Boardwalk Empire (TV Series)
Encyclopedia
Boardwalk Empire is an American television series from cable network HBO, set in Atlantic City, New Jersey
, during the Prohibition era
. It stars Steve Buscemi
as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson. The show was adapted by Emmy Award
-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter
(of The Sopranos
) from a book about historical criminal kingpin Enoch "Nucky" Johnson
by Nelson Johnson, entitled Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.
The first episode
, with a final cost of $18 million, was directed by Martin Scorsese
and was the most expensive pilot episode produced in television history. On September 1, 2009, HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 episodes. It premiered on September 19, 2010. The series was immediately renewed for a second season on September 20, 2010, which premiered on HBO on September 25, 2011.
Boardwalk Empire has received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its visual style and historical accuracy, as well as for Buscemi's lead performance. The series was nominated for 18 Emmy Award
s; winning eight, including Outstanding Directing
for Martin Scorsese.
On October 12th, 2011 it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season.
), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition
period of the 1920s and 1930s. Nucky interacts with several historical figures in both his personal and political life, including mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the common folk who look up to him. The federal government also takes an interest in the bootlegging
and other illegal activities in the area, sending agents to investigate possible mob connections but also looking at Nucky's lifestyle—expensive and lavish for a county political figure.
-winner Terence Winter
, who had served as executive producer and writer on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos
, was hired to adapt the non-fiction book Boardwalk Empire on June 4, 2008. Winter had been interested in creating a series set in the 1920s, feeling that it had never properly been explored before. It was for this reason that he decided to focus his adaption of the novel on the Prohibition era section. On September 1, 2009, it was announced that Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese
would direct the pilot. It would be the first time he had directed an episode of television since an episode of Steven Spielberg's
Amazing Stories
in 1986. The production would be very ambitious, with some even speculating it would be too large scale for television. "I kept thinking 'This is pointless. How can we possibly afford a boardwalk, or an empire? says creator Terence Winter. "We can't call it 'Boardwalk Empire' and not see a boardwalk." The production would eventually build a 300 feet (91.4 m) boardwalk in an empty lot in Brooklyn, New York at the cost of five million dollars. Despite a reported budget of up to $50 million, the pilot's final budget came in at $18 million.
On why he chose to return to television, Scorsese said "What's happening the past 9 to 10 years, particularly at HBO, is what we had hoped for in the mid-Sixties with films being made for television at first. We'd hoped there would be this kind of freedom and also the ability to create another world and create longform characters and story. That didn't happen in the 1970s, 1980s and in the 1990s I think. And of course ...HBO is a trailblazer in this. I've been tempted over the years to be involved with them because of the nature of long-form and their development of character and plot." He went on to praise network HBO by saying, "A number of the episodes, in so many of their series, they're thoughtful, intelligent [and] brilliantly put together... It's a new opportunity for storytelling. It's very different from television of the past."
), Winter wanted to stray from the real life Johnson as much as possible. "If we were going to cast accurately what the real Nucky looked like, we'd have cast Jim Gandolfini
." The idea of casting Steve Buscemi
in the lead role came about when Scorsese mentioned wanting to work with the actor, whom Winter knew well having worked with him on The Sopranos. Winter sent the script out to Buscemi, who responded very enthusiastically. "I just thought, 'Wow. I'm almost sorry I've read this, because if I don't get it, I'm going to be so sad.' My response was 'Terry, I know you're looking at other actors'... and he said, 'No, no, Steve, I said we want you. Explained Scorsese, "I love the range he has, his dramatic sense, but also his sense of humor."
The casting of Buscemi was soon followed by Michael Pitt
, best known for his roles in the Sandra Bullock
film Murder by Numbers
and in the television series Dawson's Creek
. He was soon joined by Kelly Macdonald
, Vincent Piazza
and Michael Shannon
, who had just received an Oscar nomination for his role in the Sam Mendes
film Revolutionary Road
.
and the Met
. The costumes have also been rented from the Daybreak Vintage Company located in Albany, NY which also exhibits at the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show. Dunn's designs were meticulously detailed, including a collar pin
for Nucky's shirts and even going so far as to incorporate specially ordered woolens for suiting. Dunn told Esquire
magazine in a September 2010 interview, "With Marty and Terry Winters, I developed the feel for each of the characters. We all wanted it to be very, very accurate and specific to the period.... I don't like to do boring clothing, but you also have to make sure that you're not suddenly putting somebody in something that isn't going to make sense four episodes from now."
These Taylor's were supplied by textile importer HMS fabrics and Gladstone ltd.
was involved in the filming even before creator Terence Winter. He directed the pilot and established the look of the show, which other directors later emulated to make the show feel seamless. He is also one of the executive producers of the show. Winter stated that Scorsese weighs in on the casting decisions, watches all the cuts and dailies. Up until the shooting of the show's first season, Scorsese and Winter would meet every Sunday afternoon to review what went on during the week where Scorsese would have comments and suggestions. Martin Scorsese is expected to continue to be creatively involved in the ongoing production and if the series continues—with proper scheduling—he would like to direct more episodes.
