It’s Not TV…
Happy Religious Holiday Weekend, everybody.
Deadwood is not necessarily the greatest TV show of all time (although, if you wanted to, you could make a pretty compelling argument to that effect), but it’s probably my favorite.
By those standards, from my personal perspective, Deadwood is the TV equivalent of Magic Johnson.
I’ve never actually seen The Wire, but I’ve heard how uniquely remarkable it is from so many people that I have to assume, without having ever seen it myself, that it’s really, really great.
By those standards, The Wire is Oscar Robertson.
Then there’s The Sopranos, which has had its flaws over the years but is undeniably an amazing show, and the fact it came along when it did is pretty much the reason why HBO is so great and why all these other great shows have come along since.
By that measure, I’m not sure if The Sopranos is George Mikan or Wilt Chamberlain or Dr. J or Michael Jordan or what. But it’s amazing, and none of these other shows would exist without it.
I bring this up because the final season of The Sopranos starts Sunday night. And because if you’ve watched some or most or even all of the series to this point, you really should watch this to get caught up.
Enjoy. And feel free to take this discussion (Extras is Caron Butler for obvious reasons, etc and so on) as far as you’d like.
31 Responses to “It’s Not TV…”
Apr.6 at 10:21 am
Milan says:
First! Hmmm what about the Friends spin off Joey, that could be Tyus Edney, highly anticipated, but only doing good in Europe.
Apr.6 at 10:26 am
Ryan Jones says:
HBO only, please. I should’ve specified that.
Apr.6 at 11:10 am
Max Airington says:
With all the gambliing, promiscuity and propensity for foul language, I would have thought Deadwood would be Michael Jordan. The Sopranos is Mikan no doubt. A pioneer who paved the way for it’s successors, who are infinitely better. As much as I chastised Sam and Lang for watching it, Ive found myself checking out Entourage, a show about idiots who fall ass backwards into money and fight over, well, ass. For this they will be known as the 1995 Dallas Mavericks. Sex inthe City, a touching tale of people past their prime and wookin pa nub in all da wrong places. Eddie Griffin. Draw your own conclusions. The Wire is too great to be encapsulated by any cliche or analogy. You should be watching Big Love too.
Apr.6 at 11:12 am
Max Airington says:
Oh, and The Passion of David Simon should be still floating around the SLAMdome somewhere. If not, holla.
Apr.6 at 11:33 am
Ryan Jones says:
Big Love is John Stockton. Obviously.
Apr.6 at 12:30 pm
TheHype says:
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Zach Randolph (always getting into awk-ward situations..)
Apr.6 at 12:39 pm
SK says:
Arli$$ is the 1986 NBA draft. Started off bad and got worse from there.
Apr.6 at 2:03 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Just curious why my links of that ref getting knocked the f*ck out didnt get posted? Sam?
Apr.6 at 2:05 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Regarding the never having seen The Wire, well, im disgusted with you farmer Jones.
Apr.6 at 2:14 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Don’t take it personal, Boing. I just don’t watch that much TV anymore.
Apr.6 at 7:58 pm
Ben Osborne says:
But you watch HBO!
Apr.6 at 7:59 pm
Ben Osborne says:
Boing: if you try to paste a link in a comment it requires moderation…office is closed today so Sam probably hasn’t had time to approve all the posts…
Apr.6 at 8:00 pm
ballin boy says:
I guess if OZ were still around that would make it the original bad boys of Detroit. With Odibece (have no clue how to spell it) being Bill Lambeer.
Apr.6 at 8:36 pm
Vitor says:
The Sopranos are definitely Wilt. Historically great, somewhat mythological and people never know how to measure its greatness. And it even changed the future landscape, just like the Big Dipper.
Apr.6 at 11:05 pm
Ryan Jones says:
But I only watch two shows on HBO, Ben. Don’t you have a condo to move into or something?
Vitor: Well-put. Wilt it is.
Apr.7 at 6:09 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Okay cool, thanks for the heads up Ben.
Ryan, if you only watch 12 hours of TV a year. It should be The Wire. The Soprano’s fell off hard last season, lets all hope there come-back is better than Jigga’s.
Apr.8 at 11:03 am
Sam Rubenstein says:
I don’t know who the people are that create junk comments or splogs or whatever you want to call them. But they are waaaaay into really dirty porn. Happy Easter everyone!
