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| Topic: TV Drama |
5:16 pm EST, Mar 7, 2004 |
The Sopranos are back. "The Sopranos" is back. Are they and is it as good as ever? Yes. Maybe better. It should quickly reassert itself as the most sensational, suspenseful and unpredictably explosive drama series on television. You will be shocked, you will be amused, you will be disturbed. And you will be glued to the tube. The Mobster Shift |
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'The Sopranos': Bullies, Bears and Bullets: It's Round 5 |
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| Topic: TV Drama |
9:01 am EST, Mar 5, 2004 |
"The Sopranos" returns for a fifth season with all of its early verve and none of the torpor that weighed the show down last year. Its creator, David Chase, is cocky: the first episode posits a bear that wanders into the Sopranos' backyard, terrifying AJ and Carmela. The furry intrusion signals that things are about to get wild in this ruptured family, that the breakup has unleashed forces beyond their control. But it also contrasts rather comically with the ducks that so lyrically flew away from the Sopranos' backyard pool in the first season, driving a bereft Tony into therapy. Most of all, the bear is a rather crude reminder to viewers: "The Sopranos" is no ordinary television show. 'The Sopranos': Bullies, Bears and Bullets: It's Round 5 |
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The Real Boss of 'The Sopranos' |
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| Topic: TV Drama |
11:01 am EST, Feb 29, 2004 |
Next Sunday, after a hiatus of 15 months, "The Sopranos" returns to HBO for its fifth season. Woo hoo! Lock and load! David Chase: "Network television is all talk ... a prisoner of dialogue and steady-cam." "I can tell you: to have to cut something to 42 minutes for an hour show is absurd. It's despicable. I'm amazed that we Americans put up with this." "Television is at the base of a lot of our problems. It trivializes everything." "I'm tired of television. I'm tired of the form." The Real Boss of 'The Sopranos' |
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| Topic: TV Drama |
5:55 am EDT, Oct 7, 2002 |
So, what next for "The Sopranos"? "The Sopranos" is now attracting broadcast network-size ratings even though only a third of the nation's television audience subscribes to HBO. HBO now has the first television megahit ever to be unavailable to the majority of viewers. HBO has, from the beginning, produced alternate scenes with different language and other editing for mass-reach outlets. "We always hear about how HBO has got the perfect economic model. But here we have a hit, and we don't have an easy way to directly monetize it. 'The Sopranos' Next Move |
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