“Don’t Stop Believing” was HBO’s plea to its viewers not to lose faith in the channel with “The Sopranos” now gone.

As Mr. Miyagi was the greatest thing to ever happen to the Bonsai Tree, “The Sopranos” is the best thing to ever happen to the overly maligned, yet still cheesy band, Journey. The final four minutes of the final Sopranos episode, which aired over the summer, was accompanied by the elegant sound of what is quite possibly the greatest ballad ever written, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”

And what was the outcome of David Chase choosing to end his show with Journey’s most famous song? “Don’t Stop Believing” immediately shot to the top of the best selling songs list on iTunes and remained there for several days.

In the months preceding “The Sopranos” finale, “Don’t Stop Believing” was also used in “Family Guy” and “Laguna Beach” episodes; however, prior to “The Sopranos” the song only cracked the top two, hence the fact that “The Sopranos” is the greatest thing to ever happen to Journey. More importantly, however, is the symbolic importance of “Don’t Stop Believing’” ending HBO’s, and perhaps television’s, most famous show.

“Don’t Stop Believing” was HBO’s plea to its viewers not to lose faith in the channel with “The Sopranos” now gone. In the past decade, HBO has produced some of the most complex, interesting and influential shows on television; however, “The Sopranos” was, and will remain, HBO’s signature show.

Many HBO subscribers went as far as to say that the moment “The Sopranos” ended, they would be ending their subscriptions. HBO insiders deny this, of course.

While HBO still produces many of the best shows on television, i.e. “The Wire,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Entourage” and the very new and very provocative show “Tell Me You Love Me,” there is another cable giant that has emerged as a powerhouse in producing groundbreaking shows: Showtime.

Showtime has always been HBO’s little brother. Their shows were never quite as good, their movie selection was never up to par and they did not have to garner any very special documentaries, fights or concert films like HBO did.

However, in the past couple of years Showtime has been slowly catching up to HBO, both in terms of critical appraisal and quality of content. Now it seems as though cable television has two giants producing stellar original series.

“The L Word,” which originally aired in 2004, was the first Showtime original series that turned some heads. However, it was in 2005 with the premiere of “Weeds” that Showtime officially threw its hat into the groundbreaking series ring. “Weeds” is currently in its third season and is almost definitely the most popular show on Showtime.

“Californication,” which began only a month ago, is arguably the funniest show on any television channel and is reason enough to subscribe to Showtime. “Dexter,” a brilliantly bleak dramedy which originally began airing in fall of 2006, begins its second season on Sept. 30.

Along with “Dexter,” the Irish Mafia drama “Brotherhood” also resumes its second season on September 30. “The Tudors,” which received glowing reviews, will resume with its second season in 2008.

“The Wire,” which airs on HBO, is undoubtedly still the greatest show that television has to offer; however, HBO has confirmed that “The Wire” will end after the fifth season which airs in late February of 2008. “Deadwood” has been in limbo for months now, and “Entourage” may be the most entertaining show on television, but every episode seems to be more or less the same. So what does HBO have left to offer?

“Big Love,” has proven to be very popular among women and in certain circles, but is not the flagship show that HBO needs. HBO’s second most popular series “Sex and the City” has been off the air for a couple years and the announcement of a new movie has divided fans. The acclaimed “Six Feet Under” is over, as is “Carnivale,” and no one really knows what is going on with “Oz.”

HBO’s track record is still the cream of the crop in terms of cable television shows; however, if HBO does not start to think outside of the box again, Showtime may just be the new cable giant.

With the slew of shows that Showtime is currently gracing its channels with, it is hard to imagine that HBO will end 2007 on a higher note than Showtime. However, we must remember, “It’s not TV, It’s HBO,” and we definitely will not stop believing.

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