, Stephen Levinson and Tim Van Patten
. Van Patten had been a regular director on The Sopranos and also served as a regular director for Boardwalk Empire. Lawrence Konner
was a co-executive producer. Konner also wrote for the show and had previously been a writer on The Sopranos. Howard Korder
and Margaret Nagle
served as supervising producers and writers for the first season. The crew were recognised with multiple Emmy Award nominations for their work on the first season.
, Loudon Wainwright III
, Martha Wainwright
, Catherine Russell
, Nellie McKay
and Leon Redbone
.
The show does not feature any original scoring; all music cues used in every single episode are authentic musical compositions and recordings from the 1920's. Many of the 1920 recordings used in Season One can be heard on the compilation album Whispering: Hits of 1920, released by Nexus in 2002. The title track of this CD, the Vincent Rose composition
as performed by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, features prominently in the pilot episode
.
website Metacritic
, the first season scored 88/100 and the second season scored 81/100, both indicating "universal acclaim." The American Film Institute
named Boardwalk Empire one of the ten "best television programs of the year".
David Hinkley of the New York Daily News
awarded the series five stars, saying "Watching HBO's new 'Boardwalk Empire' is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say, 'Drinks are on the house.' Friends, it does not get much better." Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times
called it "... an event not to be missed," and praised Buscemi in particular, calling his performance "fascinating." TV Guide
s Matt Roush praised the marriage of Scorsese and Winter, saying it "... brilliantly marries Martin Scorsese's virtuosic cinematic eye to Terence Winter's panoramic mastery of rich character and eventful story," and finished his review by stating "It's the most purely—and impurely—enjoyable storytelling HBO has delivered in ages, like a movie that you never want to end." Variety
's Brian Lowry praised the show for returning network HBO to top form, saying "This is, quite simply, television at its finest, occupying a sweet spot that—for all the able competition—still remains unique to HBO: An expensive, explicit, character-driven program, tackling material no broadcast network or movie studio would dare touch ... For those wondering when the channel would deliver another franchise to definitively put it on top of the world, Ma, the wait is over: Go directly to 'Boardwalk.'" "One of the unexpected joys of 'Boardwalk Empire,' though, lies in the way the show revels in the oddities of its time, peeling back the layers of polite society to reveal a giddy shadow world of criminals and politicians collaborating to keep the liquor flowing," says online magazine Salon's
Heather Havrilesky who went on to call the pilot "breathtaking." Roberto Bianco from USA Today
said in his review that Boardwalk Empire was "Extravagantly produced, shockingly violent and as cold and hard as ice, Boardwalk Empire brings us back to the world's former playground at the start of Prohibition—and brings HBO back to the forefront of the TV-series race."
Reviews for the second season were just as positive. Verne Gay from Newsday said that 'Mad Men
', of course, remains the King of the Emmys, while 'Empire' nailed the equally prestigious Golden Globe for best drama last winter. But Sunday begins to build the case for 'Empire,' and build it convincingly." Matt Roush of TV Guide
stated "This is a gorgeous piece of storytelling that requires and rewards patience." Brian Lowry stated in his review for Variety
that: "A few creative flourishes feel a trifle heavy-handed -- starting with Shannon's philandering fed. Unlike Nucky, though, 'Boardwalk' isn't campaigning for anything except the gratitude of a pay-cable audience (and award voters) eager to take refuge in its sordid charms. By that measure, the show doesn't just go down smoothly; it's good to the last illicit, intoxicating drop."
s that included Outstanding Drama Series
, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Steve Buscemi) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Kelly Macdonald).
Boardwalk Empire won a Writers Guild of America Award
for Best Writing in a New Series and was nominated for Best Writing in a Drama Series. In addition, the show won a Golden Globe for best Dramatic Series, Buscemi won Best Actor in Dramatic Series and MacDonald was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. The cast won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, while Steve Buscemi won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and Martin Scorsese won the Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series. Boardwalk Empire was in The American Film Institute
's Top Ten List for TV in 2010.
Boardwalk Empire also won two awards at the 9th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards. The first for "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program" and second for "Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial". The former was received by Richard Friedlander (of Brainstorm Digital), Robert Stromberg, Paul Graff and David Taritero; the latter was received by Brendan Fitzgerald, John Corbett and Matthew Conner of Brainstorm Digital.
in March, 2004. The season finale
was watched by 3.29 million viewers, attaining a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating.
The second season premiere was watched by 2.912 million viewers, down 39% from the pilot and down 12% from its first season finale.
$150,000 to decorate and operate the MTA museum's
train of four Lo-V(oltage) subway cars
for each weekend in September 2011. The subway cars used were 5290, 5292 (both built in 1917), 5443, 5483 (both built in 1924). The train operated between the hours of 12 noon and 6 PM and ran as an express between the 96th St and 42nd St-Times Square stations on the 2/3 express tracks. While the MTA runs "nostalgia trains" each year, this was the first time they had been used for an advertising tie-in.
HBO also sponsored an Atlantic City beautification project with the tag line "Compliments of Nucky Thompson" and paid for eastbound tolls into Atlantic City on the AC Expressway for the weekend of 24 September 2011.
