Battle of the Behemoths: HBO’s The Sopranos and ABC’s Desperate Housewives Go Head-to-Head Sunday Night
I have just watched the first two episodes of the sixth season of The Sopranos, and all I can say is, “Oh my God.”
Now I know why HBO has been so reticent in sending out advance screeners to the media. Now I understand why series creator David Chase and his unparalleled cast had so little to say during a press conference for their show at the summer Television Critics Association tour.
Even though I attended the press conference I knew absolutely nothing about the sixth season when I sat down yesterday to watch these two episodes (except for the identity of a guest star or two), and I am very grateful that I was so much in the dark at the time. I wouldn’t have been knocked flat by hour one or reminded of everything I ever admired about the show (especially the sublime talent of Edie Falco) during hour two.
So here’s the some critical advice for fans of the show who have been salivating for its return during the two long years since season five came to an end. Do not read anything online or in your local newspaper about the season to come or listen to any television or radio commentary about the show between now and the series premiere March 12 at 9 p.m. ET. And by all means watch the damn thing on Sunday. Do not TiVo or otherwise record it and wait to watch it another day, because everyone is going to be talking about Sunday night’s episode on Monday morning. Actually, the Internet is going to start buzzing at 9:59 p.m. Sunday, as soon as the episode ends. Best to go into a self-imposed media blackout and avoid the risk of scoundrels releasing any information about it, because take it from me, the sixth season premiere is the most shocking hour of television this season, topping even the startling season premieres of Lost (with the surprise meeting between Jack and Desmond in the bunker), Veronica Mars (with its horrifying school bus crash) and 24 (with the assassination of President David Palmer and the murder of former CTU agent Michelle Dressler).
As for episode two, I have bad news for Geena Davis, Kyra Sedgwick, Frances Conroy and Mariska Hargitay (or Ellen Pompeo). If Edie Falco submits this hour for Emmy consideration she’s going to leave the awards next September with her fourth statue for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
The pure power of the season opener sets up what may be the most interesting time period confrontation of the year, as The Sopranos goes up against ABC’s red-hot Desperate Housewives. This is the first time that either series has faced significant head-on competition.
Even with its unexpectedly strong start, it is unlikely that The Sopranos will have much of an impact on Desperate Housewives, since the latter has had two seasons without the challenge of the former to command the Sunday 9 p.m. time period and claim it as its own. Despite many narrative disappointments this season, Housewives remains a powerhouse on its own and, in tandem with Grey’s Anatomy, one-half of television’s premiere block of Must-See TV.
Further, the audience for The Sopranos is certainly not the audience for Desperate Housewives. The Sopranos owes much of its on-going strength to the fact that it appeals not only to discerning television viewers, but also to people who don’t otherwise watch very much TV. Desperate Housewives was developed by a previous administration at ABC with the specific goal of serving an audience that had been largely ignored by the broadcast networks during the early years of this still-young millennium: adult women.
But make no mistake: The Sopranos is back in potent top form. It is flawless throughout. Every plotline is immediately engrossing. Every performance, amongst both its regular and recurring players, is as fine-tuned as ever (including a very brief appearance at the beginning of Sunday’s episode by a much-loved character who left the show’s canvas last season). It is simply terrific to see these people again–even the cold-blooded killers. In fact, it’s a thrill simply to hear the first few notes of the show’s theme song, after all these years still an exciting signal that television’s best drama is about to begin.
