The Sopranos paved the way for other acclaimed dramatic HBO shows such as Deadwood, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Rome and Entourage. But The Sopranos will always be the king of dramatic television, regardless of what comes along.

James Gandolfini, the actor who portrays Tony Soprano, may be the only person in America who wants The Sopranos to end. While he does not use those exact words, he has said many times that he can no longer put anything new into Tony Soprano.

Regardless of Gandolfinis stance, he has made Tony Soprano into one of the greatest television characters to ever grace a screen.

Now after six seasons, and a nine-episode half-season to start April 8, Americas favorite family will be no more.

What can one say about The Sopranos that has not been regurgitated hundreds of times by every newspaper, magazine and TV station in the country? Honestly, nothing really.

All the different media outlets in the country, and the world, in some cases, have confirmed that The Sopranos is either the greatest TV series of all time or it is right up there. They have told us that the acting is second to none, the writing represents an apex for any dramatic series and that it turned HBO from a movie network that sometimes showed boxing to a series-driven network that sometimes shows movies.

The Sopranos paved the way for other acclaimed dramatic HBO shows such as Deadwood, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Rome and Entourage. But The Sopranos will always be the king of dramatic television, regardless of what comes along.

Books have been written about the Tao of The Sopranos, episode guides have been published in abundance, professionals have analyzed the hidden meanings portrayed in the show and the opening sequence is a prime contender for the best ever.

A band may come along in the future that is truly better than The Beatles but there will never be a band better than The Beatles, the same way there will never be a show that will be better than The Sopranos.

Nonbelievers, myself at times, can say that the past three seasons have lacked the brilliance of the first three seasons. However, a bad episode of The Sopranos is still better than any other television show.

Will Tony die? Will he go to jail? Will Chris turn on Tony? What will happen to that Russian from the woods? Fans and critics have so many questions that the shows writers will be pressed to answer half of them.

Rumors have been swirling around for months and the most recent preview shows Tony being escorted by police out of his house, but people will speculate up until June 10 of this year when the 86th episode will finally air.

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