‘Sopranos’ has bonus episodes

When “The Sopranos” finally arrives next year for its sixth season, fans of the HBO mob drama will get more than they expected.

Eight “bonus” episodes are planned in addition to the 12 previously announced for the series, set to return in March after nearly two years without a first-run episode.

“When something is as remarkable as ‘The Sopranos,’ our audience would like to see it continue as long as possible, so we are thrilled that (series creator) David Chase felt there are more stories to be told,” HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht said in a statement.

There will be a break between the first set of episodes and the arrival of the extra eight hours in January 2007, HBO said.

The sixth season was to have been the series’ last but there have been hints that the end wasn’t necessarily in sight.

‘Law Firm’ sentenced to cable

Two weeks of meager ratings have caused NBC to throw the book at its summer reality series “The Law Firm.”

The show, in which teams of young attorneys try cases and compete for a $250,000 prize, was yanked from the network’s schedule this week. The remainder of the series will air on sister cable network Bravo, which was already running repeats of the NBC episodes.

“The Law Firm,” producer David E. Kelley’s (“Boston Legal”) first foray into unscripted television, premiered to about 5.1 million viewers on July 28 but dipped below 4 million last week.

Reruns of “Will & Grace” and “Scrubs” replaced “The Law Firm” on Thursday, with two episodes of “Scrubs” scheduled next week.