‘The Sopranos’ turns 25 with reputation intact
I’ll never forget watching the preview tapes — yes, VCR tapes — of the first episodes of “The Sopranos.” Certainly I, like most TV and movie fans, had already seen many takes on Mafia thugs, with violent hotheads and blood-stained car trunks. But this one, unromanticized and self-aware of its genre, was clearly different, with a mob boss in the throes of a midlife crisis and beginning therapy.
It’s hard to believe, but Jan. 10 marks the 25th anniversary of the premiere of “The Sopranos,” a day that triggered a seismic change in the quality of scripted television and in the way audiences approached TV. The show from David Chase was written, acted, and filmed with the sophistication of a movie, and its huge success pointed the way for other TV makers. Almost overnight it became clear that, contrary to long-held network beliefs, TV viewers didn’t need to be talked down to, that they were quite willing to embrace notso-nice characters and un-spelled-out plot turns.
It also became clear that, when presented with top-notch shows like “The Sopranos,” TV viewers were willing to venture into pay-cable channels en masse. Prior to the show, cable was still a bit of a hinterland, a place to watch movies, but in the year or two after it, cable became the place to go to find the best. The networks tried to borrow some of cable’s grit and complexity, but broadcast standards and advertiser fears got in the way. Since then, network TV has largely given up and resorted to game shows and reality franchises.
“The Sopranos” remains my No. 1 favorite TV series, for its indelible acting, its witty and often comic writing, its psychological lens, its demythologizing of mob stories, and its wise and deep take on family, both at home and at work. The show, available to stream on Max, holds up beautifully 25 years into what is certain to be a long and vital afterlife.