The 13 episodes of last season, Season 5, focused on mob boss Tony Soprano's separation from his wife Carmela, as well as the new challenges he faced at home and work, from within his immediate family, other mob families, and law enforcement.

Series regulars from Season 5 included Drea de Matteo as Adriana, Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr., Jamie-Lynn DiScala as Meadow Soprano, Tony Sirico as Paulie Walnuts, Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante, Aida Turturro, Tony's sister Janice, Katherine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco, Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri, John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco, and Vincent Curatola as Johnny Sack.

Steve Buscemi ("Ghost World"), joined the cast as a regular last season, playing Tony Soprano's cousin Tony Blundetto. Buscemi also returned as one of the directors of the series; he previously directed the "Pine Barrens" episode.

Guest stars included Polly Bergen (Emmy® nominee for "War and Remembrance"), Tim Daly ("Wings"), Patty D'Arbanville ("Personal Velocity"), Robert Loggia (Oscar® nominee for "Jagged Edge"), Joe Santos (Emmy® nominee for "The Rockford Files"), David Strathairn ("Blue Car"), Frankie Valli (Four Seasons lead singer) and Frank Vincent ("Cop Land").

Veteran directors of THE SOPRANOS who returned for Season 5 included Allen Coulter, John Patterson (Directors Guild of America winner), Alan Taylor and Tim Van Patten. First time directors included Peter Bogdanovich (Oscar® nominee for "The Last Picture Show"), who is also a veteran cast member of the series, Mike Figgis (Oscar® nominee for "Leaving Las Vegas") and Rodrigo Garcia (HBO's "Six Feet Under").

David Chase, Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green, Terence Winter and Michael Imperioli returned as writers for the fifth season, with Matthew Weiner joining the staff.

In September 2004, THE SOPRANOS led all HBO programs with four Emmys® - the most of any drama series. In addition to James Gandolfini (Lead Actor in a Drama Series) and Edie Falco (Lead Actress in a Drama Series), the show won in the categories of Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Joe Pantoliano) and Writing for a Drama Series (David Chase, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess for "Whitecaps").

The show has also won five Golden Globe® Awards, including the award in the Best Television Series - Drama category in 2000. In addition, the first two seasons of the show have been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

THE SOPRANOS is a production of HBO Original Programming, Brad Grey Television and Chase Films; executive producers, David Chase, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Brad Grey, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter; co-executive producer, Henry J. Bronchtein; supervising producer, Matthew Weiner; producer, Martin Bruestle.

HBO and series creator David Chase have already reached an agreement for a sixth season, with that season's ten episodes to begin production in early 2005