I believe swearing, violence and nudity are essential components of 'The Sopranos' and help make it one of the most brilliant pieces of entertainment ever made. The so-called 'bad' language helps to convey each character precisely, take a look at Livia (possibly the greatest character of them all, Nancy Marchand was a goddess) her frequent remarks such as 'I don't like that talk' whenever Tony swears around her shows how she is from a different time period, however, she is certainly far from being 'nicer' i mean she orders the death of her only son because she put him in a resting home! I agree that the show includes some fantastically comic uses of the word '**** ', especially from Junior, but we can't forget Paulie ('Don't get cunty!'). I don't find these especially offensive as being being from the uk, that particular word is far more commonplace than the us but also it is used with definite comic intent and panache and another word would not suffice. The violence is amazingly realistic - look at the fight in the apartment in 'Pine Barrens' - it is horribly messy and very un-stagey (compare the balletic fights of any kung-fu movie you care to mention) this adds to the almost deadpan realism of the show which is superbly offset by occasional dream sequences. The ludicrous and excessive nudity, mainly in the busts of the bing dancers, shows the misogynistic attitudes of all the male mafioso characters. When a main female character is in a sex scene it is always purposeful. The best example being the extremely disturbing rape of Dr. Melfi; this was as graphic as legally possible yet entirely non-sensationalised (compare Straw Dogs). I think that to have toned that down would have been an insult to what the character was going through and the subject of rape in general; this event marked an essential turning point for Dr. Melfi and was one of the most compelling episodes of the series so far; the final scene where she could have asked tony to kill her rapist but doesn't is simply incredible. 'The Sopranos' should on no account tone down any aspect of itself. To do so would destroy its credibility rather than enhace it. You have to lie in the gutter to see the stars.