I have never watched The Sopranos, and my knowledge of plot points is mostly limited to examples given in a lecture from The Sopranos and Philosophy (specifically about Tony Soprano as an ethical manager). Yet I still found this exhaustingly detailed argument about the final moments of the series finale to be compelling reading. The unattributed author calls on intertextual references, cinematographic clues, symbology, authorial intent, film precursors, and philosophical precepts to make the case "why Tony died in Holsten’s in the final scene of The Sopranos." Even without any of the necessary background as a viewer, I can certainly appreciate the obsessive passion to craft a canonical resolution to a long-running and well-regarded series, as well as some of the formal elements that are particular to fan discussions (e.g. unnamed characters discussed by acronym—see the comments for a suitably pedantic mini-debate over the correct abbreviation for "Man in Member‘s Only Jacket").

The Sopranos: Definitive Explanation of “The END”

Clay Shirky, previously featured here for his book Here Comes Everybody, has provoked a lot of interest through another proposition. Adapted from a conference talk related to Web 2.0, Shirky knit together a surprising combination of elements identified in the title:

Gin, Television, and Social Surplus

His first contention is that television sitcoms served the same sociological midwifery role during the American post-WWII ‘leisure age’ as gin during the Industrial Revolution. First it might help to understand just what gin had to do with anything. (more…)

Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - 7 April 2008

“Jericho, the CBS television series that was canceled because of low ratings, then revived following protests from fans, then canceled again because of low ratings, may be revived a second time, the New York Times reported today (Monday). The newspaper said that CBS may follow NBC’s recent example with Friday Night Lights in which it sold the DirecTV satellite service the right to air the series before it goes on network TV. The Times said that CBS is considering a similar option in negotiations with cable provider Comcast. Meanwhile, although DirecTV executives have expressed confidence that the Friday Night Lights deal could drive new subscribers to their service, some analysts are expressing skepticism about its ability to do so and forecasting that the DirecTV episodes will wind up being pirated on the Internet.”

This sounds like Comcast would effectively underwrite the show’s production in return for first-run rights. The twice-over cancellation of Jericho is already a testament to the lag between current media trends and viewer metrics that in turn drive advertising buys. CBS cancelled after the promised 7 episodes of season 2, citing low ratings, while also noting high consumption via non-broadcast channels including DVRs and online streaming which are not factored into Nielsen shares. This plus the creative “Nuts!” campaign that led to the second season point to a dedicated, evangelistic audience as represented on fansites like Jericho Lives. It may be that Jericho would do better on a cable network in any event, with more targeted demographics, smaller share requirements, and potentially less network restrictions on story points.

In his third outing as the amnesiac agent Jason Bourne, Matt Damon maintains the low-drag efficiency he established in the first two installments - David Denby in the New Yorker even compares him to a bullet - as he relentlessly backtracks the genesis of his former secret identity to its source. As appropriate for the endcap to an informal trilogy, the knobs are all ratcheted up - chases are notably extended, nominal allies within the CIA themselves are put at risk, and Bourne’s counterespionage chops put to ever greater challenges. Yet somewhere in the process, we lose some of the balance that was previously maintained between cat and mouse, and thus some of the critical tension that came from it. Before we get to that, however, let’s revisit how we got to this point in the story.

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