The end of The Sopranos

I just watched the conclusion of HBO's long-running drama The Sopranos. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I'll say this: the last few episodes have set up a watershed moment in Tony Soprano's life. Tony might get whacked, Tony might whack the other guy, or Tony might get indicted. Some issues were resolved, some weren't, and the show takes a surprise turn at the very, very end. I liked it; I thought it was fitting.

HBO made a point of highlighting its returning shows, plus several new shows that are premiering this summer on HBO. One of them, John from Cincinnati, is about some aging surfer dudes, including Beverly Hills 90210 veteran Luke Perry playing a character named Linc. That was the show that HBO chose to take the slot immediately following one of the most anticipated TV moments in years, the red carpet with 24-karat gold trim. It was like my screen morphed from HBO to community access without my having to change channels. I was looking forward to a show with some cute surfer boiz — I think a form-fitting wetsuit can be incredibly sexy. Instead I saw a bad episode of Summerland, a show that was only watchable with liberal use of the fast-forward button in between shots of Jesse McCartney's dimples. It was so bad, I didn't even watch long enough to figure out which one is the title character.

Some of the returning series are worth watching, though. Big Love has me hooked on the story of a family of FLDS [Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, which is to say resolutely old-school Mormons] trying to blend polygamy with suburbia. Of course, Real Time with Bill Maher is top of my TiVo list, but it's on hiatus until August. I just hope that Flight of the Conchords gets a better start than John from Cincinnati.

Technorati tags: Sopranos, HBO, John from Cincinnati

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