. Most TV shows aren’t great their first season, pick up in seasons two through four or so, then start sucking towards the end as the writers run out of ideas. If season 6 is as good as I hope it will be, then The Sopranos will be the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/7 "2005-05-11T07:56:19Z")
Hijack alert! > [@Tamerlane](#): > > We’ll have to see how the new Rome series measures up. > > - Tamerlane Hey, **Tamerlane,** any idea when that is bound to start? I haven’t moseyed over to HBO (or the TV for that matter in a long time) and just found out about it when you mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/8 "2005-05-11T10:40:49Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Hijack alert! > > Hey, **Tamerlane,** any idea when that is bound to start? I haven’t moseyed over to HBO (or the TV for that matter in a long time) and just found out about it when you mentioned it. I’ll have to check out this “Deadwood” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Improbability](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Improbability](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improbability)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/9 "2005-05-11T10:50:43Z")
I can’t comment on the Sopranos v. Deadwood, but I know that the Sopranos beats every other show in the world in my mind. It was so fantastically done; the plots and characterisation were excellent. I must look up Deadwood, but I suppose I will have to look for it on DVD over here. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/10 "2005-05-11T11:08:08Z")
> [@Improbability](#): > > I can’t comment on the Sopranos v. Deadwood, but I know that the Sopranos beats every other show in the world in my mind. It was so fantastically done; the plots and characterisation were excellent. > > I must look up Deadwood, but I suppose I will have to look for it on DVD over here. Season One of Deadwood is out on DVD. Imagine a bit of Verdi’s _Don Carlo_, a little bit of _Hamlet_ and a lot of bravura writing and acting set in one of the classic Wild West towns in 19the century America. Then add a lot of really bad words. And make it into a serial, no dare I say it - a soap opera. It’s great. I have new respect for HBO, and TV in general because of Deadwood. ---
**Author:** ![Improbability](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Improbability](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improbability)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/11 "2005-05-11T11:18:11Z")
Yes, I have resepct for HBO - Six Feet Under, Oz, Sopranos etc. I can’t stand Sex in/ and the City though. That was a very annoying show. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/12 "2005-05-11T12:59:14Z")
I personally prefer The Sopranos to Deadwood. It’s just more interesting, IMO. More than once, I’ve fallen asleep or given up and gone to bed during an episode of Deadwood (one of them being the one when Wild Bill was shot at the _very end_ of an excruciatingly dull episode). I find myself not caring much about many of the characters, with the exception of Al, Trixie, and the Doc. See, when Seth cheats with Alma, I find both characters reprehensible. When Tony does the same (not with Alma, of course), I still like him (he’s kind of like Al to me in that way, I guess). It’s hard to explain why. Perhaps it’s that Bullock and Alma go out of their way to look like top-notch citizens in public, and act like they’re better than everyone else, but really they’re no better than Trixie or Joanie. In fact, I think Trixie and Joanie are better people. I seem to like the characters on The Sopranos no matter how terrible their actions are. They’re not pretending to be good people (with the exception of Carmella). Anyway, this was probably much more than you wanted to know. I just had to stick up for what I believe to be the better show. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/13 "2005-05-11T14:33:26Z")
I much prefer **Deadwood**. **The Sopranos** was excellent in season 1, still okay in season 2, and then dropped off a cliff. I didn’t bother to watch this last season at all. After the actress who played Tony’s mother died, thereby “resolving” the central issue of the show, it was clear to me that the writers had no real idea where to take the show from one episode to the next. The episodes that concentrated on Tony’s kids were just excruciating to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/14 "2005-05-11T15:17:07Z")
I’m not sure I have a right to post in this thread, but I’m going to do so anyway. I don’t have HBO, so I rent the DVDs of their television series. Thus, I have never seen **Deadwood**. I have, however, seen most of **The Sopranos** , two seasons of **Six Feet Under** , and two seasons of **The Wire**. By far, **The Wire** has been my favorite of all the HBO series I have seen. I cannot recommend it enough. It’s a cop show, created by the author of Homicide (the book that influenced **Homicide: Life on the Street** ). I guess what differentiates **The Wire** from most police dramas is the way it sympathetically deals with the “bad guys,” showing the parallels between the criminals of Baltimore and its law-abiding citizens. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/15 "2005-05-11T15:34:06Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > If you like a little of the surreal and supernatural with your drama, **Carnivale** is also quite good, if a bit slow-moving in the first season. Not _quite_ as good as the first two IMO, but that’s hardly faint praise. HBO has a heck of a drama triple threat going with those three. Well, two, since Carnivale has been cancelled. No season 3. I vote for Deadwood over Sopranos because it’s such a different world and environment (lawless mining camp in the 1800’s, versus New Jersey). I just get completely involved in the world of Deadwood. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/16 "2005-05-11T16:11:47Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Hijack alert! > Hey, **Tamerlane,** any idea when that is bound to start? I haven’t moseyed over to HBO (or the TV for that matter in a long time) and just found out about it when you mentioned it. It’s a co-production with the BBC and it looks like it is coming in the Fall, at least according to this source: [http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-23351/](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-23351/) $100 million budget for the first 12 episodes - at the very least it should _look_ good :). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/17 "2005-05-11T16:25:49Z")
I never thought a show could be as good as The Sopranos. . .until Deadwood came along. I think it started out stronger. IMO, Sopranos seasons 1 & 2 we both excellent. It slid a little in Season 3. Season 4 was shit, but Season 5 was excellent. I would have put it up against Seasons 1 & 2. Lots of pure entertainment, while also lots of the psychology that always gave the show a little more depth. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sopranos-as-good-as-deadwood/303320/18 "2005-05-13T00:35:50Z")
I used to love _The Sopranos_. It was an amazing show and very humanly real, esp. for someone from an Italian-American family from the tri-state area. However, the last 2 seasons have shown a decline in quality and frankly, I’m having a hard time liking ANY of the characters. TV characters don’t have to be good people for me to like them, by the way-- sometimes the villains are my favorite characters-- but in _The Sopranos_, a lot of them have turned out to be just plain disappointments. Deadwood is my favorite show currently airing, and I find it just gets better and better. Al Swearengen is an amazing character who never fails to thrill me every episode; I’d watch it just for him. I hope I don’t have to say the same things about _Deadwood_ that I said about _The Sopranos_ if it goes on for 5-6 seasons. One skill of which network producers seem to be entirely devoid is the proper time to end a show. They seem to either do it too early (_Firefly_, _Freaks & Geeks_) or too late (_X-Files_, _ER_). A little OT, but my favorite HBO series, possibly the best TV show ever, is _The Wire_. Talk about multi-dimensional characters (I LOVE OMAR! Best character EVER!) and daring but realistic plots. Highly recommended. I’ve also enjoyed _Sex in the City_, _Six Feet Under_, _Oz_, and _Carnivale_ immensely, but they are souped-up soap operas one and all. Still better than everything else on TV, though, but a long way, and I’ll watch them all until they’re canceled (except poor Carnivale ☹ ).