The Sopranos (HBO) TV Show • Page 15

Livia is a fantastic villain, one of the best of all time in my opinion. Although during this rewatch, Ralphie is currently in the running. Forgot just how awful he is. We just watched the episode where he kills Tracy the pregnant stripper. That one episode alone he does a number of things that piss me the fuck off.

 

Really fucking hate the priest haha

 

'Most hated' though... is that 'most evil' or 'most disliked' - because I guess it seems you are supposed to 'dislike' some 'evil' characters..... But they are terrific....

 

Most-hated one-off character... Ben Kingsley for turning down Chris's offer to star in his movie

 

I think you can justify this as one of the greatest TV shows ever by any metric. It is extremely hard to compare it to MASH or whatever but I really do think you can put it up there to whatever extent you can compare

 

One thing that hasn't aged well, CGI Livia when the episode was shot after the actress passed.

 

Just curious, outside of The Wire, Mad Men, The Sopranos, and MASH (I've never seen it or heard much about it), what other shows would fall on this same list? I know some people hold Breaking Bad and GOT in high regard but I don't think either show quite hits that sweet spot.

 

I would 100% be willing to put those two up there. I know many feel Lost is amazing and ahead of it's time, but I never got into the show.

 

People say Deadwood as well

 

The Sopranos, The Wire and Mad Men are in the top level for me. Louie, for a period of time, reached those transcendent heights as well. Sucks that’s ruined.

 

I think GoT needs time to marinade once it's over to see how long of a lasting impact it has. It's the best show on TV right now for sure. My top 3 are Sopranos, Mad Men, & Lost.

I watched Breaking Bad the whole way through, and haven't even thought about coming back to it since. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but I never felt the need to return.

 

I've never seen Deadwood. I also loved Louie when it was airing. Like you said, it's ruined forever though.

GOT hasn't been good in 2-3 seasons, in my opinion. The writing quality took a massive dip, which is unfortunate because I used to really love it. Breaking Bad is nearly perfect, albeit exhausting.

The new Twin Peaks season was so damn good that I'd rank it among the best of all time.

 

never seen Deadwood either but my recent RDR2 mood may get me into it haha

 

If anything I think GoT rebounded with its last two seasons. The only season I dislike really is 5.

 

Though yeah this, MM, The Wire, and Rectify are my go to dramas.

 

BB being somewhat inconsistent, but still good. BCS actually rivaling BB legacy

 

Freaks and Geeks

 

Twin Peaks as a whole is nowhere near consistent as The Wire, Sopranos, Mad Men, etc... but damn if the highs aren't up there with any of them. Also season 3 is so damn good and made the rest of the show as a whole better in my opinion. Might not be the best show but it's my favorite


It's also cool to see how much of an influence it has on the Sopranos

 

GOT is absolutely up there. Again I haven't watched every show so maybe I'm being a little fanboyish but GOT is absolutely top 5, IMO, as far as long form dramas go. Even the one mediocre season, season 5, has one of the best stretches of episodes in television (Hardhome, Dance of Dragons, Mother's Mercy). The only thing wrong with Season 7 was they sped up the pacing a bit which makes you have to suspend disbelief on some small things, which of course sounds crazy in a show about a made up world about dragons and shit, but the first 6 seasons were great at making all the little things seem realistic. Doesn't take away that much though, Season 7 is still pretty stellar.

The Leftovers might not ever be considered, especially because it's only 3 seasons, but fuck it's amazing.

Anyway, I've been catching a few episodes a day on this HBO marathon....What is the consensus on Paulie Walnuts? I feel like he's probably my favorite character from what I've watched, and I feel kind of bad or him about Nucci's funeral. Should I? Or has everyone decided he's just a sociopath who doesn't deserve sympathy or to be liked? haha

 

I’d put The Leftovers up there for sure. Not sure how widely that opinion is shared though. It’s provably the most “challenging” show I’ve ever watched

 

Challenging is a great word for it. The first 6 episodes I think I was only watching because I kept finishing the episodes and just going "what the fuck??" trying to figure out what the fuck it's all about and all that. The lsat 4 episodes are just so good at tying everything together, and the first season overall is one of the darkest/most depressing seasons of a show I can think of....so definitely "Challenging" haha

 

The Leftovers really is special. I also really love what I’ve seen of Boardwalk Empire but I still need to finish the show someday.

As for GOT- I don’t understand that argument about having to suspend disbelief anyway in a show about dragons/magic/etc. There’s a difference between bad writing and genre-writing. Nobody complains about the show’s fantasy influence—people do about the writing direction.

 

I'd do the same. It was a masterwork start to finish

 

Most hated character definitely Meadow when she told Livia not to eat the gabagool

 

SHE WAS ABUSIVE TO THE STAAFFFF