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Q: Why isn't "The Sopranos" being rerun?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

There are a couple of reasons why Tony Soprano and company don't show up on television much these days, but what it seems to come down to is the fact that regular TV just can't handle that show.

The groundbreaking mob drama's violence was famously casual, and its characters famously foul-mouthed -- two things that broadcast and basic cable can't abide. There are standards for this sort of thing.

Indeed, when it was still airing new episodes on HBO in the early 2000s and getting all sorts of buzz, the consensus was that the show could only work on HBO, because as a premium-cable channel, it isn't subject to the same rules.

The show got particularly big headlines in 2005 when it sealed a rerun deal with basic cable channel A&E. The headlines needed to be big to capture two big pieces of news: It earned the highest per-episode price in history ($2.5 million), and HBO agreed to edit out most of the swearing and some of the more brutal killing.

Many reviewers argued that "The Sopranos" wasn't quite the same without the naughtier bits. That and the fact that episodes are particularly expensive means networks had a lot of reasons not to shell out for the reruns.

Of course, these things don't bother Netflix -- the show is currently available on the U.S. version of the service. It has rather deep pockets for prestige shows like "The Sopranos," and no qualms about violence or foul language.

 

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