Entertainment: The Sopranos

There is one thing that The Sopranos did for television and one thing only: The Sopranos made therapy and antidepressants something that tough guys use to get through those tough times.

The hybrid of the mafia genre which has been fodder for numerous television shows, movies, plays, books and other artistic endeavors was crossed for the first time, on television with both therapy and antidepressants as used by the main character, Tony Soprano. Therapy was introduced in the movie Analyze This when Billy Crystal played the therapist to Robert DeNiro’s mafia character, but the relationship was played for comedy. In The Sopranos, the relationship between Lorraine Bracco, the therapist, and Tony Soprano, the character who is her patient, is played for drama and character development. Tony actually takes anti-depressants and copes with side effects and dosage adjustment. Never before have we seen that on television.

HBO has been a front-runner in giving audiences television shows that look and sound like movies, but there have been many before The Sopranos including Six Feet Under, The Larry Sanders Show and Entourage, among others. The subject matter is what is different here. The envelope has been pushed, and audiences loved it.