The Sopranos

I have started using the F word frequently after watching this series. It came easily. (I know I know. I am working on it). It can be that contagious.

I am not sure what's so appealing about Mafia dramas. But there is something there. The glamor,violence,language, the entire package. In some way this all draws a crowd. It shouldn't be a surprise that 'The Godfather' I and II are amongst my all time favorites movies and I am sure it would be on most people's list.

The HBO series "The Sopranos" I think is "The Godfather' of Television series. The series lasted for 6 seasons and almost 9 years. For it's entire length it kept it's audiences mesmerized to a "certain" Italian sub-culture. The food, the family get-togethers, the language, the tone, the accent, the humor, the trigger-happy gangmen, the emotional family *show offs*, deceit, conspiracy and sometimes intense conversations; all become addictive at a certain point.

The series is about Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his Italian family from New Jersey. As you get involved in Tony's life, you identify with his complex life and how he deals with it at every step. His blow-hot-blow-cold relationship with his wife, with his son and daughter, his decisive and often ruthless actions while managing his Mafia rule, his friends, his enemies and his extended family members all slowly unravel before you.

An interesting sub plot in the series is Tony's regular visit to his shrink, played brilliantly by Lorraine Bracco. I thought it was David Chase's master stroke. By adding such a conversation between patient Tony and doctor Melfi in the story, he was able to relay lot of sub stories in a compact and crisp manner. Without having to add scenes.

There was no need for a background commentary or voice over for letting viewers know Tony's emotional upheavals. Because Tony would convey it to shrink and more importantly via her to us, the viewers. Chase would introduce these psychiatric conversations and easily camouflage it in the script itself. These psychiatric visits of Tony also gave us glimpse of Tony's past as much as they gave us a handle to his current state. Sometimes even to his future plans.

Apart from Tony Sopranos' role which I thought was played very well by James Gandolfini, Carmila Soprano, played by the super brilliant Eddie Falco deserves a mention.She was most impressive in her role as Tony's hapless wife. She brought a lot of method to her acting and yet came out natural in the end. I think she deserved all those Emmys for sure.

I watched the last episode of Sopranos yesterday. Now my Netflix queue is devoid of Sopranos and I feel bad. Talking of last episode, it did create quite a stir if not controversy. Check the intensity of debate here and here.
When you have like 200 odd comments on the site, you know this HBO series hit a sweet spot somewhere. And in some demography.

For me the best part of the series was its pace. It did not try too hard on any front. It let it slip in. Of course with the right mix of shocks and surprises, drama and comic relief. It created an illusion of 'taking it as it comes' without trying 'over the top' stunts to engage viewership. There was no false pretense in most things. Every controversial topic of contemporary America - political, social, economical - were deftly handled by David Chases' talented team of writers.

Tony Soprano of course has an imposing and dominating presence over the entire series. But all other characters are not mere sidekicks. They have extremely significant role to play. And they fill in the canvas with their own shades very impressively.

There is no effort to provide justification to the crime. The circle of life comes back to bite most of these gangsters. Thats how it is shown, albeit subtly. If they are not bumped off by a rival gang then they are by their own men. In the world where no one can ever be trusted, it is ironical, that Tony in the end gets a life saving tip from the FBI. Thats how Tony's world is shown.

One of my favorite scenes is one where Tony has a conversation with Carmila after his near death experience. She is freaking over her future in case "something happens to Tony" and Tony just says "I am right up there!!! Don't you see?". There's intensity in Tony's eyes at that moment. But also overwhelming faith in something above. He is unable to express completely. Yet those five words convey many things. It was Tony's way of saying, 'I have been attacked so many times and seen death from such near quarters, yet I keep surviving every time. There must be some force that does not need me out. It keeps bringing me back. Don't you see it?"

That conversation was particularly striking, in that, it told how even the most powerful of mobsters have a "faith" based sensibilities. They have faith in "something up there" and live by that trust all the time. They explain away things via simple Godly and supernatural based arguments. There is a method to their madness. In almost everything.

Even regular conversations.

The Sopranos

The Sopranos are pissed off after a FBI search in their house. But both parents want their children to know that it's all because they are Italians. They want to impress upon that they are being targetted for their ethnicity, their lineage.

The scene at the Dinner table after that -

*************

Tony: You know the guy who invented telephone was an Italian!
Anthony Junior: You mean Graham Bell was an Italian?
Tony: ... you see thats the [beep] what i am talking off. They screwed that Italian and claimed Bell did it.
Anthony Jr : But Chinese invented the Fork.
Tony : What the [beep] are you talking. How can the people who need sticks to eat their food, invent Fork?