The Sopranos was once the best show on TV until they felt the need to let Carmela prove what a wonderful actress she is, and then it got boring. Seasons 1-3 were great, now I’m just happy it’s almost over.
Apr.9 at 3:39 am
Sesa says:
Entourage is definitely a Charles Barkley
Apr.9 at 3:44 am
alan paul says:
You guys are all nuts. The sopranos are no Mikan. That would imply they set the table but couldn’t compete with their progeny. False, false, false. I’ll go with Wilt.. you can argue forever about their merits but it’s not open and shut. Sam, I just watched Season 4 beginning to end and it was superb… i’d say 3&4 were the peak.
Ralphie’s murder and the Chris intervention alone were two scenes of sheer genius from season 4. You lose all credibility when you say it was all downhill from 3. also love Deadwood and the Wire, which I’ve watched since the jump, when no one knew what the show was when i went on and on about it. But their greatness does not diminish the Sopranos. If anyone knows a good place for me to download these episodes, hit me up. Thanks.
Apr.9 at 7:20 am
alan paul says:
one other thing… since i’ve been on an old sopranos kick.. I was watching the one where jackie jr. is in hiding in the projects and the guy whose crib he crashes in is.. OMAR!
Apr.9 at 7:53 am
Sam Rubenstein says:
I liked 2 and 3 the best. Four and 1 right after that, but I haven’t watched old Sopranos in years. For me the show isn’t as good since I moved to where I live now, because I live in a neighborhood where many of the negative stereotypes of Italians that you see on the show are proven true on a daily basis and that gets depressing to see.
Apr.9 at 9:28 am
Ryan Jones says:
AP chiming in! Good to hear from you sir, and I think you and Vitor are dead-on with Sopranos as Wilt. I have last night’s episode DVR’d (we were driving back from the in-laws in Jersey) and look forward to watching it tonight. Hope China is good, or well, or whatever.
Apr.9 at 10:26 am
alan paul says:
All is good here. I am grabbing last night’s show as I type though I can’t disclose how. all the ugly Jersey stuff in the opening credits makes me homesick now. How crazy is that?
Apr.9 at 10:27 am
alan paul says:
Sorry. I hit submit too soon. Meant to say that I read through here all the time but have seen too little NBA this year ot have good opinions on many topics.. but when you start talkng old school hoops and the sopranos, deal me in every time.
Apr.9 at 4:43 pm
Max Airington says:
Point taken Alan, and nice eye on that Omar ID. Last night’s episode was great.
Apr.9 at 11:19 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I’m in Flagstaff, AZ with no HBO access. Argh.
Apr.10 at 6:26 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
And Oz is Tractor Traylor, for obvious reasons. Rome is Mutombo, because they are now approximately similar in age. I think Big Love is more Ostertag than Stockton in that it promises more than it actually delivers. Sex and the City is last year’s Payton and Mourning - way past their prime players desperate and willing to do anything to reach that ultimate goal. Entourage has to be Tony Parker. Think about it: pretty talented guy who straight away just seemed to stumble upon Tim Duncan (and hence, a Championship) and Eva Longoria through sheer good luck. Also, has tried his hand at being an MC. Finally, being the definition of idiosyncratic (and funny as hell), Curb Your Enthusiasm has to be Gilbert.
Apr.10 at 8:17 am
Ryan Jones says:
Damn, I think Slobo just put this argument to sleep.
Apr.15 at 11:53 pm
Coach Mommy says:
Nice post, Chuck! And I know I’m very late to this party and going with a long-dead HBO product, but what about Mr. Show? As hoop analogies go, it is truly the David Cross of HBO programs: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hWWyHHpmV3g
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MCimI9QUtc0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OXQi7-GKJp0 If a comment falls in the forest, and no one reads it because the thread is over, does it make any noise? (B-boyz!)
Apr.16 at 1:21 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Fair point, Dave. While we’re at it, what about “Dream On”? I’m trying to think of a really, really horrible NBA player who somehow became a starter before the league was actually worth watching…
Aug.14 at 1:30 pm
floe says:
they cancelled carnivale right before deadwood got cancelled.. two of my favourite shows at the time.
tv, where crap happens and everything good gets flushed down. happens.