‘Sopranos’ vs. ‘Breaking Bad,’ Which Is the Best TV Show of All Time?

For more than a decade now, television viewers have debated which is the greatest TV series of all time. Is it The Sopranos? Breaking Bad? The Wire?

All three come from the “Prestige TV” era of the first decade of the new millennium, when networks like HBO, AMC and FX ruled the airwaves and the awards shows.

Since Breaking Bad signed off in 2013 – it debuted a little over six months after The Sopranos’ notoriously controversial ending and just a few months before The Wire took its final bow – the three shows have been considered the Holy Trinity of Prestige TV.

An Expert Weighs In on Whether The Sopranos Is Better Than Breaking Bad

Former Boston Globe television critic Matthew Gilbert appeared on WBSM’s Tim Weisberg Show this morning, and stated his case as to why The Sopranos is the No. 1 television show of all time, with Breaking Bad coming in a close second.

“For years, yes, I played around with those three, and always tried to fudge my answer to the question of what I think the best show of all time is,” Gilbert said. “All these years later, I can see it was The Sopranos.”

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Why Matthew Gilbert Ranks The Sopranos No. 1

Gilbert said that while The Sopranos was important to the history of television for being the first series that truly got people willing to sign up and pay for cable just to watch one show, it was the artistry of David Chase’s creation that makes it tops.

“It’s just such a great show. It’s funny, it’s moving, it’s highly dramatic, the plotting is smart, it never panders to the viewer,” he said. “It challenges us morally all the time. Shows before The Sopranos really weren’t doing that. You had the good guys and the bad guys, and The Sopranos suddenly blurred all the easy moral lines.”

The Legacy of The Sopranos

Gilbert said he can watch any episode of The Sopranos and be “so impressed all over again.”

He said the real legacy of the show, though, was the character of Tony Soprano showing us that our heroes could be anti-heroes. To paraphrase Tony himself, it doesn’t matter what happened to guys like Gary Cooper, because we no longer needed the strong, silent type.

“(Before The Sopranos) networks really believed viewers only wanted to see good guys versus bad guys, and the good guys had to win,” Gilbert said. “Advertisers on the networks felt that way, too. They don’t want to sell their products if Tony Soprano is murdering people and surviving.”

“The Sopranos really changed the TV makers’ understanding of what viewers were willing to enjoy, and for that I’m grateful,” Gilbert said. “You can’t overestimate the importance of The Sopranos.”

What Matthew Gilbert Loves About Breaking Bad

While it may be his No. 2 show, Gilbert still admires everything about Breaking Bad.

Gilbert praised the cinematography and the character development of Breaking Bad, saying it helped people to “learn to enjoy what episodic storytelling can do” when watching the journey of science teacher-turned-drug kingpin Walter White.

“Suddenly, you can really watch a character develop over time,” he said. “Watching Breaking Bad, one of my all-time favorite shows, being able to see the sort of full transformation of a person is really, it’s kind of exciting and breathtaking, and I think people finally got on board with that kind of storytelling.”

Talk TV With Matthew Gilbert at UMass Dartmouth This Sunday

Gilbert is giving a talk at UMass Dartmouth’s Claire T. Carney Library on Sunday, March 30 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will be followed by a Q&A session and light refreshments. A $10 donation to the Claire T. Carney Library Associates is suggested. You can register online to attend.