I agree with Mr. Roth (and welcome, btw!). But I would also say there are times when it's overdone...not to the point of "too much cussin'," but rather, it's done in an unrealistic fashion. For instance, in season 2, when Tony lays down the law to Richie in the shopping mall, he says, "I'm the f*ckin', motherf*ckin', f*ckin' boss!" or something to that effect. IMHO, one "f" or "mf" would've sufficed. When it's overdone like that, it comes across as profanity for profanity's sake, not realism. Christopher does it more than anyone else, though.

I think it was "I'm the motherf*ckin f*ckin one who calls the shots!"

I think I'll weigh in here. The Sopranos like all you have said would lose its realism if they toned it down, but I think the swearing is something that adds to the appeal. People were getting tired of perfect famlies on TV. People loved All In The Family because it was a honest show, as is the sopranos. Thats why it is on HBO.

Now to get to the Janice/Richie part. I think that was a really good scene with Janice and Richie. Maybe they could of had a different setting then them having sex but notice how Janice uses subtle ways to show Richie that she think her brother "needs help". It happened before in the car where Richie talked about how Tony had givin him money to start out and Janice goes "Mailmen make more than that."

Are you kidding? That's one of my favourite pieces of profanity in the series - tony is really trying to chastise richie and, as his vocabulary is so limited, he has to resort to a frankly ludicrous emphasising of 'fuck' with 'motherfuck'. It just shows how that, at heart, tony is so much more of a thug than the dignified mobsters of 'the godfather'. You can't fault chris' inspired and fantasising language, i mean his 'two bazookas, say hello to my leetle friend' speech in season one is priceless!

Snake, I see where you're coming from, but to be honest I think Tony's mouthing off to Richie in that scene is by pure frustration. Whenone is frustrated, one's mind goes completely blank, and I think in this case Tony was lost for words to add emphasis. I am actually speaking from experience here, as I often get frustrated to the point where I can repeat a word--much to the laughter of my friends, at my expense of course.

Mick

You and Lucky are right about ratings and the choices to watch these movies and programs, but come on. You have to admit a lot of what they show on regular TV can removed. Ok, here is an example, when Sharon Stone goes down on Pesci in Casino, we all know what was going on and they didn't show it. Why can't movies be more like the older classics, like Little Caesar, there's a classic and for it's time, I'm sure it was said to be graphic, but now a-days it's just plain rediculous what they can show on regular TV as far as I'm concerned! There's no "rating" there. The older movies have great plots and story-lines without the crap that you see now, that is all I am saying. Look at Road to Perdition, that wasn't as gory and the language wasn't as bad, only in a few given scenes. Why not chalenge the audience's imagination and thought by letting us figure it out, we aren't stupid, we know what is going on in many situations without seeing it. [/b][/quote]movies on TV do have ratings. TV PG, TV 14, TV MA, etc.

and the majority of people going to movies these days are younger. younger people such as myself and other people on this board like the swearing, like the violence, like the sexual scenes. that's why most people in their teens choose movies like scarface and goodfellas over the godfather. the godfather is very hard to sit through knowing there are other mob movies with more action. my mom even told me, everyone went to go and see the godfather when it came out. the godfather was the movie. there were no other mob movies to go and see when the godfather came out. people now have the oppurtunity to choose.

agreed

just thought i'd post this so more people would see the post and comment....

Yeah!

if you dont like profanity then dont watch the bloody sopranos!!! period. i hate those old peeps trying to ruin things for everyone.

Despite what I've believed in the past, I don't think it's a case of making the show more realistic. It simply makes it stand out from the rest and distinguishes itself as an adult TV show. Very few shows make an impact on par with The Sopranos.

Mick