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
, during the Prohibition era
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
. It stars Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson. The show was adapted by Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter
Terence Winter
Terence Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire...
(of The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
) from a book about historical criminal kingpin Enoch "Nucky" Johnson
Enoch L. Johnson
Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson was an Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss and racketeer. From the 1910s until his imprisonment in 1941, he was the undisputed “boss” of the Republican political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government...
by Nelson Johnson, entitled Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.
The first episode
Boardwalk Empire (episode)
"Boardwalk Empire" is the first episode and the series premiere of the HBO crime drama Boardwalk Empire. Based upon Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson, the episode was written by creator Terence Winter and directed by Martin Scorsese, both of...
, with a final cost of $18 million, was directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
and was the most expensive pilot episode produced in television history. On September 1, 2009, HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 episodes. It premiered on September 19, 2010. The series was immediately renewed for a second season on September 20, 2010, which premiered on HBO on September 25, 2011.
Boardwalk Empire has received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its visual style and historical accuracy, as well as for Buscemi's lead performance. The series was nominated for 18 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s; winning eight, including Outstanding Directing
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series is an Emmy presented to the best directing of a television drama series.-Best Direction of a Single Program of a Drama Series:*1959: Jack Smight – Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre ...
for Martin Scorsese.
On October 12th, 2011 it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season.
Series overview
Boardwalk Empire is a period drama focusing on Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. JohnsonEnoch L. Johnson
Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson was an Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss and racketeer. From the 1910s until his imprisonment in 1941, he was the undisputed “boss” of the Republican political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government...
), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
period of the 1920s and 1930s. Nucky interacts with several historical figures in both his personal and political life, including mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the common folk who look up to him. The federal government also takes an interest in the bootlegging
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
and other illegal activities in the area, sending agents to investigate possible mob connections but also looking at Nucky's lifestyle—expensive and lavish for a county political figure.
Main cast
- Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson – the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic County and its most powerful political figure, based on Enoch L. JohnsonEnoch L. JohnsonEnoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson was an Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss and racketeer. From the 1910s until his imprisonment in 1941, he was the undisputed “boss” of the Republican political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government...
. - Michael PittMichael PittMichael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
as James "Jimmy" Darmody – Nucky's protégé, he is haunted by his experiences fighting in World War I. - Kelly MacdonaldKelly MacdonaldKelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
as Margaret Schroeder – a young Irish widow and mother, she turns to Nucky for help before eventually becoming his mistress. - Michael ShannonMichael Shannon (actor)Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
as Nelson Van Alden – a Federal Prohibition agent, he is a zealous Protestant who uses brutal violence to serve his faith and the law. - Shea WhighamShea WhighamFranklin Shea Whigham, Jr. , best known as Shea Whigham, is an American actor notably starring as Elias "Eli" Thompson on the HBO dramatic series Boardwalk Empire.-Early life:...
as Elias "Eli" Thompson – Nucky's younger brother and sheriff of Atlantic County. - Aleksa PalladinoAleksa PalladinoAleksa Palladino is an Italian American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her lead roles in Manny & Lo, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Find Me Guilty, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.-Life and career:Palladino was born in New York City, where she grew up...
as Angela Darmody – Jimmy's wife and the mother of his young son. - Michael StuhlbargMichael StuhlbargMichael S. Stuhlbarg is an American theatre, film and television actor.-Life and career:Stuhlbarg was born in Long Beach, California and raised in Reform Judaism. He trained at Juilliard School and also studied acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, University of London and UCLA...
as Arnold RothsteinArnold RothsteinArnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
– a powerful and intelligent Jewish New York gangster who enters into business with Nucky. - Stephen GrahamStephen Graham (actor)Stephen Graham is an English actor from Kirkby, Liverpool. He is best known for his roles as Tommy in the movie Snatch, Combo in This Is England and its four-part television sequel This Is England '86, Danny Ferguson in Occupation, Billy Bremner in The Damned United, notorious bank robber Baby...
as Al CaponeAl CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
– a violent Italian-American low-level Chicago gangster with ambitions of entering the bootlegging trade. - Vincent PiazzaVincent PiazzaVincent Piazza is an American film, television and stage actor best known for his roles in the television series Boardwalk Empire and the 2007 film Rocket Science.- Biography :...
as Charles "Lucky" LucianoLucky LucianoCharlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
– a Sicilian-American New York gangster and close associate of Rothstein. - Paz de la HuertaPaz de la HuertaMaría de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta , better known by her professional name Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress and model...
as Lucy Danziger – Nucky's temperamental ex-mistress and a former Ziegfeld FolliesZiegfeld FolliesThe Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
dancer. - Michael Kenneth WilliamsMichael K. WilliamsMichael Kenneth Williams is an American actor known for his portrayal of Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire, and of Albert "Chalky" White on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.-Early life and career:...
as Albert "Chalky" White – Nucky's counterpart in Atlantic City's Black community. - Anthony LaciuraAnthony LaciuraAnthony Laciura is an American operatic tenor, noted for his abilities as a comprimario. Born in New Orleans, he studied voice there with Charles Paddock, also the teacher of Ticho Parly....
as Eddie Kessler – Nucky's bumbling and often overwhelmed German assistant and butler. - Paul Sparks as Michael "Mickey Doyle" Kozik – an Atlantic City bootlegger. Doyle is based on Mickey DuffyMickey DuffyMichael "Mickey" Duffy , also known as John Murphy and George McEwen, was a Polish-American Atlantic City mobster and rival of Maxie "Boo Boo" Hoff during Prohibition...