**************

How can you not love this show :) ?

Friends and Seinfeld [FNS]

Of course they both are relatively old and well past the public space of discussions.But what the heck- they merit a mention even today.
No two sitcoms in recent past have hijacked the pop-culture space as much as Friends and Seinfeld.
I don't see any harm in saluting entities which till a few years back became part of every day American and to some extent European and Asian urban middle class lives.

I wonder what really ticked for both? How was "Friends" equally popular in the same demography of NYC as it was in Mumbai's? Check Orkut forums to see how Indians flood the "Friends" forums/groups. They literally dominate the forums.

Same with Seinfeld. Four unhinged, unidimensional characters, often crass and outrageous people connecting with world wide audience. Something strange about it, you'd think?There are only a few shows that had such a reach. Lucy show comes to mind, in terms of universal appeal. But i cannot think of many. The universal appeal of both these shows make them unique.

I have seen several reruns of both. I don't miss an opportunity to see George's stupid antics and Chandler's wisecracks. These names - Ross, Elane, Krammer, Phoebe...all became part of us at some point. You would meet them every day after work. Sometimes on weekends on DVRs. Their antics just clicked.

Friends was smooth. Also it was consistent (except towards the last season). It started getting a grip, i feel somewhere around 3rd Season. Confidence was showing on its characters as they started becoming more and more popular. Clearly they were improvising more and it showed. Seinfeld had patches of brilliance. It was not consistent. Larry David going off and coming back might have made the difference.

But yet both clicked at some levels.Both became sitcom classics. I thought Friends picked up great topics to connect. It was sleek in marketing itself. Seinfeld was more upfront and in-your-face. If Friends picked topics like all guys stranded owing to someone forgetting to pick the keys of the apartment, Seinfeld chose loosing car in the parking lot. So universal, so very connect able topics. These things can happen in Mumbai and London as it can happen in Beijing and Tokyo as much as it can happen in NYC.

To click, a sitcom should connect to the audience. To connect it should have humour that is easy,quick, digestible and at the same time contemporary. Very few jokes transcend age and demography. It's safe to say that lot of us won't find "Three's Company" and "Who's the Boss" funny today. But they were big hits in late 70s and early 80s. Same is true for FNS. Both won't be funny in 2010. Or they already are not?

I somehow feel Friends and Seinfeld humour is still catchy and even contemporary. But i woudn't bet on it. My latest favourite is "The Office"- i find it refreshingly different.But F-S did transcend age, race, Geographical regions as well. And therein lied their success.

Friends had a certain group dynamics which very few shows had. It was about six people in exact same age group. It is safe to assume that the audience for Friends was primarily an age group of -10 to +10 years of the Friends characters age group. So lets say 20 to 40. Now this is pretty much the most targeted age group for any sitcom.
The topics in Friends like - Ross's multiple divorces, Chandler's coming of age after many failures in relationship, Monica's affair with a man of her father's age, Ross and Rachael's off and on relation etc was relate able. The age group of 20-40 could be easily be appealed by such stuff. And it was a marketing master stroke of Friends to have brought in such topics.

Seinfeld on the other hand used humour to sweeten sometimes the dark side of human nature. Like people making politically correct noises about an ugly baby, or taking a death causally (After George's fiancee' dies they all go for a coffee, instead of mourning), etc

Seinfeld was not that sleek and appealing to lets say a very sensitive hamptons slash suburban crowd. But Friends was. Seinfeld though struck a chord with what i would call the humorists. People who can find humour in darker shades.

Seinfeld was very New Yorkish and very Jewish. Friends was New Yorkish alright, but also very urbane and soft.

I have already compared the two unintentionally, though i shouldn't have. I loved them both, and i may say equally. They were awesome.

We all need humour don't we? Humour is the positive side of life. It makes you forget and sometimes forgive. Humour can be addictive and infectious at the same time.
FNS, were additive and infectious.

I still feel that the vacuum post Friends/Seinfeld is hard to fill. TBS still runs reruns of these every day, and TBS people are not fools. They know people are still hooked to those jokes. There's still a very loyal audience for both, even after years of them going off air. These two raised the bar many times over. We are talking of 50-60 million watchers. NOt sure any from the current crop commands that kind of following.

As a tribute to two of my favourite shows here's a partial list of quotes that cracked me up -

1] "Joey, for one last time, it's not named after every individual"

2] "So exactly how many cameras were there on you?"

3] "I am speechless. I am without speech"

4] "I am still a cool guy. I am still neat"

5] "I invented the Its-not-you-its-me-routine"

6] "It was not a pick. It was a scratch"

7] "That was one magic spit"

8] "Can you sense anything now?"