July 18, 2005
Going for 7?

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/
columnists/12157705.htm

This is not a recording. If David Chase decides to go another season with The Sopranos, it's news to HBO chairman Chris Albrecht.

"I'm sure in his own head David knows what he's doing, but he certainly hasn't shared it with us," Albrecht said in an interview Friday.

Season 6 of HBO's mob hit launches in March. Creator Chase says it's absolutely, positively, cross-my-heart-and- hope-to-die the last season - the same thing he said after seasons 4 and 5. Now he's reportedly mulling No. 7.

"I've said to David, 'Look, you let us know. If this is it, this is it. If you think there's more, you tell us when and where,' " Albrecht says. "I'll never say it's over until the final episode is shot. That's how I'll know it's over."

Judging by Chase's enthusiasm this season, it may not be, says Albrecht. Sopranos is midway through production on 13 episodes, give or take. (See below.)

"I think he was genuinely invigorated by the response to the show last season. It propelled him into this season, and with all that energy he has, it's made him see some things he didn't think were possible before."

Still, Chase, whose chronic anxiety about whether viewers like his show defies comprehension, worries most about the audience tiring of Tony (James Gandolfini), Carmela (Edie Falco) and the gang, Albrecht says.

Fat chance. As for how many episodes he'll produce this season, Chase, like David Milch (Deadwood) and David Simon (The Wire), has carte blanche, according to Albrecht. He's supposed to do 13, but if he decides on a seventh season, the number "may be adjusted up or down."

There was no adjusting for Carnivale, which got the hook after two seasons. Albrecht says the expensive period piece, shot on location, was underwhelming in overseas sales and on DVDs. Passionate Carnivale fans deluged HBO with more than 50,000 e-mails in one weekend, trying to save the show. "We knew there was a big fan base, but we were surprised by the amount of time people took to lobby for it," Albrecht says.

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