. - Jack HustonJack HustonJack Alexander Huston is an English actor. Huston had a starring role in Neighborhood Watch and filmed Outlander with James Caviezel and Sophia Myles...
as Richard Harrow – a former Army marksman who allies with Jimmy and later Nucky. Heavily scarred in the war, he wears a tin mask over half his missing face. - Gretchen MolGretchen MolGretchen Mol is an American actress and former model. She is known for her roles in films like Rounders, Celebrity, 3:10 to Yuma, The Thirteenth Floor,and The Notorious Bettie Page, where she played the title character...
as Gillian Darmody – Jimmy's mother and an old friend of Nucky's. She was also Luciano's lover. - Dabney ColemanDabney ColemanDabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
as Commodore Louis Kaestner – (based on German AmericanGerman AmericanGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
hotelier and politician Louis KuehnleLouis KuehnleLouis Kuehnle, , known as the Commodore, was an American business entrepreneur and politician considered a pioneer in the growing resort town of Atlantic City in the late 1880s and early 1900s. He was leader of the Republican organization that controlled Atlantic City during the early 1900's...
) – Nucky's mentor and predecessor in Atlantic City. He is revealed to be Jimmy's biological father.
Recurring characters
- Greg AntonacciGreg AntonacciGregory Antonacci is an American television actor, director, producer and writer.As a director, producer and writer, he worked on a number of television series namely Brothers, The Tortellis, Perfect Strangers, The Royal Family, The John Larroquette Show, Herman's Head, It's a Living and other...
as Johnny TorrioJohnny TorrioJohn "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
– Capone's boss in the Chicago crime world. - Erik WeinerErik WeinerErik Weiner is an American actor, comedian, and writer best known for co-creating the play The Bomb-itty of Errors and his role as Agent Sebso on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.-Biography:...
as Agent Erik Sebso – Van Alden's Jewish partner, murdered by Van Alden towards the end of season one. - William HillWilliam Hill-People:*William Hill *William Hill , British colonial Proprietary Governor of the Province of Avalon, Newfoundland*William Hill...
as Alderman George O'Neill – one of Nucky's political cronies and ward bosses. He is brutally murdered by Eli in season two. - Robert ClohessyRobert ClohessyRobert Clohessy is an American actor, known for playing Correctional Officer Sean Murphy on the HBO drama Oz. He was also a cast member in the final season of Hill Street Blues....
as Alderman Jim Neary – one of Nucky's political cronies and ward bosses. - Anna KatarinaAnna Katarina-Filmography:* Star Trek: The Next Generation** episode Haven ... as Valeda Inn* The Blood of Heroes ... as Big Cimber* Slaves of New York ... as Mooshka* The Death of the Incredible Hulk ... as Bella/Voshenko...
as Isabelle Jeunet – a French woman who owns an haute coutureHaute coutureHaute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
shop on the boardwalk. - Max CasellaMax CasellaMax Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.-Life and career:...
as Leo D'Alessio – a small time Philadelphia gangster Doyle owes money to. Based on the real life character Leo Lanzetta, a Philadelphia gangster. - Edoardo BalleriniEdoardo BalleriniEdoardo Ballerini is an actor, writer and director. He is best known for his work on screen as junkie Corky Caporale in The Sopranos , a hotheaded chef in the indie hit Dinner Rush , and an NFL businessman in the blockbuster Romeo Must Die...
as Ignatius D'Alessio – Leo's brother and another small time gangster. Based on the real life character Ignatius Lanzetta, a Philadelphia gangster. - Anatol YusefAnatol YusefAnatol Yusef is a British stage, film and television actor best known for his work in Last Orders, at The Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently for his portrayal of Meyer Lansky in the television series Boardwalk Empire.- Biography :...
as Meyer LanskyMeyer LanskyMeyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
– a young gangster who is a protégé of Rothstein. - Kevin O'Rourke as Edward L. BaderEdward L. BaderEdward Lawrence Bader was an American politician who served as Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey for much of the Roaring Twenties, when the city was arguably at the peak of its popularity, as a vacation spot...
– Atlantic City mayoral candidate and (as of the season one finale) Mayor. - Michael ZegenMichael ZegenMichael Zegen is an American actor, best known for his role as probie firefighter "Damien Keefe" on the FX Network television drama Rescue Me, as well as his recurring role as "Dwight the Troubled Teen" on over 50 episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman...
as Bugsy SiegelBugsy SiegelBenjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
– a young Jewish gangster and childhood friend of Meyer Lansky. Known for losing his temper when called Bugsy. - Charlie CoxCharlie CoxCharlie Cox is an English actor.-Life and career:Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England and raised in East Sussex, the son of Trisha and Andrew, who is a publisher...
as Owen Slater – a young Irish criminal with past connections with the IRAIraIRA most commonly refers to:*Irish Republican Army, which has existed in various forms since 1916**List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army**Provisional Irish Republican Army...
who works for Nucky. - Ted Rooney as John McGarrigle - a puritanical Irish politician. He works as a fund raiser for Sinn FeinSinn FéinSinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and is a leader in the IRAIraIRA most commonly refers to:*Irish Republican Army, which has existed in various forms since 1916**List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army**Provisional Irish Republican Army...
