Look at the set on Steve Perry

No matter what we thought about The Sopranos finale (we, like everyone else, are coming around on it), we'd be lying if we said we didn't appreciate the use of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin." It was used to better effect in Monster, but having spent our first post-college year in North Jersey, we recognize how fitting the faithful power ballad was for the scene. Yet, we didn't realize how ballsy Journey lead singer Steve Perry was in giving David Chase his blessing.

He insisted on knowing the ending before allowing David Chase to use the song. He says it's because he "was not excited about the possibility of the Soprano family being whacked to 'Don't Stop Believin'." So, tender lesbian makeout scene between murderous prostitute and underage teen - cool; extermination of TV family that had it coming more than any before it (with the possible exception of the Cosbys) - uncool.

We're sure there's some rational thinking hiding in this interview somewhere, but it's way over our heads.

The Sopranos vs. The Wire, the final showdown

We know, how dare we discuss another TV show - an HBO show, no less! - in this day of mourning and remembrance of The Sopranos. Look, we love the show. It's great. What we don't understand is these day-late critics rushing to be the first to proclaim The Sopranos the greatest TV show of all time.

First off, that's bullshit. Secondly, David Chase is all brains - don't get us wrong - but he's no David Simon. Chase's resume pre-Sopranos (The Rockford Files, Northern Exposure) is respectable, but not mind-blowingly brilliant. The Sopranos is one of the finest TV dramas ever created, and for that Chase should receive all the accolades it warrants. The thing is, he already has. The man has a closet fully of Emmys, a legion of fans, and a cachet few in the TV industry can rival.

And, yet, David Simon owns him. He might not have the experience of Chase, but in the rather short time Simon has been writing for TV he has created two of the most indelible shows of all time - Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire - and one of the most acclaimed miniseries - The Corner - since Roots.

But it's not the two creator's careers we're debating here; we're trying to decide which HBO show deserves the title of "greatest show ever." In our opinion, it's The Wire, and it's not even close. We decided to settle it with a random, completely unscientific sampling of questions:

1.) Which season was the show's best?

The Wire, season four
The Sopranos, season one

Advantage: The Wire

Somehow, Simon and his writing staff managed to craft The Wire's best season with the show's most recognizable face (Dominic West) planted firmly in the background. A group of adolescents and a school teacher took center stage, and The Wire was never better. Imagine if The Sopranos had used Tony only sparingly in just one episode, let alone an entire season? TV is supposed to grow and evolve throughout its run. The Sopranos did that, they just never did it better than in the beginning.

2.) Which season was the show's worst?

The Wire, Season Two
The Sopranos, Season Six

Advantage: The Wire

Even at its least involving - a storyline involving a dock workers union's ties to the Baltimore drug trade - The Wire was always compelling, always laying the groundwork for a payoff down the road. Tony's shooting, subsequent coma, and Vito's gay anthology, while great for shock value, were mere footnotes in the grand scope of the series. As it was, season six was a hodgepodge of riveting moments (Tony being shot) and "what the fuck?" moments (the first-part capper filmed around the Christmas Tree) that made the two-year wait all the more grating.

3.) Which episode is the series' best?

The Wire, "Final Grades"
The Sopranos, "College"

Advantage: The Sopranos

If only because "College" is one of the finest single-contained hours of television ever produced, does The Sopranos top The Wire here. Meadow questioning Tony about his "profession," Tony tailing an informant and strangling him, "College" was our fist glimpose into the violent core that would come to define Tony over the next eight years. Conversely, "Final Grades" was more about the resolution of several storylines that had been building for an entire season - or more - and the set-up for the final season yet to come.

4.) Which episode is the series' worst?

The Wire, "Hot Shots"
The Sopranos, "Join the Club"

Advantage: The Wire

"Hot Shots" isn't even a bad episode, just one of The Wire's more forgettable entries, devoted mostly to labor union politics and the uncovering of a group of corpses. Most people we know can't stand the "Tony as a salesman" episode, and with good reason. We all knew the show was nearing its end, yet we were sidetracked with the journey of this character who didn't even exist.

5.) Who is the show's best character?

The Wire, Stringer Bell
The Sopranos, Tony Soprano

Advantage: The Sopranos

Tony Soprano may be the most well-known, memorable character in TV history. As great as Stringer Bell was, he was gone before he had a chance at the throne. No argument here.

6.) Who is the show's best supporting character?

The Wire, Omar Little
The Sopranos, Paulie Walnuts

Advantage: The Wire

Ultimately, Omar is the face of The Wire - human, empathetic, selfish and predatory - just as much as Tony is the face of The Sopranos. That kind of detail for a supporting character is what makes The Wire the best-written show in TV history.

Overall: We feel like we've been saying this for years - because we have. The Wire is the greatest show in the history of television. If you don't believe us, read this, or this, or this...or even Simmons. The Wire takes it, four games to two.

Closure? Let me tell you a couple, three things about closure...

That David Chase, he's a motherfucker. Damn him and "physic mess." We give him credit for being ballsy enough to get that ending past the HBO suits, but it's a giant copout. Some of our friends are screaming genius, but we say "let's string 'em along until the movie" is more apt. Open endings are for novels, not TV. We've invested eight years in The Sopranos; no book takes eight years to read. We don't know if Silvio lives or dies, if Paulie commits suicide (which is the theory we're floating), if one of those shady characters in the restaurant caps Tony, or even if Janice gets to keep Bobby's kids.

