The Sopranos stars Tony Sirico and Steven Van Zandt have reached an agreement with HBO to continue until the show ends next year after the network doubled their salaries. The pair, who play Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri and Silvio Dante respectively, will pick up $170,000 for each of the last eight episodes of the Emmy-winning show.

They had hoped for $200,000 per episode which would have made them the highest paid actors on the show after James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, who play Tony and Carmela Soprano.

Sirico and Van Zandt were the last two cast members to agree deals for the final shows. The agreements come just days before production is due to begin this week.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)