Tony Soprano pummels Brotherhood

Is there poetry in how the final season of The Sopranos -- a show once panned by Buddy Cianci, because it supposedly reinforces stereotypical depictions of Italian-Americans -- will just precede the former Providence mayor's release from the federal slammer? The last batch of installments begins this Sunday.

Any way you slice it, The Sopranos, along with The Wire, another HBO production, is great art, far and away one of the best things on television.

The filmed-in-Providence Brotherhood sometimes captures the gritty texture of the city (and congrats to the show for winning a Peabody Award), yet the story-telling, IMHO, feels forced. The lack of appropriate realism also hurts a story about cops and crooks. In the real word, after all, federal prosecutors don't pack up and head back to Washington when they can't make a case in Rhode Island.