The reason I decided the other day that the final Sopranos season is comprised of ten episodes instead of the actual nine — yes, the tally is definitely and officially nine — is because of seemingly contradictory information in Bill Carter‘s 3.22.07 N.Y. Times story.

The article states that the series, called “Made in America,” starts on April 8 and that “the final scene of The Sopranos” will air on June 10. The series will run, in other words, for ten weeks….only it won’t have ten episodes. Yes, I’m confused.

Go to a calendar right now and count off the weeks. The Sopranos airs on Sunday night, of course, and there are four Sundays in April — 4.8, 4.15, 4.22 and 4.29. There are also (I’m very willing to be tedious) four Sundays in May — 5.7, 5.13, 5.20 and 5.27. Unless my recollection of third-grade artihmetic is faulty or my calculator has an Asian virus, eight fresh Sopranos episodes will therefore be seen in April and May. That leaves the prickly month of June, which has its first two Sundays on 6.3 and 6.10. Let’s see, eight plus two is…hold on…ten!

So with nine episodes due to play, there’s going be either a repeat or a “dark Sunday” between April 8 and June 10…right? There’s information missing from the puzzle. If anyone knows what it is, please inform.