As I was coming up with my list of favorite HBO series I gave some thought to how there has always been a lot of discussion about the impact of THE SOPRANOS and just what an amazing show it is with some people declaring it the best TV show ever. This got me to thinking about how I am not one of those people who hold THE SOPRANOS at such a lofty position. Sure I recognize it’s importance in shaping the landscape of dramatic television but I honestly think that, as a show, THE SOPRANOS really wasn’t that great. To me the show was incredibly average in terms of storytelling but overcame all of that with great casting and acting. I defy anyone to point to one major storyline in the entire run of the show past Season 1 or 2 that was really all that amazing. Instead The SOPRANOS was wonderful at individual scenes featuring great acting performances that are very memorable but not in story arcs that elicit the same fond memories.
All of this is brought up because as I was coming up with my list of favorite HBO series I never once thought to put THE SOPRANOS in the top 5 (full disclosure, the show comes in it at #8 on my Top 10 list behind OZ and EASTBOUND & DOWN). So click onward to see my list and be prepared if you have yet to watch some of these shows because I am sure I spoil all sorts of stuff.
Crustula 
Those are my two favorite HBO shows too! I definitely need to see Rome still. That is one that I missed.
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Rome is great…I recommend it to everyone whenever I find out they haven’t seen it and the best part is that it is only two seasons so you can run through the whole awesome experience without having to take a huge chunk of time out of your life.
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Eastbound and Down is my #1-4 and #6.
Couldn’t agree more on The Sopranos. Everyone kept pointing to the Russian guy that escaped Paulie and Christopher in the Pine Barrens (home of the Jersey Devil!) as a dangling plot that was bound to come back and bite everyone in the ass, but nothing came of it. Instead, we got 2 or 3 seasons where the biggest stories were Johnny Sack’s fat wife and Ralphie killing a horse.
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Looking back on it there were so many unresolved dangling plot threads and just totally dropped potential storylines on the Sopranos. I think a lot of people look at the show with rose colored glasses and recall it as being much better than it actually was.
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