How I Learned To Like “Mr. Mob Boss”

Last night, I could barely contain my malicious glee when I saw that with the exception of a few technical awards, Six Feet Under had been shut out of every major award at the Emmy’s. I utterly loathe Six Feet Under, and it felt like some kind of righteous victory for me to see them lose, as silly as that sounds.

It’s not just Six Feet Under, really. I’ve got a problem with HBO. I think it’s mostly an irrational thing, it mostly has to do with the fact that I can’t shake off my impression that HBO’s original programming is essentially custom tailored television for yuppies and marketed entirely on snob appeal. I resent that so many people just go along with HBO’s ad copy, that what they are doing is Quality Television, so unlike the offerings of network and basic cable television. They market television shows to those effete people who are embarassed to admit that they own a tv set, and a little over a decade ago would be asserting in conversation that they only watch PBS.

When it comes to HBO’s line up, I’m amazed that the channel can sell itself so well on the platform of Quality Television when virtually everything it airs besides sporting events and the odd original movie is either totally irredeemable crap (Arliss, The Mind of the Married Man, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under), snobbed-up versions of the same old stuff you’d see on the networks (The Wire, Sex And The City), or exploitative sleaze (Taxi Cab Confessions, G-String Divas, Real Sex). What HBO has going for it, the way I see it, is Oz and The Sopranos. Both of these are shows that I’ve seen here and there and appreciated, but could not get into at all. This is in no small part due to the fact that I’ve never been the type to really enjoy prison movies or the gangster genre in general. I have nothing bad to say about either program, besides the way HBO markets them – something that can hardly be pinned on the makers of those programs, obviously.

I’ve seen more episodes of the Sopranos than Oz – from what I’ve seen, I certainly enjoy it more. Even when I was just watching it because it was late at night and nothing else was on, and couldn’t quite follow the storyline, I could not help but like the way the show is presented. There’s a very strong (but not overpowering) sense of aesthetic to the program, there’s no question that even in watching a quick scene without any famous actors in it, you are watching the Sopranos. I appreciate that. More than that, the man who plays Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini, is an unimpeachably great actor with a powerful charisma. I can’t imagine that this show would be nearly as successful without him.

Last night was the big turning point for me – I watched the brand new episode of the Sopranos, and for the first time, I cared. Finally, after just occasionally catching a bit here or there and nodding with vague approval, they sucked me in. I’m not sure what it was about the episode that did it for me, but I know that the subplot with the FBI undercover agent who has managed to infiltrate Tony’s Family, and the deep feelings of confusion and betrayal of the woman she used to sneak her way in was probably the clincher. The storyline with Tony’s troubled daughter trying to convince her parents to let her go away to Europe, her awful confrontation with Tony, and his subsequent complicated and nuanced reaction to her cursing him out as “Mr. Mob Boss” went a long way in convincing me too. Now I’ve got to know what will happen next. Now I’ve got to catch up on the earlier seasons. I’m a convert. Simple as that.