ruk.blog

The Sopranos’ returned last night for its final season with a riveting opener. The 18 time Emmy award winning HBO series has but nine hours to wrap one of the richest storylines in TV history.

The Sopranos made HBO famous, with an audience of over 7 million viewers. It sparked a wave of gritty cable series and led broadcast networks to enviously take notice. It is their number one original series. HBO has sold over 3 million DVD sets and peddled cleaned-up reruns to cable’s A&E network for a record-setting $2.5 million an episode in a deal worth more than $200 million. Needless to say, The Sopranos is the most acclaimed and ground-breaking television show of the new millennium.

Last night’s kick-off first episode of its final season is entitled “Soprano Home Movies,” which is really a meditation on Soprano family dynamics — the enduring theme of this show. I find it fun and intriguing that creator David Chase and the trailblazing writers of the show chose to name the episode, and center the storyline around “home movies”.

In Episode 78 “Soprano Home Movies”, Janice gives Tony a heartfelt gift for his 47th birthday, the Soprano family films transferred on DVD (iMemories style – professionally packaged and labeled with crystal clear digital video). My favorite line from Janice regarding the family films: “Wait til you see the shots of Aunt Gemma from the 60s. You forget what a beauty she was before the steroids.” Tony was moved by the thoughtful gift. And, in one of the final, dramatic scenes, he is shown sitting on his couch, alone, reflecting on his childhood as he watches home movie footage of himself and his sister playing on the streets of New Jersey — when life was much more simple, and the future was unwritten. A magical moment, that anyone of us could identify with. It felt human. It felt real. Just goes to show that seeing old motion picture moments of your childhood and family has a sentimental effect on everyone.

Episode 78:  “Soprano Home Movies”. Watch scene. Read write-up.

I am not surprised that the writers of this landmark television series chose to center this season’s kick-off episode on home movies, with their complex characters and elliptical storytelling. Their most important character (Tony) is growing older, and is reflecting on his life. The writers need to sell that to make the story work. Home movies have the power and the beauty to bring you back in time, almost as if you were reliving those priceless moments again. Clearly, the writers of the show have experienced those moments, on their own, in their own lives.

With this episode, I think home movies transferred to DVD has hit the mainstream. More so than ever before. Consumer-generated video content is red hot right now. And, for most of us, the older the video content, the better. For anyone older than the age of 35, their childhood memories (like the Soprano family characters) are trapped on 8mm, Super 8 or 16mm film. The only way to easily watch, share and preserve those treasured moments is to hire a trusted professional team like iMemories to safely and beautifully transfer the motion picture footage to DVD.

The Sopranos will be regarded as television literature to be watched, studied, and enjoyed as the incredible piece of work that it is. Many call it simply “the greatest show of all time.” Whether you like or dislike the show, I am just happy that in this final season, they helped to get the 7MM loyal fans who watched the season opener to think to themselves “Where are my home movies?” and “Boy, wouldn’t it be great fun to watch and share those family movies with my family & friends before they disappear forever”.