I've been to every TV critics' press-tour session for "The Sopranos" since the series began. The first one went really well; all the others have been, well, awkward.

Which is sort of, well, odd, given the praise that has been heaped on the show by the critical community. But creator/executive producer/writer David Chase doesn't seem comfortable or willing to talk about the show, and the actors have been told not to.

"Well, you know, we've been asked not to speak so it's really hard," said Lorraine Bracco.

"Who asked you not to speak?" Chase asked.

"We've been asked not to reveal things," Bracco said.

Mind you, we're not asking them to give away plot points. We're asking questions like — are you happy that the show has lasted as long as it has?

Big pause. "I am," Edie Falco finally says. "I am. I absolutely am, yeah."

Um, why?

"I've said many times I would do this for a long time," Falco said.

OK. . . .

"I am," Lorraine Bracco said, finally coming up with an answer to the previous question.

What about Gandolfini, who's made noises from time to time about not wanting to play Tony Soprano anymore?

"There's pluses and minuses. It's a dark, dark world and you're in it a lot. However, if you're going to be in a dark world, I can't think of any better one to be in," Gandolfini said. "The writing is still wonderful, and I love the people I work with, and I'm in New York City. There's a lot of pluses. . . . I still think I'm very lucky to be in it."

Whew! That was like pulling teeth.

Moving on . . . Mr. Chase, what can you tell us about this season?

"Give me a specific you want to know about," Chase said.

Well, I thought you didn't want to get specific. What kind of tone does this season take?

"What kind of tone does it take?" Chase repeated "These are very hard questions to answer."

Gee, sorry. So, why are you here?

Apparently, because HBO made him come so he could tell us (and our readers) that the theme of the upcoming season is "kind of disquieted, sort of rattled, not feeling like things are going well." Whatever that means.

It took some doing, but someone got Chase to say, "It's mostly keyed off of 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. It has a ripple effect just like psychologically, I think, it would."

At least it's something.

Moving on . . . Mr. Chase, Ben Kingsley and Julianna Margulies are on your show this year — who do they play?