The Sopranos! And ads!

I'm a huge Sopranos fan... done watching 9 of the 12 new episodes on DVD... It's a show that I wish there were 18 seasons of, with 22 episodes per season, like The Simpsons... but no - only 12 episodes... I told my uncle today he should watch it... he's never checked the show out once... he is just like Anthony (Tony) Soprano in a lot of ways... I told him he'd probably love the show, and that once you watch it, you wonder why you even put up with "regular" television any more...

Watching TV on DVDs is the way to go though... I sometimes feel like not watching any new TV shows, and just waiting for the DVD to come out so I can watch a whole season in a weekend... No ads either.

But, speaking of ads!! The subliminal product placement in the Sopranos is sickening this season! Every episode, they find a way to get either a brand image onscreen, like a new Porsche, or someone says the brand name in the dialogue, like "A truck of Centrum was hijacked.." Seriously folks... Now that PVR's and recordable DVD players, and VCRs can skip commercials, they're putting 'em in the show. Get smart about this... Don't think Tony Soprano likes Frosted Flakes or whatever because that's whatever the writers felt like putting in the show... corporations are controlling what comes out of these characters' mouths nowadays, so just understand what you think you're watching! If he says M&Ms, it's because M&Ms won a bid to get him to say it, and Reese's Pieces lost... You don't think they could write a show without any products in it, or proprietary/made-up products like Big Kahuna Burger in Pulp Fiction... no, they go after what America buys, because they get ad revenue for it. No commercials, but we're seeing smarter advertising. It's not as obvious as The Apprentice or Survivor, but it's there! I laugh out loud every time I hear a brand name on The Sopranos, and it's been a lot of times...

That said, I could go for some Centrum in a Porsche right about now.