Illustration by Tony Tye and Curt Chandler, Post-Gazette TV Editor Rob Owen goes behind the scenes of the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Los Angeles with this journal, written exclusively for post-gazette.com. Click photo for larger image. L.A. Confidential Index to Press Tour Journal, and past journals

Getting the cast and producers of "The Sopranos" to say something - anything! - about their hit HBO series is not an easy task. TV critics love the show, but some of us dread the press conferences.

"Without having to tell us anything, although an occasional noun would be nice ... ," began one critic's question.

No worries about spoilers in this report.

A clip from the upcoming sixth season, beginning March 12, showed what appears to be Janice (Aida Turturro) getting married and Johnny Sack's wife (Denise Borino) fainting at the reception. It appears A.J. (Robert Iler) may get locked up in a facility of some sort and Paulie (Tony Sirico) stabs someone in the chest. Carmela (Edie Falco) confesses she knew what kind of man Tony (James Gandolfini) is when she began dating him and he brought her father a power drill.

"I knew behind that power drill was probably a guy with a broken arm or worse," Carmela says in voiceover. "I'd go to my priest and cry about how my husband made his money, but that was bull -- because there are far bigger crooks than my husband."

Guest stars in the upcoming 12-episode season include Ben Kingsley (playing himself), Julianna Margulies (as a real estate agent) and Hal Holbrook (as an ailing Bell labs retiree who gets involved with the mob).

Barry Wetcher Michael Imperioli and James Gandolfini in the new season of "Sopranos." Click photo for larger image.

Though there was once talk of a "Sopranos" movie, creator David Chase said this extended final season, which concludes with eight episodes that will begin airing in January 2007, tells the story that had once been discussed as a big screen movie.

This much Chase would reveal about the new season: A.J. and Paulie both have a lot to do and characters are disquieted and "sort of rattled."

"It's mostly keyed off the fact that Johnny Sack has been arrested and is facing a large RICO trial for murder and people have the chance to see a possible potential future for themselves in that," Chase said. "It has ripple effects, just like it would psychologically."

And it sounds like there will be, as usual, some deaths. A ritual on the set is to take the cast member whose character is being killed off out for dinner.

"Actually, we owe a couple," Gandolfini said.

He said playing Tony Soprano has taken its toll.

	Barry Wetcher James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano Click photo for larger image.

"It's a dark, dark world and you're in it a lot," he said. "However, if you're gonna be in a dark world, I can't think of any better one to be in. The writing is still wonderful, I love the people I work with. It's a heavy tone sometimes, but there are many pluses to it."

One critic wondered why Tony continues to see therapist Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) when he hasn't made a lot of progress.

"We're trying to depict real psychotherapy," Chase quipped. "I think he enjoys going to this attractive woman once a week and talking, and she doesn't really interrupt him that much."

Bracco acknowledged that some viewers have been annoyed by the long hiatuses between seasons -- the last original episode aired in June 2004 -- but she said they were breaks for the cast and producers.

"Besides the writing process David needs because he edits and writes, it's been very healthy for us not to be 11 months out of the year on the [treadmill]," she said.

"Nobody signed anything to watch this as long as it's on the air," Falco said. "If they find something else, God bless them."

As to how "The Sopranos" will end, Chase said it will hopefully give a sense that the story is done, but the character's lives -- or at least some of them -- will go on.

"They won't all go up in a nuclear cloud," Chase said.