Deadwood v. The Sopranos

[Borodog]

Recently I discovered the HBO series Deadwood on HBO On Demand. Welcome to two years ago. In any event, I watched the first two seasons almost obsessively (ok, my wife would tell you there was nothing "almost" about it). I have come to the conclussion that this series is far superior to The Sopranos.

First let me be clear that I am not hating on The Sopranos (TS from here on); it's a good series and I look forward to the new episodes.

However, I don't think it's really in the same league as Deadwood (DW from here forward) in any way. The character development in DW is simply amazing, the best I have ever seen on screen. The Sweringen character is multi-layered, multi-dimensional, extremely complex. I love the way he has taken to talking to the Indian's severed head, his only friend.

Even the lower-profile players are deeply faceted, like E.B., Dan, etc. In fact, it is hard to say there are many true bit players; there are more major parts than bits, something that does not seem to be true of TS. Probably the "bittest" recurring parts would be characters like Wu and Tolliver's junkie faro dealer.

For completeness, my least favorite character is probably Bullock's partner. He is the flattest of the characters; so flat that after watching 24 episodes I can't recall his first name (I know his last name is Starr).

The dialogue in DW is just spectacular. It's practically Shakespearian in it's meter. After watching the "Trusting the Process" short on the making of the series, I'm amazed with the OCD fashion in which the dialogue is written. As is mentioned in that shot, the ideas are compressed down under tremendous pressure until a diamond of dialogue is produced, with hours being spend producing a couple of pages.

The fact that there is no script for this show is absolutely astounding. The plot grows in an organic fashion, and the episodes are shot scene by scene, with the actors and writers not knowing what is coming next, like life. While I am not impressed with all of the turns (the death of Bullock's son/nephew seemed formulaic and closed more doors on the potential future plot than it opened, and the marriage of the widow Garret to Elsworth seems to offer poor replacements to those aborted potentialities), the overall result is impressive. The Wolcott supblot was a particularly satisfying example of a story arc within the show.

It probably isn't fair to compare TS after 6 seasons to DW after only two. After all, many people claim that TS experienced a steep decline after the first two seasons in particular; myself included. I actually didn't watch the show for a couple of seasons because I found it very frustrating, a lot of tension with little resolution, unsatisfying denouments of subplots. Story arcs that failed to arc. The show failed to hold my attention. Last season and this one have been much improved, and I again look forward to the show, but it remains lackluster in comparison to DW.

[diebitter]

I look forward to discussion/comments on these two. I've got season 1 of both these series on the shelf (I've avoided sopranos completely, having missed season 1, until I finally bought them).

Discussion here will surely decide me which of these two to watch next. I'm open to persuasion [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Borodog]

Hmm. I hope it didn't spoilerize too much of the show for you. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[diebitter]

I don't mind spoilers in TV shows, unless I'm already watching them. I blew my top once when I was halfway through 24 season 1, and just came across a magazine that gave the end away without so much as a chance to avoid it, but if I've not started watching the thing, I really don't care. In fact, it'll probably make me more interested to see the show.

spoilers on films are a different matter, however. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

BTW, from your opening words, DW is winning for me at the moment.

[Performify]

I flip the other way, personally - Deadwood is good, without question. But the Sopranos is far superior.

There are moments where Deadwood is absolutely brilliant, the dialog fantastic and certain characters exceedingly interesting. However, I find about half of the sub-characters to be mildly interesting at best.

For me, I think it comes down to some almost unexpresable emotional attachment - i eagerly await every new Sopranos episode because I know its going to be something I'm going to enjoy. Compared to Deadwood is something I can go several days without catching off the Tivo, when its on - there's no question its excellent, but it just doesn't hold that same emotional attachment as does the Sopranos. I think a lot of it comes down to empathizable characters - Bullock as the "hero" doesn't play well for me, I had a hard time sympathizing with him during the affair / etc. Sweringen is an amazing character, portrayed by an amazing actor, but he's also not a sympathetic character either.

But everyone wants to be a member of the Soprano family.

[Borodog]

[ QUOTE ]
There are moments where Deadwood is absolutely brilliant, the dialog fantastic and certain characters exceedingly interesting. However, I find about half of the sub-characters to be mildly interesting at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, that's exactly how I feel about TS. Characters that I feel should be central and deep are one or two dimensional at best. Meadow Soprano is practically set dressing, and the endless apathy/angst of AJ is just a caricature of a teenage male.

Many of the subplots seem to be of the form "What if we made a mob guy X?" Like, "What if we made a mob guy gay?" You get Vito. "What if we made a mob guy a junkie?" You get Chris (although to be fair Chris is deeper than that, and one of the better characters). "What if we made a mob guy senile?" Uncle Junior. "What if we made a mob guy sweet and gentle?" Bobby Bacala.

[ QUOTE ]
For me, I think it comes down to some almost unexpresable emotional attachment - i eagerly await every new Sopranos episode because I know its going to be something I'm going to enjoy. Compared to Deadwood is something I can go several days without catching off the Tivo, when its on - there's no question its excellent, but it just doesn't hold that same emotional attachment as does the Sopranos. I think a lot of it comes down to empathizable characters - Bullock as the "hero" doesn't play well for me, I had a hard time sympathizing with him during the affair / etc. Sweringen is an amazing character, portrayed by an amazing actor, but he's also not a sympathetic character either.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's my point about the complex characters on DW, though. All of them are sympathetic at times and unsympatetic at others. The characters are really N-dimensional.

[ QUOTE ]
But everyone wants to be a member of the Soprano family.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not me. But like I said, it's a good show and I enjoy it.

[bottomset]

[ QUOTE ]
Deadwood is good, without question. But the Sopranos is far superior.



[/ QUOTE ]

[Wynton]

These are my two favorite series, and at this point I prefer Deadwood.

But I think that this may simply be a function of the fact that Deadwood is a newer show.

[Dids]

I've tried to watch a few epps of Deadwood. Just couldn't hook me.

In terms of shows on HBO

The Wire >>>>>>>>> The Sopranos

[Wes Mantooth]

I prefer The Sopranos, though some seasons overall have been sort of meh.