This year marks the 25th anniversary of what many consider to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time— “The Sopranos.” However, when you hear from creator David Chase, this anniversary is less of a celebration and more of “a funeral.” But he doesn’t just mean for his TV show. He thinks we are now experiencing the end of the era of prestige TV.
Speaking with The Times, David Chase was asked about the 25th anniversary of his series, “The Sopranos.” The HBO classic is at the center of a lot of festivities from the network, but according to the creator of the show, this is a time of mourning. Why? Chase sees this opportunity to celebrate “The Sopranos” as actually “a funeral” where we can say goodbye to the days of quality TV series and creative risk taking. In fact, he calls the era of prestige TV a “blip.”
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“That was a blip. A 25-year blip,” said Chase. “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.”
He added, “We’re going back to where I was. They’re going to have commercials. And I’ve already been told to dumb it down.”
Chase is referencing the recent news that Prime Video is going to introduce ad breaks in its streaming service, as we’ve already seen with Netflix, Max, Paramount+, and the other major companies. And apparently, the ‘Sopranos’ creator has experienced issues with getting shows made, as he’s asked to “dumb it down.” Chase believes this is all a result of how audiences (and society) is changing.
“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,” he said. “And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”
It’s nothing new to have filmmakers from decades ago look at what is happening today and poopoo what is going on today. There are still plenty of “prestige” shows being made today, that can’t be denied. But he’s not entirely wrong, either. When you look at what the major networks and streamers are doing, they’re increasingly going after cheap reality show hits and major franchises with scripted series. Outliers like “Succession,” “Barry,” and “The Bear” are being drowned out by “Game of Thrones,” “Reacher,” and “Star Wars.”
All that to say, it’s unlikely we’ll actually see another “The Sopranos” anytime soon because Chase is right—executives probably won’t give it time to grow. But we’ll just have to wait and see if it really is as dire as he believes.