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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Looking back at The Sopranos, the godfather of prestige TV

Pop Culture Happy Hour

NPR

Books, Music, After Shows, Tv & Film, Film Reviews, News, Tv Reviews, Arts, Entertainment News, Music Commentary

4.510.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Sopranos changed television. The HBO series was centered on mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a deeply flawed male antihero. That then- innovative approach cast a long shadow on television, but what really set The Sopranos apart was the fact that Tony was in therapy — a genius touch that granted viewers special access to his inner conflicts. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the show's premiere, so we're revisiting our conversation about the series.

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Transcript

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What does it mean to be black in America?

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An NPR's Black stories, Black truths, a collection of stories as very nuanced and dynamic as black experiences.

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It means everything.

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Search NPR Black Stories Black Truce

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wherever you get your podcast. The Sopranos changed Television. The HBO series was centered on mobster Tony Soprano, a deeply flawed male antihero, that

0:35.5

then innovative approach cast a long shadow and would be duplicated by many shows in the years

0:40.1

that followed, series like The shield and breaking bad.

0:43.0

But the thing that really set the sopranos apart

0:45.6

was the fact that Tony was in therapy,

0:47.9

a genius touch that granted viewers special access

0:50.2

to his inner conflicts.

0:52.0

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the show's

0:54.3

premiere so we think it's a perfect time to revisit our conversation about the

0:57.8

series. I'm Aisha Harris. And I'm Glenn Weldon and in this encore

1:01.8

episode of NPR's pop culture happy hour, we're looking back at the Sopratos. This message comes from NPR sponsor Cook Unity.

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