With the success of The Sopranos comments board below, I thought I would solicit reader comments on Big Love, the new HBO series on polygamy. What do you think?
In response to some of the comments on The Sopranos, I wanted to add that, for me, The Wire is a far more realistic depiction of crime and law enforcement. I view The Sopranos as more surrealist than realistic in a highly (for me) aesthetically pleasing way. Deadwood, in contrast, I view as Shakespearean in its investment in dialog, which includes the inability to understand some of it without a quick backup on the Tivo™ to hear a line again. It is even better in second viewing when you do not have to concern yourself with the plot and can focus on the words. Then there is Entourage. . . an awesome show. These are my four favorite series.
Do I sound like I watch too much TV? After all, there is also 24, the amazing House, Rome, and the far inferior but still entertaining, Prison Break, to keep up with. Well, perhaps. But the Tivo™ allows me to be very selective. [In response to a comment, I have been and remain a genuine Tivo™ owner since the product was first introduced.] Choose the shows to which I want to commit and keep up with them late in the evening when I am too drained to do anything else. And the other nice thing is that there are new episodes of different series throughout the year, not just from Fall to Spring, so there are at any one time probably no more 3-4 shows to watch per week.
This may well be the new Golden Age of television, with the medium finally being used to accomplish story telling that cannot be done in the traditional “series” format or the traditional 2-hour movie format.