Is The Sopranos the greatest tv show of all time?

[mafia]

Sopranos was amazing in it's time, but wouldn't stand out as much today. You gotta remember season 1 was in 1998! In 1998 everyone was trying to replicate Friends or ER, and reality TV was still just for MTV kids

It paved the way for high production value TV dramas. If it weren't for Soprano's, we wouldn't have GOT or Breaking Bad.

Also, missing from a lot of the list's above is Six Feet Under. One of the best all around shows, IMO

Truth. People forget how old The Sopranos is and how well it has aged. To this day, I still occasionally re-watch some of my favorite episodes.

 

[smackababy]

I feel like you guys are just naming TV shows that you like. Firefly? Let's be honest here, it wasn't that good. Dexter? Not even close. The Walking Dead? This can't even be a serious suggestion. Next up, one of you is going to claim Supernatural should be in the top 5.

The Sopranos was good, and it paved the way, but it has been outclassed. Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, House of Cards are all much better.

 

[MongGrel]

If that gets in so does Firefly.

Soap ? They really were hanging it out there on that one at the time.

:sneaky:

Sopranos was great.

I am going to miss Boardwalk Empire.

I miss Deadwood also.

And, yeah a big GOT fan.

I still like re watching the Generation Kills now and then, too.

No Red Dwarf fans ?

 

[Markbnj]

House of Cards

Please. The first two seasons were good, and the production values are high, but it is no where near the Sopranos, imo. I don't think I could personally take a third season of Spacey's snarky asides.

 

[squarecut1]

Truth. People forget how old The Sopranos is and how well it has aged. To this day, I still occasionally re-watch some of my favorite episodes.

The other day, I just put on a Breaking Bad scene at random (having watched the whole show not too long ago). It was Walter and Gretchen having that conversation in a restaurant - after Skyler had called Gretchen to thank her for paying for the treatment of Walter (which ofcourse she did not do). I really enjoyed it. So impressed again at the impeccable quality of it all - the production, dialogues, acting and so on.

I think I will re-watch the whole thing sometime (skipping the first few episodes of the first season which I did not like so much).

 

[squarecut1]

Please. The first two seasons were good, and the production values are high, but it is no where near the Sopranos, imo. I don't think I could personally take a third season of Spacey's snarky asides.

To each his own, but I refer you to my view on Spacey:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36770113&postcount=57

 

[Printer Bandit]

Nice to see familiar faces in Six Feet Under that went on to do other things:

just a few...

Rainn Wilson - Dwight from the Office
Jenna Fischer - Pam from the Office
Anna Gunn - Skylar from Breaking Bad
David Hornsby - Rickety Cricket from Always Sunny
Justin Theroux - The Leftovers
Mena Suvari
Michelle Trachtenberg

 

[Phoenix86]

this should be good....

Well if I were to start a list of "in the discussion"...

The Honeymooners
M*A*S*H
All in the Family
The Sopranos
The Simpsons
Dr. Who
Seinfeld
E.R.
Breaking Bad
X Files
The Cosby Show
I Love Lucy
Friends
Hill Street Blues

I think something like Game of Thrones will be up there but it just hasn't run long enough to be considered 'greatest'..

I'm sure there's a several I'm leaving out, and there's a few on the list that could easily be taken out but are worth mentioning.

 

[spacejamz]

WTF??? No Jack Bauer love

 

[Childs]

Highlander the TV series is the greatest of all time.

 

[Phoenix86]

WTF??? No Jack Bauer love

Yes, I'd put 24 on the list for sure, again it was a start of shows that would make the discussion.

 

[poofyhairguy]

WTF??? No Jack Bauer love

How is Jack Bauer fighting terrorist minorities a good show? I mean, it is suspenseful but the entire show requires a suspension of belief (unless you are a cop and then its a blueprint to being a modern YouTube celebrity).

My favorite all time show is TNG, but you won't see me argue that its an all time great. All time great need to be events, their endings a big deal. Sopranos, Mash, Seinfeld, etc.

 

[squarecut1]

What is TNG?

 

[Childs]

What is TNG?

The New Girl.

 

[JEDIYoda]

the Sopranos??? Try Gilligan`s island or F Troop!! Now those were TV shows!!

 

[Grooveriding]

Never got the Game of Thrones hype. One of the worst HBO shows. It's a soap opera in a medieval setting with lots of tits and ass to keep the undersexed teens interested.

Mediocre acting and writing with some cool special effects . Pretty meh.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

BB is the best thing ever on TV, no question. I say that taking everything into consideration, from the music, to the cinematography. Many great shows have been on, but if they fall to BB in one area, to me they are not as good.

 

[slayer202]

the breaking bad hype has reached new levels. probably not even a top 10 show

 

[IGBT]

I thought Deadwood was better..hooplehead!

 

[squarecut1]

Never got the Game of Thrones hype. One of the worst HBO shows. It's a soap opera in a medieval setting with lots of tits and ass to keep the undersexed teens interested.

Mediocre acting and writing with some cool special effects . Pretty meh.

Good to see other people see GOT the same way as I do. I have critiqued it extensively in the thread for that show.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Not only do I not like GOT, I think it sucks. Dragon babies, oh come on.

 

[Jadow]

Sons Of Anarchy has been epic the last 2 seasons.

The Shield was great too

not sure what the best is though

 

[RossMAN]

Sons Of Anarchy has been epic the last 2 seasons.

The Shield was great too

not sure what the best is though

1) The Wire
2) Breaking Bad
3) all others

 

[Mai72]

No one mentioned The Flintstones.

Scooby and the gang anyone?

 

[KeithP]

This seems a bit problematic.

Define "TV Show". It seems for the purpose of this thread the definition is something along the lines of any series/mini series that originally aired on a cable or broadcast network.

However pointless it is to include a show like "the Sopranos" in the same category as "Seinfeld", it is an order of several magnitudes more pointless to pit over the air broadcast networks with their content restrictions against paid cable networks.

I would also argue that mini series will have an advantage or longer run multi-year series given the difficulty in maintaining quality over the long haul.

That being said just grouping everything under the TV Show umbrella per the OP, I would put "Band of Brothers" and possibly "John Adams" over "The Sopranos". Taking into the account the time at which the show was made, I think "All in the Family" would take the top spot although the last couple of seasons weren't the greatest.

-KeithP