As with most of the series that I’ve chosen to flashback to, writing about The Sopranos frightens me. How in the world is it possible to reflect on the magnitude of this work in just a (relatively) short post?

There’s only one place to start: this 86-episode opus, which spanned eight and-a-half years, and six (or five, and one in two parts) seasons, was a giant. While we spend the rest of this reminiscence dissecting, never lose sight of that fact. A giant.

I wasn’t a fan from the beginning. In fact, I think I consciously kept my distance, because I found it insulting that television would try and trample on the sacred grounds of The Godfather and Goodfellas. But my father-in-law (back when he was just my very longtime girlfriend’s father) would always tell me how great a series The Sopranos was. His favorite parts were Tony’s (James Gandolfini) sessions with Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), as he, himself, is a Freudian psychoanalyst. I know, right?

Needless to say, I enjoyed that aspect of the show least, but it was one particular encounter that my father-in-law relayed to me that finally got me to check out the show: when Dr. Melfi is raped, and she determines, in the end, not to tell Tony about it. I so disagreed with my in-law’s position that she made the right decision that I needed to see it for myself, in order to properly articulate my argument. I disagree with him to this day, but he got me hooked. Thanks for that. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been covering The Wire in my Jane After Dark column at TV Squad, and I can’t help but think about the similarities to another favorite HBO show: The Sopranos. They’re both edgy and well-written and filled with knock-out characters, but they’re also very different. Here’s my rundown on these two top-notch shows:

Reality vs. Storytelling. The Sopranos is an awesome example of great storytelling. We’ve got the panic-plagued mobster dealing with his biological family and his mobster family. What could be better? I know there are people like Tony Soprano out there, but to me, The Sopranos is just a really good story.

The Wire, on the other hand, is so real that you feel like you”re watching a documentary. I’m into season three now and just noticed that there’s no soundtrack, no music at all (yeah, it takes me a while). It’s like someone is following these guys around with a camera.

Good Guys vs. Bad Guys. The Sopranos is mostly centered on Tony Soprano and his thugs and family, while The Wire gives equal time to thugs and the cops, with some politicians and dockworkers thrown in (as mentioned, I’m just into season 3, so haven’t gotten into the school system or press yet). I guess you could say that Stringer Bell, Avon Barksdale and Omar Little are the Tony Sopranos of The Wire; Stringer’s got his real estate business, and Tony’s got his sanitation business. But that’s not quite right either.

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From the people who brought us such light fair as Californication and Weeds, comes Nurse Jackie. Well, okay, not the people, but the network. That’s right: Showtime’s back at it again, with a new show and another star: Edie Falco.

After a wild ride on The Sopranos, and a rather questionable one on 30 Rock, Falco returns as the titular Nurse Jackie, caregiver extraordinaire in the ER at a fictitious New York Hospital, in this case, All Saints. She’s a been-there-done-that, no nonsense kind of lady, who also happens to be one of the most depraved human beings on television today. Tony Soprano, meet your independent wife.

I wish I were joking, or at least exaggerating, but by the middle of the pilot episode, I already saw Falco trying to be Mini-Me to James Gandolfini. And, she falls short not just because she’s not his equal as an actor, but also because, while Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano did all that he did as a mobster, Falco’s Nurse Jackie is who she is as a nurse. An RN doesn’t ignore a choking woman in a restaurant just because her lunch hour is ticking away.

I’d like to get into more of a specific review, so, for those of you who will kill me with a spoon for ruining the show for you, I’m going to sum up now, and follow with some general observations that I made, non-spoilery (I’ll let you know where to stop). Read the rest of this entry »

Preposterous! I know; I too have been there. Even though the comparison occurred to me first, my initial reaction was to laugh at it. What’s the connection? You can’t even draw one between the two actors (or can you?).

But the more I tossed the idea around in my head, the more interesting the similarities became. Merely stripping away the aesthetics of an argument leaves a tremendous amount of room to evaluate the core. And, at their core, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) have a lot in common. Believe.

The truth is that even the two actors portraying these larger-than-life characters have commonalities. Both are native to their respective kingdoms (Gandolfini was born in New Jersey, Rhys Meyers in Ireland). While that may seem insignificant, a lot of research goes into an actor’s portrayal of another person, be they real or fiction. A natural association with their surroundings (although Rhys Meyers lives in modern times and I assume Gandolfini’s family was not mafia) adds brevity to a performance. To me, both nature and nurture play a large role in their respective success. Plus, both actors have a history in theater. Its subtle, but it bleeds through in both of their performances, making the overly dramatic more grounded and accessible. I marvel at that each and every time I watch them both.

But those facts are true for Gandolfini and Rhys Meyers the actors. What’s similar between their most recognizable characters? Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 21, Episode 4 – “Daddy Dearest and the Dueling Divas”)

One of those deep, dark secrets I wrote about last week finally reared its ugly head during last night’s episode of Real World: Brooklyn. More on that later. We also got to see Devyn pursue her theatrical ambitions. Up until this point, all she did was drool over hunky lady killer Scott. Devyn showed her hard side as well after JD dissed her singing ability. A whale trainer should know better than to go there.

In addition, Chet once again took center stage. It’s obvious the producers are lovin’ this sexually naive Mormon with hair of gold. I trashed his pathetic attempts to pick-up teen model Alex in episode 3, but apparently Alex was taken by his bumbling charm. Either that or she’s looking to use the MTV cameras to help further her modeling career. Perish the thought. Whatever the case, she gave ‘ol Chet a second chance and agreed to go on a date with him. Three cheers for Chet!

Time to dive headfirst into the festivities.

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