It seems The Sopranos may not be sleeping with the fishes as soon as expected.
Despite creator David Chase's claims that the upcoming sixth season of the show would be the last for his gang of merry mobsters, the Sopranos mastermind appears to have left the door open for a possible seventh season.
At a media breakfast for the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications last month, Chase was asked whether the sixth season would mark the conclusion of the hugely popular HBO series.
According to Broadcasting & Cable magazine, Chase indicated that he felt the show had run its creative course, but said that there could be a seventh season without altering the outcome of the sixth season already in production.
Chase's admission seemed to be the first clue that the show's protagonist, Tony Soprano ( James Gandolfini), would avoid getting whacked in the near future, leaving the door open for a seventh season, as well as a rumored Sopranos movie.
At the DVD release party for the fifth season of The Sopranos Monday, Chase again said he was mulling the idea of extending the show's run.
"I'm ambivalent," Chase told reporters. "HBO wants me to do it, and I can't deny that there's a certain pull on me from the cast."
It's not the first time the Emmy-winning Sopranos creator and executive producer has given the show a stay of execution.
Chase has wavered about bringing the show back ever since the fourth season when his initial contract expired.
After HBO made him an offer he couldn't refuse (pegged at somewhere between $15 million to $20 million), Chase agreed to return for a fifth season, with the caveat that it would likely be the last.
Just when he thought he was out, HBO pulled him back in for a sixth season deal--just 10 more episodes instead of the customary 13.
Apparently, the allure of the mob is hard to resist--even the small-screen version.
Chase said he would decide whether to add a seven-episode seventh season sometime this month.
The sixth season of the show will premiere in March 2006 with 13 new episodes.
Some 11 million viewers tuned in for the fifth-season closer last June, which featured Tony Soprano putting a bullet in the brain of his cousin, Tony Blundetto ( Steve Buscemi).
