The Sopranos

Tony Soprano has a lot to talk about

Tony Soprano is a New Jersey gangster with a wife, children, a difficult mother and panic attacks that lead him to psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi. David Chase's series follows the criminal business and the domestic life with equal interest. Neither stays neatly separate from the other.

James Gandolfini makes Tony frightening, funny and deeply recognisable without making him easy to excuse. Edie Falco, as Carmela, gives the marriage an extraordinary amount of feeling and contradiction. Lorraine Bracco makes the therapy sessions a meeting of personalities rather than a convenient explanation of the plot.

Around them are Michael Imperioli as Christopher, Tony Sirico as Paulie, Steven Van Zandt as Silvio and Dominic Chianese as Junior. The cast makes even the smallest disagreement feel as though it belongs to a long history.

This is the best television show ever made for me. Across six seasons and 86 episodes, the quality of the writing and performances is matched by how entertaining it remains. Its reputation for serious drama should not obscure how often it is genuinely funny.

I also enjoyed The Many Saints of Newark. Watch the series first, then the prequel film. My full review explains why the original remains the benchmark. The Wire, Gomorrah and Mad Men are all strong next choices, for different reasons.