Everyone agrees that The Sopranos is a classic, but it’s likely the most influential show ever made. While HBO had already created groundbreaking series like Oz and Sex and the City, The Sopranos, when it debuted in 1999, truly established HBO as a major force in television.
HBO became known for its gritty, mature television shows, with The Sopranos leading the way. Though viewers were often shocked by the show’s strong language and violent scenes, The Sopranos was much more than just that—it remains incredibly influential on television today.
The Sopranos Launched The Golden Age Of Television
©HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection
For years after television began, it wasn’t taken very seriously – movies were considered the more artistic and important medium. But when The Sopranos premiered, it changed everything. Creator David Chase brought a cinematic style to the show, making it look and feel like a movie, and that quality was impossible to overlook. Before The Sopranos, TV was generally considered ‘low art,’ but this series helped elevate the medium.
While compelling visuals are important, The Sopranos truly stood out because of its depth, not just its style. Before Tony Soprano, most TV dramas featured heroes who were generally good people with only minor flaws. Conversely, criminals on television were usually portrayed as simple villains, unlike anyone real viewers would encounter.
Tony Soprano completely changed things. While he’s a violent criminal, he’s also a husband and father who struggles with everyday family issues – arguments with his wife and problems with his children. This makes him surprisingly easy to connect with.
Beyond the portrayal of Tony’s life as a mob boss, The Sopranos uniquely explores mental health. The series doesn’t begin with a crime-related event, but rather with Tony experiencing a panic attack and starting therapy.
What set The Sopranos apart wasn’t just its crime-drama elements, but its focus on the complex inner lives of its characters. While the show had plenty of action, it was the characters’ motivations and psychological struggles that truly moved the story forward. The Sopranos fundamentally changed television, paving the way for the era of high-quality, character-driven dramas we know today.
The current era of high-quality television began around the year 2000, sparked by the success of The Sopranos. For the next twenty years, many shows attempted to reach the same level of excellence. It all began with a memorable scene of a mob boss watching ducks.
How Every TV Show Tried To Be The Next Sopranos
Before The Sopranos, most crime dramas were traditional police shows. Those shows still exist, but when HBO debuted Tony Soprano, it sparked a wave of new TV series focusing on ongoing crime stories.
Following the success of The Sopranos, HBO released The Wire three years later, another crime series that quickly became a classic. Fans still argue whether The Wire or The Sopranos is the greatest crime drama ever made. Breaking Bad is another popular choice, and its creator, Vince Gilligan, has said that The Sopranos paved the way for his show.
| Prestige Shows with Antihero Protagonists | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Character | Actor |
| The Sopranos (1999-2007) | Tony Soprano | James Gandolfini |
| The Shield (2002-2008) | Vic Mackey | Michael Chiklis |
| The Wire (2002-2008) | Omar Little | Michael K. Williams |
| House, M.D. (2004-2012) | Gregory House | Hugh Laurie |
| Dexter (2006-2013) | Dexter Morgan | Michael C. Hall |
| Mad Men (2007-2015) | Don Draper | Jon Hamm |
| Breaking Bad (2008-2013) | Walter White | Bryan Cranston |
| Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014) | Jax Teller | Charlie Hunnam |
| Ozark (2017-2022) | Marty Byrde | Jason Bateman |
| Succession (2018-2023) | Kendall Roy | Jeremy Strong |
Tony Soprano redefined the typical TV lead, paving the way for a surge of complex and flawed antiheroes. Characters like Walter White, Dexter Morgan, and Jax Teller followed, but this trend wasn’t limited to crime dramas. Don Draper from Mad Men is a prime example of an antihero who operates within the law, but whose darker qualities aren’t seen as problems to fix – they’re just part of who he is.
As a TV critic, I’ve definitely seen the antihero run its course. What started as something fresh eventually felt… predictable. Though shows like Ozark and Succession managed to keep it interesting, the end of Succession in 2023 really felt like the end of an era – the Golden Age of Television, if you will. Now, it seems streaming services are more focused on quantity over quality, and honestly, I don’t think we’ll see a character as complex and captivating as Tony Soprano grace our screens anytime soon. It’s a real loss.
Read More
- 4 TV Shows To Watch While You Wait for Wednesday Season 3
- Gold Rate Forecast
- Best X-Men Movies (September 2025)
- 10 Best Buffy the Vampire Slayer Characters Ranked
- PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Classics Catalog lineup for July 2025 announced
- All 6 Takopi’s Original Sin Episodes, Ranked
- 40 Inspiring Optimus Prime Quotes
- Every Creepy Clown in American Horror Story Ranked
- 10 Most Memorable Batman Covers
- 32 Kids Movies From The ’90s I Still Like Despite Being Kind Of Terrible
2026-03-20 21:51