, He is killed by his own men to allow the IRA to trade liquor for weapons with Nucky. - Erik LaRay Harvey as Dunn Purnsley - a Baltimore gangster who is recruited into Chalky's organization.
- Heather LindHeather LindHeather Lind is an American actress. She is the twin sister of actress Christina Bennett Lind.-Life and career:Lind was raised in Guilderland, New York...
as Katy – a servant of Nucky and Margaret, has a relationship with Owen. - Dominic ChianeseDominic ChianeseDominic Chianese is an American film, television and theatre actor, perhaps best known for his role as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos.-Early life:...
as Leander Whitlock – a retired Atlantic City alderman from Kaestner's era who advises Jimmy on occasions. - William ForsytheWilliam Forsythe (actor)William Forsythe is an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" roles. He is also a writer, and has several short stories that are set to be published.-Early life:...
as Manny Horvitz – a Jewish gangster from Philadelphia who partners with Jimmy to bootleg liquor to Atlantic City. - Nick Sandow as Waxey GordonWaxey GordonWaxey Gordon was an American gangster who specialized in bootlegging and illegal gambling. An associate of Arnold Rothstein during prohibition he was caught up in a power struggle following his death...
– a Jewish gangster who specializes in bootlegging and illegal gambling, he is an associate of Arnold Rothstein. - Julianne NicholsonJulianne NicholsonJulianne Nicholson is an American actress. She is known for having played Det. Megan Wheeler on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Early life:...
as Esther Randolph – US Assistant Attorney General leading a case against Nucky for electoral fraud.
Development
Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winner Terence Winter
Terence Winter
Terence Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire...
, who had served as executive producer and writer on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, was hired to adapt the non-fiction book Boardwalk Empire on June 4, 2008. Winter had been interested in creating a series set in the 1920s, feeling that it had never properly been explored before. It was for this reason that he decided to focus his adaption of the novel on the Prohibition era section. On September 1, 2009, it was announced that Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
would direct the pilot. It would be the first time he had directed an episode of television since an episode of Steven Spielberg's
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories (TV series)
Amazing Stories is a fantasy, horror, and science fiction television anthology series created by Steven Spielberg. It ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987, and was somewhat erratically screened in Britain by BBC1 and BBC2 - billed in the Radio Times as "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories" - with episodes...
in 1986. The production would be very ambitious, with some even speculating it would be too large scale for television. "I kept thinking 'This is pointless. How can we possibly afford a boardwalk, or an empire? says creator Terence Winter. "We can't call it 'Boardwalk Empire' and not see a boardwalk." The production would eventually build a 300 feet (91.4 m) boardwalk in an empty lot in Brooklyn, New York at the cost of five million dollars. Despite a reported budget of up to $50 million, the pilot's final budget came in at $18 million.
On why he chose to return to television, Scorsese said "What's happening the past 9 to 10 years, particularly at HBO, is what we had hoped for in the mid-Sixties with films being made for television at first. We'd hoped there would be this kind of freedom and also the ability to create another world and create longform characters and story. That didn't happen in the 1970s, 1980s and in the 1990s I think. And of course ...HBO is a trailblazer in this. I've been tempted over the years to be involved with them because of the nature of long-form and their development of character and plot." He went on to praise network HBO by saying, "A number of the episodes, in so many of their series, they're thoughtful, intelligent [and] brilliantly put together... It's a new opportunity for storytelling. It's very different from television of the past."
Casting
"Scorsese is an actor magnet," commented Winter. "Everybody wants to work with him. I had all these pictures on my wall and I thought, 'I'd really better write some good stuff for these people. In casting the role of Nucky Thompson (based upon real-life Atlantic City political boss Enoch L. JohnsonEnoch L. Johnson
Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson was an Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss and racketeer. From the 1910s until his imprisonment in 1941, he was the undisputed “boss” of the Republican political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government...
), Winter wanted to stray from the real life Johnson as much as possible. "If we were going to cast accurately what the real Nucky looked like, we'd have cast Jim Gandolfini
James Gandolfini
James J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
." The idea of casting Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
in the lead role came about when Scorsese mentioned wanting to work with the actor, whom Winter knew well having worked with him on The Sopranos. Winter sent the script out to Buscemi, who responded very enthusiastically. "I just thought, 'Wow. I'm almost sorry I've read this, because if I don't get it, I'm going to be so sad.' My response was 'Terry, I know you're looking at other actors'... and he said, 'No, no, Steve, I said we want you. Explained Scorsese, "I love the range he has, his dramatic sense, but also his sense of humor."
