SOPRANOS and ENTOURAGE return, the masses rejoice

 

Eight episodes left.  Just a mere few days ago there were nine, and now there are eight.  By now everyone who watches TV or follows entertainment has seen all the articles about HBO's THE SOPRANOS: retrospectives, favorite episode lists, and of course speculations as to how one of the most influential shows in the past ten years will come to an end.  Tony goes to jail.  Tony takes over the NY mob.  Tony gets whacked.

There's little denying that THE SOPRANOS did for "quality" narrative television what SURVIVOR and THE BACHELOR, and THE REAL LIFE before them, did for reality TV.  At least in terms of popularity.  It made it cool again and it made it worth talking about.   It was revolutionary.  And while even today we still have to wade through an ever increasing barrage of worthless television (much of it "reality-based"), we wouldn't have shows like 24 and LOST on network TV if HBO hadn't started it with a gamble on a TV show about New Jersey gangsters.  Nor would we have the fantastic string of other HBO-produced shows like DEADWOOD, SIX FEET UNDER, or BIG LOVE.

What's amazing about THE SOPRANOS is how good it has remained, and how surprising.  Just when you think a character is safe, they're swimming with the fishes.  Just when you think someone's as good as dead, he or she emerges as a new major character.  The humanity creator David Chase and his writers give their cast of unlikely heroes is so intricate and well drawn that we find ourselves rooting for and indeed falling in love with the mobster next door.  The show's makers are never too busy to focus on the small moments: Carmela admiring a statue in Paris, Tony searching for meaning while staring across a lake.

So this past Sunday I had a reason to watch television again.  Chris Doubek and Heather joined Alli and I at our house and we shared a bottle of wine.  For eight more weeks it will be this way.  While I'll lament THE SOPRANOS coming to and end, I can't help but appreciate a show that ends itself in a calculated and fantastic finale rather than a rushed or forced last few episodes that the creators throw together when the ratings begin to drop.  It's been frustrating waiting through the seemingly interminable periods between seasons, but now all of that has just added to the anticipation.  When it's all said an done with, we'll have an entirely new cannon that (unlike so many shows of the past) is complete unto itself.  Hopefully the creators don't ruin it with a series of spinoffs or movies.  It's not impossible, but I'd call it unlikely.  So here's to eight more glorious weeks: every episode taking on that extra dose of gravity because we know we're rolling closer to the end.

And then there's ENTOURAGE.  Could there be a more fun encore?  While I've complained about the show's "lack of incident" and its half hour running time, I still love the show and its cast of characters.  It will be interesting to see where the show goes: whether it strays down any of the darker alleyways of the business or stays true to its comedic and carefree roots.  I would probably be entertained either way.  But if they want to truly keep the show fresh, they'll have to start introducing some more major events and some new twists.  The honeymoon can't last forever.