Sopranoland: Looking Down on Society From Below in TV Soaps

Abstract The Sopranos television series teems with meditations on morality and, presents many conundrums. Is the series a humorous cultural artifact or a description of some evil, criminal and salacious folkways embedded in contemporary American society? Perhaps both. As with Laclos and Richardson1 David Chase, the writer-producer of the successful cable television series, examines the lifestyles of gangsters who in many ways behave like monsters. But it also happens that monsters often do good deeds. Chase lays out these moral dilemmas in his memorable episodes in the series.