LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Mobsters fresh out of prison and on the loose provide the impetus for the fifth season of HBO's drama "The Sopranos," series creator David Chase said.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/09/tv.sopranos.ap/index.html

A New Jersey newspaper story about organized crime figures prosecuted in the 1980s inspired him, Chase told the Television Critics Association on Thursday.
"The Sopranos," which returns March 7 with 13 new episodes, begins with the "Mafia class of 2004 hitting the streets," Chase said, speaking to the group via satellite from Paris.
Chase, usually coy about sharing plot details, gave a broad sense of what was in store for New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), estranged wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and the rest of the gang.

"It has to do with the limitations of family relationships and friendships in a sort of materialist world," Chase said. "And also the fact that Tony Soprano is kind of a mature boss."
But he's not yet a "lion in winter," he added.
A sixth season, with 10 episodes, is planned for the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning series.
Although there had been talk of a movie, Chase was uncertain about the possibility.
"I wouldn't say no to that completely but these last 10 episodes will be that movie, I believe."
Chase was queried about the fate of two characters: Furio, who worked for Tony and flirted with Carmela before wisely leaving the country, and a Russian gangster who battled it out with Tony's boys in the woods.

Would Furio be back? "He's gone." The Russian? "He's gone."

Gandolfini was among several cast members who appeared before critics to promote the drama. He was asked about whether the breakup of Tony's marriage offered fresh acting opportunities and challenges.
"Having gone through something similar personally, it was a little difficult to have to dredge those things up sometimes. ... In terms of the acting ... it just makes you think real deep," he said.
Would he miss Tony when the series ends?
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to the character but I'm not going to miss him. Does that make sense?" Gandolfini said, adding, "When it's over the right way -- I'll see you later."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/09/television.sopranos.reut/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- It's not easy being Tony Soprano, so actor James Gandolfini has some mixed feelings about playing television's most conflicted mob boss.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to the character, but I'm not going to miss him," Gandolfini said Thursday as the hit HBO series "The Sopranos" heads into its fifth season after a 15-month hiatus.
"He's got a lot of rage, and you have to scrape that up. ... Eight or nine months a year, 14 hours a day, it starts to take its toll after a while," he said.
Gandolfini spoke about his Emmy-winning role during HBO's presentation at the winter press tour of the Television Critics Association in Hollywood.
Especially challenging, he said, was production of the previous season's critically celebrated season finale, in which Tony Soprano and his wife, Carmela, played by Edie Falco, split up in a hail of acrimony.
"Having gone through something similar personally, it was difficult having to dredge those things up," said Gandolfini, whose real-life marriage ended in divorce in December 2002, as the show's fourth season drew to a close. "Sometimes it was very hard to do some of those scenes."
Just this week, Gandolfini, 42, revealed he was newly engaged, to a woman he met on the set of the film "The Mexican."
"The Sopranos" returns to the premium cable channel, a unit of Time Warner, for 10 more episodes starting on Sunday, March 7, and creator/executive producer David Chase said the series will pick up where it left off. (CNN is also a unit of Time Warner.)
The show will introduce some new characters as a number of fictional mobsters serving lengthy prison sentences get out of jail and start hitting the streets as the "class of 2004," Chase said.
One of them is played by actor Steve Buscemi, who is joining the cast as Tony Soprano's maternal cousin, Tony Blundetto.
Declining to give away too many plot points of upcoming episodes, Chase said the fifth season overall "has to do with the limitations of family relationships and friendships in a materialist world."
As for the longer-term future of the show, Chase said he planned to wrap up the series after a sixth season of 10 more episodes, but no production or air date has been set.