The creator behindThe Sopranos,David Chase, has described this month’s 25th anniversary of the hit drama a “funeral” for the industry in its modern age, revealing that he has been told, as a writer, to “dumb it down” when it comes to recent projects. While many have been celebrating the milestone forThe Sopranos, a show that has long been hailed as the beginning of a golden era of television, Chase is sad to see what is happening amid streaming and “multitasking.”
“We’re going back to where I was. They’re going to have commercials [on streamers like Prime Video].”
Speaking withThe Times, Chase continued, adding that audiences these days “can’t keep their minds on things,” and writers and creatives must now fight harder and make changes to keep the attention of viewers.
“We are more into multitasking. We seem to be confused and audiences can’t keep their minds on things, so we can’t make anything that makes too much sense, takes our attention and requires an audience to focus. And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”
The Sopranos, which follows the late James Gandolfini as a mob boss struggling with his mental health and turning to therapy, sparked such shows asThe Wire, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and many more, but Chase has now described the so-called “Golden Age of Television” as a “blip.”
“A blip. A 25-year blip. And to be clear, I’m not talking only about The Sopranos, but a lot of other hugely talented people out there who I feel increasingly bad for.”
“So, it is a funeral. Something is dying.”
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Is David Chase Right That ‘Something Is Dying’?
The Sopranos
Many will take issue with Chase’s description of the anniversary as a “funeral,” as well as the insistence that the era of great TV is now over. There are stillmany acclaimed, gripping, well-crafted showson the small screen, including the likes ofThe Bear, the HBO seriesThe White Lotus,Severance, theStar WarsspinoffAndor,The Last of Us, Showtime’sYellowjackets, and more.
And that’s without mentioning the huge hit that is HBO’sSuccession. The winner of several awards, including Golden Globes, and Critics’ Choice Awards,Successionhasbeen a global smash hit for HBOboth critically and among audiences. However, when this is raised with Chase, he quickly counters that the show was greenlit several years ago.
So, is David Chase right? Is the Golden Age of TV now over and done with, orhas streaming simply flooded the marketwith so many television shows that it’s now much harder to find the truly great ones?
However you feel about the state of TV, the cast ofThe Sopranoshave been enjoying the 25th anniversary celebrations, with many of the cast and crewrecently reuniting for the first timein a long time.The Sopranosis available to stream on Max.
