The Sopranos and High Quality Television

Recently I began watching "The Sopranos". It's known as one of the shows that began the trend of more film and movie like TV shows being made. So far I'm about three episodes in, but I can already tell why this series was lauded as much as it was. The writing and acting are fantastic. The plot is at times complex, but that is mostly due to the fact that there are so many characters that it's hard to keep up with. I'm sure this issue will resolve itself in time. Most TV shows take a little time to teach you the characters.

I can see looking back now, that this show must have been a huge risk for HBO. A show that is as relevant and real as this being produced at the highest quality ever seen for TV must've made the investors on this show at least a little anxious. As seen by the huge success of the show, it was not. Now, the trend continues in the direction. HBO is not the only network making high quality television. AMC and Showtime have followed suit, even the major networks are starting to go along with this. Hopefully, this trend continues, and we'll see less reality shows and more beautifully crafted shows like "The Sopranos".