The casting of Buscemi was soon followed by Michael Pitt
Michael Pitt
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
, best known for his roles in the Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
film Murder by Numbers
Murder by Numbers
Murder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It stars Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case....
and in the television series Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
. He was soon joined by Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
, Vincent Piazza
Vincent Piazza
Vincent Piazza is an American film, television and stage actor best known for his roles in the television series Boardwalk Empire and the 2007 film Rocket Science.- Biography :...
and Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
, who had just received an Oscar nomination for his role in the Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
film Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road (film)
Revolutionary Road is a 2008 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes, from screenplay by Justin Haythe, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. It is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates....
.
Filming
Filming for the pilot took place at various locations in and around New York City in June 2009. In creating the visual effects for the series, the company turned to Brooklyn-based effects company Brainstorm Digital. Says Glenn Allen, visual effects producer for Boardwalk Empire and co-founder of Brainstorm, "It's our most complex job to date. Everything is HD now, so we have to treat it like a feature film." "Anytime you get to work on a period piece, it's more fun," comments visual effects artist Chris "Pinkus" Wesselman, who used archival photographs, postcards, and architectural plans to recreate the Atlantic City boardwalks as accurately as possible. "We got to explore what the old Atlantic City was really like. The piers were one of the toughest parts because every summer they would change—new houses, new advertisements." It took two months for the firm to complete all the visual effects for the pilot.Costume design
Designed by John Dunn and tailored by Martin Greenfield, Boardwalk Empire's costumes were based on 1920s tailoring books from the Fashion Institute of Technology's research libraries and examples found at the Brooklyn MuseumBrooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
and the Met
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
. The costumes have also been rented from the Daybreak Vintage Company located in Albany, NY which also exhibits at the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show. Dunn's designs were meticulously detailed, including a collar pin
Collar pin
A collar pin is a piece of men's jewelry that holds the two ends of a dress shirt collar together and passes underneath the knot of a necktie...
for Nucky's shirts and even going so far as to incorporate specially ordered woolens for suiting. Dunn told Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine in a September 2010 interview, "With Marty and Terry Winters, I developed the feel for each of the characters. We all wanted it to be very, very accurate and specific to the period.... I don't like to do boring clothing, but you also have to make sure that you're not suddenly putting somebody in something that isn't going to make sense four episodes from now."
These Taylor's were supplied by textile importer HMS fabrics and Gladstone ltd.
Martin Scorsese's contribution
Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
was involved in the filming even before creator Terence Winter. He directed the pilot and established the look of the show, which other directors later emulated to make the show feel seamless. He is also one of the executive producers of the show. Winter stated that Scorsese weighs in on the casting decisions, watches all the cuts and dailies. Up until the shooting of the show's first season, Scorsese and Winter would meet every Sunday afternoon to review what went on during the week where Scorsese would have comments and suggestions. Martin Scorsese is expected to continue to be creatively involved in the ongoing production and if the series continues—with proper scheduling—he would like to direct more episodes.
Crew
Scorsese and Winter are joined as executive producers by Mark WahlbergMark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
, Stephen Levinson and Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten is an American television director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. As a director, Van Patten has directed episodes of The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire, Rome, The Pacific, Game of Thrones, Ed, and Sex and the City. Van Patten is perhaps best known for portraying...
. Van Patten had been a regular director on The Sopranos and also served as a regular director for Boardwalk Empire. Lawrence Konner
Lawrence Konner
Lawrence Konner has had a long and distinguished career as an American screenwriter and television writer. In addition, he has produced a number of award winning documentaries.-Career:...
was a co-executive producer. Konner also wrote for the show and had previously been a writer on The Sopranos. Howard Korder
Howard Korder
Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play Boy's Life, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play Search and Destroy was adapted into a film in 1995. Among the screenplays he has written are The Passion of Ayn...
and Margaret Nagle
Margaret Nagle
Margaret Nagle is a screenwriter and television producer who has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and won two Writer's Guild of America Awards. Her very first script HBO's "Warm Springs" won the 2005 Emmy Award for Best Television Movie. It also won Nagle the 2006 Writers Guild of America Award...
served as supervising producers and writers for the first season. The crew were recognised with multiple Emmy Award nominations for their work on the first season.
Soundtrack
Boardwalk Empire Volume 1: Music From the HBO Original Series was released on September 13, 2011. The soundtrack features music from seasons 1 and 2. The Prohibition-era soundtrack is composed of original music from the 1920s re-recorded by artists such as Regina SpektorRegina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...
, Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
, Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle...
, Catherine Russell
Catherine Russell
Catherine Russell is a British stage, television and screen actress.-Personal:Catherine Russell is the daughter of actor Nicholas Smith and his wife Mary. She is married to film producer Richard Holmes and they have two children, Sam and Poppy...
, Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay , is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and former stand-up comedienne, noted for her critically acclaimed albums, and for her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera , for which she won a Theatre World Award...
and Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone is a singer and guitarist specializing in interpretations of early 20th-century music, including jazz and blues standards and Tin Pan Alley classics....
.
