[Ebrey]

The Sopranos is what got me in to TV. Before it there were only two shows I had watched more than a couple episodes of (The West Wing and 24), and they were fun, but didn't inspire me to seek out more. The Sopranos led to Six Feet Under, and then Oz, and then all sorts of good stuff.

And I'd recommend it as the first show for anyone else who doesn't watch TV. Perhaps The Wire is more complex, but The Sopranos has it all - family drama, mob politics, inventive violence and raunchy comedy. In a strange way it's TV for the whole family (I think my mom was more addicted than anybody).

My aunt complained that there wasn't enough killing in the fifth season, but as you said, the show honed in on Tony. Most shows take the lazy way out by doing the opposite - shifting to supporting characters so that they don't have to keep developing the central figure. Although Oz does not get nearly enough credit for it's amazing first four seasons, several of which were pre-Sopranos, it isn't as consistent as its more famous younger brother.