- suddenly, here's this tv show that everyone's talking about, but you have to pay to watch it. you know, that's how good "the sopranos" was: people were paying just to see that show. - "the sopranos" came along and completely reestablished what the bar was. i honestly couldn't quite believe it, that television was communicating something that you might only see in the darkest moments-- and accurate moments-- in cinema. istant radio chatter] [mystical drum music] ♪ ♪ - you look at the year that "american beauty" won the oscar-- which is also the year that "the sopranos" debuted-- and almost immediately after that, the two mediums diverged. - i know what i must do, but i'm afraid to do it. [epic music] - movies became much more focused on big tent-pole things that can bring in as much of an audience as you possibly can.