Monday July 16 08:42 PM EDT

"Sopranos": The Wait Begins

Those of you expecting a new season The Sopranos anytime soon can just fuhgeddaboudit.

HBO says the new season of its signature Mafia hit won't return to the schedule until next June at the earliest--and possibly as late as September.

Not only will fans have to sweat out the fates of Tony and his two families for many months, but the delay means the show, which just last week notched a leading 22 Emmy nominations, won't even be a contender come the 2002 Emmys. (Only shows airing between June 2001 and May 2002 will be eligible.)

The main reason for the wait: creator David Chase's perfectionism. The show's mastermind meticulously crafts every show, from script to music to final edit, and with him thinking about ending The Sopranos (news - Y! TV) soon, he wants to make sure the show goes out in style.

Chase had originally announced that next year's fourth season would be the show's finale. But HBO's dangling a truckload of cash in front of him to return for a fifth season and it's an offer he probably won't refuse, especially since he reportedly wants to write The Sopranos swan song over two seasons, instead of just one. An added bonus: A fifth season would give the show 75 episodes--enough to cash in on the syndication market.

Shooting on season four begins in October. To fix your Sopranos jones in the meantime, HBO will air the first three seasons--all 39 episodes--chronologically on Sundays at 8 p.m. beginning August 12.

And to fill The Sopranos void on the schedule next spring, the premium cable network will plug in its new undertaker series Six Feet Under. The second season of the dark comedy will launch in March, the same time The Sopranos returned this year.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/eo/20010716/en/_quot_sopranos_quot_the_wait_begins_1.html

-- R.L. Burnside (it's_bad@you.know), July 17, 2001

Answers

Sopranos on HBO? Is that like that Three Tenors thing on PBS?

-- Miserable SOB (misery@misery.com), July 17, 2001.

David Chase? He don't even sound Italian. Whatsamatta here?

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), July 18, 2001.