The Sopranos is HBO’s most iconic series, and it turns 25. David Chase, the creator of the show, which ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2007, in a recent interview, shared that the modern “golden age” of Television is dying and he cites two reasons behind this.
The 78-year-old rather went on to consider The Sopranos’ 25th anniversary a “funeral” for the industry instead of a celebration. The Sopranos is quite possibly the most acclaimed show of all time, and definitely for good reason.
“Golden Age” of Television is Over, Says Sopranos Director David Chase
Acclaimed director David Chase recently sat down with The Times to commemorate The Sopranos‘ 25th anniversary. But instead of celebrating, he chose to say some bitter truths about the current scenario in the television industry.
The award-winning writer and producer said that the golden era of TV is now over. Chase stated that he believes the type of shows which were alike Sopranos, such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men, would not be commissioned now, referring to the post-Sopranos golden era of TV as a “25-year blip.”
“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,” Chase told the Times.
“This is the 25th anniversary, so of course it’s a celebration. But perhaps we shouldn’t look at it like that. Maybe we should look at it like a funeral. Something is dying.”
“Back then, the networks were in an artistic pit. A s***hole,” he said.
“The process was repulsive. In meetings, these people would always ask to take out the one thing that made an episode worth doing. I should have quit.”
Chase mentioned some points that are to be blamed for this dying situation of modern TV.
David Chase Considers These Two Reasons for This Situation
Chase speaks on today’s less-intellectual and low-quality phase of television and thinks that streaming giants have two major steps to be held accountable for this.
“We’re going back to where I was,” said Chase. “They’re going to have commercials … and I’ve already been told to dumb it down.”
He shared a story about a new project he’s working on with screenwriter Hannah Fidell, about a high-end s*x worker in witness protection and how he himself has seen the downgrade of the television industry. He said that the scripts that are still in draft are getting criticized by the executives for being “too complex.”
The duo were told “the unfortunate truth” that the series is apparently “too complex” for a distracted audience.
“As the human race goes on, we are more into multitasking,” Chase continued.
“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. And as for streaming executives? It is getting worse. We’re going back to where we were.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Chase spoke about the struggle he had to go through to make The Sopranos, as it was turned down by several networks, including Fox.
All seasons of The Sopranos are available to stream on Max.