The show does not feature any original scoring; all music cues used in every single episode are authentic musical compositions and recordings from the 1920's. Many of the 1920 recordings used in Season One can be heard on the compilation album Whispering: Hits of 1920, released by Nexus in 2002. The title track of this CD, the Vincent Rose composition
Whispering (song)
"Whispering" is a popular song with lyrics by John Schoenberger and Richard Coburn, and music by Vincent Rose. It was originally recorded on August 23, 1920 by Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra for Victor as 18690-A...
as performed by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, features prominently in the pilot episode
Boardwalk Empire (episode)
"Boardwalk Empire" is the first episode and the series premiere of the HBO crime drama Boardwalk Empire. Based upon Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson, the episode was written by creator Terence Winter and directed by Martin Scorsese, both of...
.
Critical reception
Since debuting, Boardwalk Empire has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregatorReview aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
website Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the first season scored 88/100 and the second season scored 81/100, both indicating "universal acclaim." The American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
named Boardwalk Empire one of the ten "best television programs of the year".
David Hinkley of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
awarded the series five stars, saying "Watching HBO's new 'Boardwalk Empire' is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say, 'Drinks are on the house.' Friends, it does not get much better." Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
called it "... an event not to be missed," and praised Buscemi in particular, calling his performance "fascinating." TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
s Matt Roush praised the marriage of Scorsese and Winter, saying it "... brilliantly marries Martin Scorsese's virtuosic cinematic eye to Terence Winter's panoramic mastery of rich character and eventful story," and finished his review by stating "It's the most purely—and impurely—enjoyable storytelling HBO has delivered in ages, like a movie that you never want to end." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
's Brian Lowry praised the show for returning network HBO to top form, saying "This is, quite simply, television at its finest, occupying a sweet spot that—for all the able competition—still remains unique to HBO: An expensive, explicit, character-driven program, tackling material no broadcast network or movie studio would dare touch ... For those wondering when the channel would deliver another franchise to definitively put it on top of the world, Ma, the wait is over: Go directly to 'Boardwalk.'" "One of the unexpected joys of 'Boardwalk Empire,' though, lies in the way the show revels in the oddities of its time, peeling back the layers of polite society to reveal a giddy shadow world of criminals and politicians collaborating to keep the liquor flowing," says online magazine Salon's
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
Heather Havrilesky who went on to call the pilot "breathtaking." Roberto Bianco from USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
said in his review that Boardwalk Empire was "Extravagantly produced, shockingly violent and as cold and hard as ice, Boardwalk Empire brings us back to the world's former playground at the start of Prohibition—and brings HBO back to the forefront of the TV-series race."
Reviews for the second season were just as positive. Verne Gay from Newsday said that 'Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
', of course, remains the King of the Emmys, while 'Empire' nailed the equally prestigious Golden Globe for best drama last winter. But Sunday begins to build the case for 'Empire,' and build it convincingly." Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
stated "This is a gorgeous piece of storytelling that requires and rewards patience." Brian Lowry stated in his review for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
that: "A few creative flourishes feel a trifle heavy-handed -- starting with Shannon's philandering fed. Unlike Nucky, though, 'Boardwalk' isn't campaigning for anything except the gratitude of a pay-cable audience (and award voters) eager to take refuge in its sordid charms. By that measure, the show doesn't just go down smoothly; it's good to the last illicit, intoxicating drop."
Awards and nominations
On July 14, 2011 Boardwalk Empire was nominated for 18 Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s that included Outstanding Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
This page lists the winners and nominees for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, since its institution in 1951. The award is often cited as one of the "main awards" at the Emmys ceremonies, and has changed names many times in its history. It was first called Best Dramatic Show...
, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Steve Buscemi) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Kelly Macdonald).
Boardwalk Empire won a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for Best Writing in a New Series and was nominated for Best Writing in a Drama Series. In addition, the show won a Golden Globe for best Dramatic Series, Buscemi won Best Actor in Dramatic Series and MacDonald was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. The cast won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, while Steve Buscemi won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and Martin Scorsese won the Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series. Boardwalk Empire was in The American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's Top Ten List for TV in 2010.
Boardwalk Empire also won two awards at the 9th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards. The first for "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program" and second for "Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial". The former was received by Richard Friedlander (of Brainstorm Digital), Robert Stromberg, Paul Graff and David Taritero; the latter was received by Brendan Fitzgerald, John Corbett and Matthew Conner of Brainstorm Digital.
Ratings
On its original airing, the pilot episode gained a 2.0/5 ratings share among adults aged 18–49 and garnered 4.81 million viewers. The episode was re-played twice that night, once at 10:15 p.m. and again at 11:30 p.m. Taking these broadcasts into account, a total of 7.1 million Americans viewed the episode on the night of its original broadcast, and is the highest rated premiere for an HBO series since the pilot of DeadwoodDeadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
in March, 2004. The season finale
A Return to Normalcy
"A Return to Normalcy" is the twelfth episode of the first season of HBO television series Boardwalk Empire and the season finale, which premiered on HBO December 5, 2010...
was watched by 3.29 million viewers, attaining a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating.
The second season premiere was watched by 2.912 million viewers, down 39% from the pilot and down 12% from its first season finale.
