Produced by: David Chase Productions
Network: HBO
Scheduled: Sunday, 8 to 9 p.m. (EST)
Reviewed on: HBO-HD, Dish Network; Channel 9420
 Recipe for HDTV heaven: Take equal parts HDTV and HBO’s mob drama series The Sopranos; mix and serve. Too bad the recipe wasn’t invented until after The Sopranos saga was well underway. Well, HBO didn’t have to, but it has remastered all of the earlier Sopranos episodes in HDTV. Wow—leftovers that went back to the kitchen and came out tasting even better than when they were first served!
Although the fifth and final 13-episode season of The Sopranos is still a ways off, the earlier episodes take on new life in their HDTV remastered form, showing just how good the production values were in the first place. Like most episodic television, The Sopranos is filmed, not videotaped, and 35-mm film is itself a high-definition medium.
The Sopranos in HDTV is as good as it gets, with sumptuous but not over-saturated colors, expansive widescreen framing, and improved detail of dark indoor scenes like the Bada Bing club. Still don’t have an HDTV set? You aren’t getting HBO-HD yet?
What are you waiting for, goombah!
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