So we search for good TV and we find a few shows that come close. These shows don’t replace the Sopranos. We even cooked special dinners for Sopranos nights. One year we made the Sunday gravy from the Sopranos cookbook for the season finale. One vacation we would put in a Sopranos DVD and literally watch it until we fell asleep each night. We saw all six seasons in about 2 weeks.
But there will be no Sopranos season 7 so here are a few shows that may come close for some of you. They are not necessarily mob related - just good TV with interesting plot, a few laughs, and characters that are insane but believable.
1. Dexter is as close as it's gotten for some. Although I've watched those all on DVD and haven't even seen season 3. Dexter has something importantly similar to The Sopranos, a show that made you root for Tony, and in real life we don’t root for mob-boss murders. When you watch Dexter you end up rooting for a serial killer working for the police as a bloodspray analyst.
2. The Wire is very good. This is another HBO show that people call one of the greatest TV shows of all time even though it didn’t win the awards the Sopranos won. There are 5 seasons – pick them up on DVD. They aren’t making any more.
3. Mad Men has been winning the awards the Sopranos used to get for accurately depicting New York City in the late 1950s and 1960s.
4. Deadwood was also excellent. I hate HBO for killing it. But we do have 3 seasons of Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1870s. Some historical truth, some fiction, some names you might know (Wyatt Earp anyone?), and some damn good television.
5. The Brotherhood from Showtime is well worth it also. 3 excellent seasons (and no more) of 2 brothers in Rhode Island, one in the Irish mob and the other a politician. The look at mob life will remind some of the Sopranos.
And there you have the 6 best TV shows with #1 being the Sopranos and then The Brotherhood, Deadwood, Mad Men, The Wire, and Dexter; shows which won’t replace the Sopranos but that may come close for some people.