Home Box Office has telecast several of the most scintillating series of this decade, notably The Larry Sanders Show, Oz, Arli$$, and Sex and the City. You can safely add The Sopranos to that glittering gallery.
No, The Sopranos is not the equal of Scorsese's masterpiece, but it manages to bring a new spin to the words "dysfunctional" and "family," and it deserves its place alongside other HBO gems like The Larry Sanders Show and Sex and the City.
It shouldn't work, yet somehow it does... It's an absurdist comedy about criminal behavior and suburban life that gently mocks its targets while taking its characters and their emotions seriously.