First Tony Soprano coerced me into spending my Sunday nights with HBO. Then Carrie (and NYC)seduced me with her wit and style. After they worked their charms, there was Deadwood, Rome and now Big Love (Carnivale or Six Feet Under didn't captivate.) The shows created wonderful worlds and drew me into them.

I've thought a lot about the different reasons why I enjoy Sunday night HBO. Sex and the City didn't let all those really cool designer clothes cover up a very real heart. Watching Tony's tragic flaws lead to inevitable disaster is irresistable to me. Rome is as spectacular as it is compelling drama. But I hadn't realized until recently how much the programming shaped my viewing experience on HBO. Without commercials to temporarilly pull me out of the TV's shows fictional world, I realized that HBO's shows truly worked with each other to create different viewing experiences.

When Sex and the City preceded The Sopranos (Let's just forget Arliss. What was HBO thinking?), my Sunday night felt like more of an urban experience. I ended up wanting to revisit my roots in the Tri-State area. Perhaps Sex and the City left me a bit more cynical and detached when viewing The Sopranos. Maybe something slightly jaded surfaced in me which distanced me from the mobster's lives and made it easier to watch. But I definitely didn't end my night feeling as if I had been staring into the blackness of the human soul. Sunday certainly became a somber night when Al Swearengen followed in Tony's footsteps. After 2 hours of creative and often wondrous profanity and excessive violence, I felt emotionally drained. I often wondered if there was something masochistic about sympathizing with sociopaths for two hours.

Initially I was disappointed when I heard that Big Love would follow The Sopranos this year. I had grown to enjoyimmersing myself in blood and mud. However, I gradually grew to appreciate all the big, big love the Henriksson's had to offer. Sunday night became a night where the values which sustain the American family were reimagined as criminal. (And deeply middle-class me so enjoys such a depiction). Although many viewers seemed disappointed by the closing shot of The Soproanos this season, I thought it was a perfect way to end the season, especially when followed by the apparent outing of the polygamous family in Big Love. It reminds us that the most poignant human drama is taking place next door.