I don't know why the media ...
Jamie-Lynn Sigler, James Gandolfini and Robert Iler, The Sopranos
Question: I don't know why the media persists in comparing the ratings between
The Sopranos and
Desperate Housewives! Hello! Not everyone in the country has HBO, or even cable, in their homes! How can the media dream up this "competition" when the audiences aren't the same?
Answer: Of course, you're right, but it's still a story. Maybe not so much the actual numbers, which are interesting if you compare
Sopranos with its past performance rather than with its competition. Because in reality, HBO's primary competition is with its past success, and by that measure,
The Sopranos has fallen a bit. Although still hefty by cable standards,
The Sopranos is and always has been a special case, being HBO's breakthrough breakout hit. All of this leads to natural speculation and examination about whether the show took too long in coming back to recapture its peak audience, whether people are watching HBO differently (on multinight replays or On Demand), whether HBO has lost some of its pop-culture mojo, or if it's all a result of ABC ruling the watercooler with its Sunday-night programming. These latter cultural questions are the most interesting to me. It seems to me especially apparent that even
Sopranos loyalists aren't clamoring to stay tuned in to a show about polygamy (the overrated
Big Love) when they can flip over to ABC and enjoy
Grey's Anatomy.
On another Sopranos front, this from John W.: "Based on his declaration of vengeance at Tony's bedside, I get the feeling that A.J. is going to be the one who emerges from Tony's shadow and eventually becomes the head of the Soprano family... similar to the way Al Pacino's Michael Corleone emerged to take control of the family in The Godfather. It makes sense to me since all the male children in the show seem unable to escape from a life of crime. It seems that only the females in the show are intelligent and independent enough to avoid the pitfalls of mob life. Except for Adriana, of course."
I suppose this is possible, but nothing about A.J.'s character (or lack thereof) leads me to think he has the backbone to step up to any true Soprano-family responsibility. That moment in the hospital felt to me like a self-conscious but only fleeting awakening on A.J.'s part about how he should be reacting to all of this. This is not a boy who's known for his follow-through. The crushing disappointment that A.J. represents to Tony and Carmela is one of the more bracingly realistic elements of the show.
