Time is on "Sopranos" fans' side.
Show creator David Chase said there won't be another 16-month hiatus before the next season of the popular HBO mob drama.
The show's writers are at work on scripts for the fifth season, with production set to resume in March, Chase told the New York Daily News. "The Sopranos" will then be back with new episodes next September, meaning roughly 10 months will have passed from the Dec. 8 season finale to the launch of the next outing.
That will come as welcome news to rabid fans who have had to suffer more than a year between new episodes about Tony and the gang.
Depending on the outcome of the last four episodes of this season, all of the regular cast members are expected to be back next year.
Earlier this season, word got out that series regulars Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, Drea de Matteo and Tony Sirico were looking for big raises to return next season. They earned up to $30,000 for each episode of the current season and were looking for $100,000 next time around.
"I do know that we have contracts with everybody," Chase said.
Meanwhile, 9.8 million viewers tuned in Sunday night to see Ralph Cifaretto get his head lopped off.
That was down 1 million viewers from the previous week and off 3.6 million from the season-opener, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The falloff from the first episode is in line with usual viewing patterns for returning shows, in which audiences typically shrink about 15 percent from their kickoff episodes.
Still, Sunday's audience was larger than for all but two episodes of last season.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.