The beauty of the Lost season finale was that, in effect, it could have acted as a series finale. We didn't get all the answers we'd been begging for, but we got some - and the ones we didn't get were offset by the revelation that, yes, they do get off the island. We liked the use of Journey over the final moments (we've lived in Jersey, and it totally fits), but we were like everyone else seconds later. "The fucking cable went out!"

No, it didn't. That was one of the most influential and, arguably, highest quality TV shows going out with a "what the shit?" rather than a bang. And with this show, we have to say, were we really expecting anything more?

The time has come to say goodbye...

Just being honest, but we didn't really get into The Sopranos until a couple of years ago, during its long hiatus leading up to season six. Since then, we've seen nearly all the show's episodes and followed this current season like the media follow Paris's prison-issued panties. We're sad that it's going to be over. Not as sad as some, but it's the end of an era and all that, so we're setting aside some time on Sunday night to mourn the passing of a TV giant.

We're not as broken up as we'll be next season, when The Wire and Friday Night Lights (most likely) go off the air, and don't get us thinking about 2010, when Lost ends its run. The TV shows that qualify as genuine "appointment viewing" are few and far between today. Sadly, scripted shows run a distant second to sporting events in the couch-sitting universe. We love sports, of course, but Jets-Dolphins should never qualify as a weekly TV highlight.

There just aren't many shows like The Sopranos anymore, and if you can find one on network TV - excluding Friday Night Lights and Lost - please notify us. We have high hopes for the new seasons of Big Love and Rescue Me, but there's just something about a show you've followed for years, characters you've grown attached to, storylines you've been swept up in.

Sunday night, for a lot of us, marks the end of one of those rare shows that we reworked our schedule to accomodate. And in today's world of TiVo and DVR, that's about the highest compliment one can pay. We'll miss you, Sopranos. But if you fuck up this ending you'll be hearing from us Monday morning.

Saying Goodbye to Our Favorite Hour of Every Week [Deadspin]

Why don't The Sopranos do it in the road?

Because around here it's all Sopranos, all the time in the few days we have left until the second-biggest finale of this season (no one's touching Lost), we bring you this "what if."

Honestly, we're not sure it works. The Beatles are untouchable, but The Sopranos' opening sequence is quite possibly the best ever produced. And, yes, Jersey really looks like that. But we used to live in Lower Montclair, on the Bloomfield border, so maybe we're just jealous.

Harry Potter vs. Tony Soprano

Newsweek, of all places, has a story in their new issue that asks whether or not the sagas of Harry Potter and Tony Soprano are, in fact, one and the same. Ballsy. We did a double take when we saw the headline, "When Harry Met Tony," (then we thought about that Meg Ryan line from Knocked Up - "she does full frontal in that movie, she should be fuckin' Harry" - and lost our train of thought). After all, what do J.K. Rowling and David Chase have in common?

Plenty, according to writer Malcom Jones. Well, once you get past the fact that one is a pimply, pubescent wizard and the other's a murderous Jersey mob boss. The similiarities are as follows:

1. Both are heroes rooted in self-doubt
2. Both are surrounded by subcultures. For Tony, it's organized crime, and for Harry, the world of magic.
3. Both are rejected by the "straight" world. Tony is an outsider to law-abiding citizens and Harry is never accepted by the Muggles.
4. Both are indentifiable protagonists for their respective audiences. Kids identify with flying ability/athletic prowess, whereas adults empathize with Tony's marital/parental conflicts.
5. Both are "destined by their characters" to be what they are. Their fate is not the changeable kind.
6. Both have gone into the family business.
7. Both are on a quest.
8. Both are forced to pass a test at every turn.
9. Both will be surrounded - and haunted - by the death of others.
10. Both are endlessly watchable because they face the same questions we face - only on a grander scale.

It's a pretty interesting read, if ultimately deflating. The same kind of comparison can be made between practically any set of pop culture icons no matter how obvious (Sawyer and Han Solo) or insane (Alf and Ryan Atwood). Still, check it out if you're into, you know, Newsweek.

Tony Soprano, Harry Potter: The Same Story? [Newsweek]

How the hell are they going to end it?

Admittedly, we were a bit buzzed when we watched the initial airing of last week's Sopranos. Upon further review, we're in the same camp as everyone else now: We think Paulie Walnuts double-crossed Big T. That seems too easy though, doesn't it? David Chase is too byzantine to tie everything up that neatly and we're guessing Terence Winter will throw a few hooks and right crosses into the finale's script as well. And, as Peter King himself mentioned on The Herd this morning, we still haven't seen that infamous ice cream shoppe scene. We're torn on what to say or think about this finale. Can it possibly top the mindfuck that was the Lost capper? Doubtful. But this is the end of a cultural touchstone we're seeing here and the hype will begin in full tomorrow as the talk over last week's episode gives way to handrubbing over this week's sign-off.

Be ready, HBO fans. Deadwood is gone, The Sopranos is going away and we only have one more season of The Wire. Here's hoping John From Cincinnati doesn't suck as hard as the early reviews have us believing.