Advertising
To promote the start of the second season starting September 25, 2011, the producers paid the NY Metropolitan Transportation AuthorityMetropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
$150,000 to decorate and operate the MTA museum's
New York Transit Museum
The New York Transit Museum is a museum which displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, commuter rail, and bridge and tunnel systems; it is located in a decommissioned Court Street subway station in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City...
train of four Lo-V(oltage) subway cars
Lo-V (New York City Subway car)
The Standard Lo-V was a class of New York City Subway car built from 1916–25 for the IRT. It was the third "Lo-V" type car order for the IRT, as it arrived after the Flivver Lo-Vs and the first Steinway Lo-Vs.-Description:...
for each weekend in September 2011. The subway cars used were 5290, 5292 (both built in 1917), 5443, 5483 (both built in 1924). The train operated between the hours of 12 noon and 6 PM and ran as an express between the 96th St and 42nd St-Times Square stations on the 2/3 express tracks. While the MTA runs "nostalgia trains" each year, this was the first time they had been used for an advertising tie-in.
HBO also sponsored an Atlantic City beautification project with the tag line "Compliments of Nucky Thompson" and paid for eastbound tolls into Atlantic City on the AC Expressway for the weekend of 24 September 2011.
International broadcast
| Country | Network | Series Premiere |
|---|---|---|
| Latin America Latin America Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area... |
HBO | Late 2010 |
 Sweden SwedenSweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
Canal + SVT |
2010 |
 Early Modern France FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
Orange Cinéma Séries Orange Cinéma Séries Orange cinéma séries is a series of dedicated movie channels operated by France Telecom. The five channels launched on November 13, 2008 as a part of the company's new direct-to-home satellite service Orange TV.The five channels are:... |
December 19, 2010 |
 Germany GermanyGermany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
TNT Serie TNT Serie TNT Serie is a German television channel dedicated to television series.The station is operated by Turner Broadcasting System and launched on 28 January, 2009. Since 1 June, 2009 the channel is broadcasting around the clock... |
February 2, 2011 |
 Belgium BelgiumBelgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
Be TV RTBF RTBF Radio Télévision Belge Francophone is the public broadcasting organization of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium... |
February 2011 Early 2012 |
 Denmark DenmarkDenmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
Canal+ Series Canal+ Series Canal+ Series is a Scandinavian premium television channel showing movies and TV shows. It replaced Canal+ Comedy on April 1, 2010.... Canal+ Film HD Canal+ Film HD "Canal+ HD" redirects here. For the French simulcast channel of Canal+ ,see Canal+.For the Spanish simulcast channel of Canal+ ,see Canal+ Spain.... |
November 1, 2010 |
 United Kingdom United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... |
Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting, which launched on 1 February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.... Sky Atlantic HD |
February 1, 2011 |
 Italy ItalyItaly Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
Sky Cinema 1 Sky Cinema HD |
January, 2011 |
 Portugal PortugalPortugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... |
AXN Black AXN Black HD |
May, 2011 |
 New Zealand New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
SoHo Soho (New Zealand TV channel) SoHo is a premium entertainment channel in New Zealand available on SKY Network Television. It is available for an extra $9.99 on top of sky basic package cost. The channel mainly airs shows from American cable networks HBO and AMC, many of them for the first time on New Zealand TV... |
November, 2011 |
 Japan JapanJapan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
WOWOW WOWOW WOWOW was the first private satellite broadcasting and pay TV station in Japan. It has its headquarters on the 21st floor of the Akasaka Park Building in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo... |
October 9, 2011 |
 Greece GreeceGreece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
Nova Cinema 1 Nova Cinema HD |
June 3, 2011 |
 South Africa South AfricaSouth Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
M-Net M-Net M-Net is a subscription-funded television channel in South Africa, established in 1986 by Naspers.... M-Net HD |
February 2011 |
 Czech Republic Bosnia and Herzegovina Kingdom of Bulgaria Independent State of Croatia Hungary Republic of Macedonia Moldova Kingdom of Montenegro Poland Kingdom of Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia EuropeEurope Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
HBO HBO Central Europe HBO Central Europe is a premium pay television service operating in eleven countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The headquarters are located in... HBO HD |
February 2011 |
 Australia AustraliaAustralia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
Showcase Showcase (Australian TV channel) Showcase is an Australian premium cable and satellite television channel. It is owned and operated by the Premium Movie Partnership and is a sister network to the Showtime networks. Showcase is managed by Showtime's Chief Executive Officer Peter Rose... showcase HD |
March 2011 |
 Bangladesh Brunei Cambodia Mainland China Hong Kong India Indonesia Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Pakistan Palau Papua New Guinea Philippines Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Republic of China Thailand Vietnam AsiaAsia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population... |
HBO HBO Asia HBO Asia is a franchise of HBO in Asia. HBO Asia is now a joint venture of media giants Viacom and Time Warner . Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal Studios exited the fifteen year-old HBO Asia premium movie joint venture on January 16, 2008.... HBO HD |
January 6, 2011 |
Home media releases
| Season | Release dates | Episodes | Special features | Discs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 2 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 4 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
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| 1 | January 10, 2012 (Standard and Blu-ray) | 2012 | 2012 | 12 |
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5 |
External links
- Official UK Website
- Official US Website
- Official website for Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, a book by Nelson Johnson
- The Real Boardwalk Empire – image slideshow by Life magazine