King of the streets, child of clay.

Why the sopranos is the best television ever.

I, and many others, are of the firm belief that the Sopranos is the greatest thing to have ever graced the small screen. You want to know why we think that? Its for the following reasons:

1) The acting. Some superb performances. The acting from Gandolfini is, as would be expected, great. Some nice acting from the psychatrist (who played the wife in Goodfellas) and Steve Van Zandt (who is also a member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street band and a rock and roll entrepreneur).

2) But as much as the acting is great, the casting is better, inspired almost.

3) The cameos are good but not too over the top. Frank Sinatra junior plays a card game, Steve Buscemi becomes instantly brilliant as Tony's cousin in series five.

4) The dialogue is where it really excels. The humour, the violence, the mannerisms are all there and all perfectly measured.

5) The plot. It builds over time, they are not obsessed with having a cliché ridden crescendo at the end of every episode (see 24 and lost).

6) It is almost Shakesperian in complexity. The Sopranos can be watched over and over again and there are still elements which reveal themselves, themes which have been in place and built upon for more than five series now.

7) The Soundtrack is absolutely fine. The songs are always great and well chosen for the particular moments. The two soundtracks are well worth a listen.

8) The violence is real. Not Die Hard fake OTT fighting but reality, cold, brutal and shocking. It is all the better for this.

I am a firm believer that the Sopranos will be watched again in hundreds of years as the classic turn of the century drama. More than a drama it will be viewed as art. And I do measure my words there. ART. There quite simply is no other mainstream or not recent television drama which comes close to the complexity and beauty of this series.

Read some more of my stuff. You can find out what happended at Primal Scream's new record launch party here on Sunday night. You can read about Bruce Springsteen's Seeger obsession here and you can read all about English World Cup songs here. Plus you can watch some cool videos here.

Joey