The modern era of television that encompassed the late 90s until the late 2010s is known as the Golden Age of television. It is considered the period of time in which more critically acclaimed television has been produced than in any other period of the industry’s history. The shows which contributed to the period’s namesake are characterized by being creator-driven and serialized. Many of today’s shows, especially as streaming services have normalized binge-watching, have reached a point in their budgets, direction, and writing where seasons of shows are described as “eight-hour movies.”
This shift in television to a style of storytelling that is defined by serialized structure and mature subject matter can be traced back to a singular show, HBO’s The Sopranos. David Chase’s gangster drama set a new standard for cinematic storytelling in TV, and through its morally ambiguous characters, set the archetype for the drama seen in much of what is critically lauded television today.
The show’s dark subject matter and the characters’ immorality distinguish The Sopranos from other TV shows of the time, and have pushed the boundaries for the stories that the medium could tell. The show brazenly challenged conventional plot structure through the main character, Tony Soprano. A show without the nuance of The Sopranos would’ve tried to make the viewer empathize with the story’s protagonist through archetypal means for the crime genre, which would’ve meant depicting the character’s reformation from the mobster lifestyle in which he has grown up. However, while The Sopranos ponders questions about Tony’s possible rehabilitation and whether he is actually fit for the mobster lifestyle, the show makes it clear that he is a deeply immoral person.
As the show goes on, it becomes increasingly apparent that Tony is a sociopath who can’t be redeemed from his wrongdoings as a New Jersey mob boss. However, the show doesn’t compromise the audience’s empathy for the characters to portray them like this; despite the Soprano crime family being predominantly composed of selfish murderers, the audience does end up being sympathetic toward them due to the excellent writing by David Chase (and crew) and the show’s unique tone. This nuance was unlike anything seen in television at the time, and the explosive success of The Sopranos proved it could be a viable avenue to create interesting television.
Especially in its earlier seasons, the Sopranos is predominantly a dark comedy, which allows the narrative to critique its characters without compromising on the realism. While much of the comedy is drawn from the absurdity of the characters’ situations, a lot of the comedic appeal is also drawn from the dissonance between the realities of the characters and the audience. It is this tone, and Tony Soprano’s character, that has given the show a timeless quality, as these elements stand above its predecessors in the gangster genre.
The DNA of the Sopranos is embedded into many of the shows that are lauded today in popular culture. The moral complexity of having a protagonist who is not an axiom of good can be seen in shows like Dexter and Ozark, which, like The Sopranos, base a lot of the conflict on the drama resulting from their protagonists balancing a criminal and an ordinary lifestyle. The duality in Walter White’s character in Breaking Bad, as a family man who lives a double life as a ruthless drug kingpin, is a result of the influence of The Sopranos. As Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad’s creator, said, “Without Tony Soprano, there would be no Walter White.” With its contributions to the television medium and its influence on some of the most popular TV today, The Sopranos holds a special place among the pantheon of great television.
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