I just caught this post or I would have responded earlier.

Anyone remember Archie Bunker? Diversity was the theme: Blacks, Jews, Catholics, Orientals, anything and anybody Archie was threatened by while being funny and teaching family and world values. Almost everybody loved it and nobody got hurt. It had high ratings and ran for years.

When the three majors networks were making movies for television and mini-series about 20 years ago, they tried to make quality shows with redeeming values and often failed. Hey, it's television. Sex and violence sell (always have) and it's a ratings game.

Little House on the Prairie and Touched by an Angel showed some redeeming values from one perspective. Desperate Housewives has some redeeming values in family matters. I recently watched a TV movie starring Debra Messing (sp?) and I can't remember the name of it. It's Sex and the City meets the First Wives Club (in Hollywood). Nothing new but they're talking series. Redeeming values? I think not.

I don't have HBO so I got The Sopranos DVDs from the library. Love, sex, violence, family values, health, education, loyalty, trust, distrust, vengeance, religion and questioning religion - they hit it all. Just like real life. Carmella knows what Tony does, but like a lot of people who know what their spouses do for a living, it's the world they live in and they learn to live in it and accept it. Denial is a great game. Carmela asks good questions about her religion and says she's just trying to understand. Lots of pepole are like that. The priest she confides in isn't always of high moral fiber. Not everyone is.

People say the movie The Godfather is all about life. I think The Sopranos took that movie and made it a series. People loved the show and so did the sponsors. High ratings and ran for 10 years.

We want to escape from reality when we watch movies and television. We also want to believe they reflect some of what we're dealing with in our lives. They do.

You'll have to go the PBS and specials to get the ethnic and religious diversity you may be looking for because just like Tony Soprano, it's all about the business and the money.