I've spoken with some Italian Americans, and despite it's tiring "Italian Mafia stereotypes", they expressed much fondness for the show, and for some of them, it showed some family structure amongst chaos and degeneracy. How certain family traditions, legal or otherwise, are maintained and done away with as with as each generation moves forward.
The sopranos was sort of on and off with its quality and story lines. With the wire i was constantly hooked and enjoyed most of the episodes.
What do you mean by historical context?
