Mar '23 *
was the golden age for cable tv. Many actors got their start or recognition from these shows at the time. Besides James Gandolfini becoming a star due to The Sopranos there were many others. Micheal C. Hall's role in Six Feet Under got him the starring lead in Dexter. Timothy Olyphant broke thru from starring in Deadwood which later got him Justified. It also resurrected Ian McShane's career. Rome had a great cast that many found themselves later cast in Game of Thrones. Ray Stevenson was the standout as Titus Pullo imo and Kerry Condon was just nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Banshees of Inshiren. I have often stated here I'm a big fan of Carnivale which imo is Clancy Brown's greatest role easily. Deadwood, Rome and Carnivale were all cut short, not for reasons of viewership ratings but due to the cost of making them. They are all period pieces with Deadwood taking place soon after the Civil War, Rome during ancient times and Carnivale during the Great Depression. CGI was still new and extremely expensive at the time so they actually went the way of building the sets and using props which shows and you just no longer see today. Anyways, I highly recommend to everyone here to invest the time in watching Deadwood, Rome and Carnivale...you won't be disappointed and it's a hell of a lot better than anything HBO has put out in years imo.
The first "real" show I got into was Dexter, but I dove into HBO content shortly after. I guess Oz was their first big deal. I remember hearing about that at the time and having no idea what it was because I was a damn whippersnapper, but I saw it eventually and it was pretty fucking good. The Sopranos was another good one that my boss at Arby's pushed on me. Gandolfini was perfect. I looped back to Six Feet Under because MC Hall, and holy shit... that was a powerful show. It definitely left a lasting impact on me.
I think a big part of why these shows held such merit is because there weren't many of them. The market is oversaturated with less meaningful content that caters to any and every genre that no newer show can ever be as definitive or worthwhile.
It sounds cynical, but I'm not saying I don't enjoy a handful of current shows, but most all of them are trying to become huge IPs. Getting too big for their britches, you know what I mean? Some I can get into, but others need to die off. I can't be bothered to keep up with all these fictional worlds and try to follow their meaningless narratives.
By the way, I'm thinking a TV challenge needs to happen soon.