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The ratings for the Sunday premiere of HBO’s prohibition era extravaganza Boardwalk Empire were barely in this morning when the pay cable network announced a second-season pickup for the drama from Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter. HBO made the decision ”following resounding critical approval and high viewer numbers”, it said. The series starring Steve Buscemi debuted with 4.8 million viewers to become HBO’s most watched series premiere since the 2004 opener of Deadwood behind The Sopranos. (I feel that is only appropriate because there are similarities in the tone between Boardwalk and Deadwood.) Because of HBO’s big investment in building elaborate sets for Boardwalk, including an actual boardwalk, a second season renewal was always considered a given as networks look to amortize upfront costs. Still, the overwhelmingly positive reviews and solid premiere ratings probably sealed the deal. Here is HBO’s release:
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 21, 2010 – Following resounding critical approval and high viewer numbers for the series’ Sept. 19 debut, HBO has renewed BOARDWALK EMPIRE for a second season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.
“All the ingredients aligned for this one, from Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson’s initial pitch, to Martin Scorsese’s enormous contributions as director and executive producer, to the genius of Terry Winter and the expertise of Tim Van Patten, to a stellar cast led by Steve Buscemi,” said Lombardo. “The response from the media and our viewers has been nothing short of amazing.”
From Terence Winter, and Martin Scorsese, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is set in Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition, when the sale of alcohol became illegal throughout the United States.
The Sept. 19 premiere of BOARDWALK EMPIRE averaged 4.8 million viewers during the 9:00 p.m. airing to score HBO’s largest premiere of any program in over six years (since March 21, 2004 – “Deadwood” with “The Sopranos” as lead-in). With additional plays at 10:15 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., BOARDWALK EMPIRE was watched by a combined 7.1 million viewers for the night.
Season one credits: Created by Terence Winter, BOARDWALK EMPIRE is executive produced by Terence Winter, Martin Scorsese, Tim Van Patten, Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg; co-executive producers, Gene Kelly and Lawrence Konner; producers (series), Rudd Simmons and Rick Yorn; producer (pilot), David Coatsworth; supervising producers, Howard Korder and Margaret Nagle.
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Of course they did…the pilot was great. Smart, sexy, violent, great pacing, top notch acting, beautiful set pieces. Nice work Mr. Winter and Mr. Scorsese!…Can anything on network TV ever be as quality as the stuff HBO does?
4.8 million viewers is great and the pilot was tremendous. Still doesn’t mean it would get 14 million viewers on network television. The premium cable shows with the exception of The Sopranos and Sex & The City are niche shows.
As long as HBO’s subscriber base grows it will keep shows like this on. Now imagine you had to pay money to watch CBS or NBC. Then they’re ratings threshold would lower significantly.
I would not want this show going after 14 million viewers. To do so would mean diluting the content until it was something Sarah Palin could understand. I’d much rather have a show getting 5 million and going way over her head.
Amen!! As I said before cable TV is a sharply dressed man in a fine suit changing his gracious step ever so slightly to avoid the pile of dung that is network television.
had to work hard to find an angle for a Sarah Palin jibe…that’s how bitter I am, I cry myself to sleep with my gay lover
Did anyone else not get it?
Totally psyched that some think BOARDWALK was great. All the people involved are super talented.
But I reluctantly agree with Alessandra Stanley’s review in the NY Times. It seeemed really flat. The dialogue was laughably predictable, the characters seemed cartoony, the cinematography looked cheesy, the costumes and sets felt like lifeless rote period references. Not to mention the cheap CGI. Obviously this was all in service of a vision. Who wants to rain on this parade? Not me. The fact is, the room of people I watched it with were all excited as it started, but were quickly reduced to groaning at every line.
Hopefully it gets better. No hating here. Just didn’t respond. You never know. Also hated the season opener of MAD MEN and then saw it reach new heights (What Matt Weiner is doing with Sally Draper?… ballsy and genius). Since cable is the new indie film, great characters and personal stories, who couldn’t want shows like these to succeed?
Oh, God! Don’t tell me the NY Times and I actually see eye-to-eye on something. Will wonders never cease?
I totally agree with jumpthesnark. I wanted to love this series. Was so looking forward to it and found it a predictable by-the-numbers snooze. Three thumbs down in our viewing audience of three, but it’s always best to give HBO series at least two episodes to get rolling. ROME was so awesome and the first few eps not that stellar. Hopefully this series will also rise.
And yes, Sally Draper is the best character on MAD MEN these days.
I totally agree with the NY Times.
Although Boardwalk is stunning visually with great production value, it does not yet have characters and storytelling to match its look.
Let’s hope that it develops the characters and storyline to match the production quality which gift wraps the show.
How can storytelling and character development be accomplished or not accomplished in just one episode? You’re not really in it for the long haul, are you? Sorta the “instant gratification” type, huh?
Agreed. It was a snore.
You’ve so elequently expressed my own dismay over the premiere of ‘BE’. Yes, I will continue to watch it, yes, I hope it gets better. In any case, we’ll have another -2 seasons to debate the merits.
Perhaps you didn’t read the whole review…you said you “hope it gets better.” Ms. Stanley said that it does in fact get better. You criticized the costumes and sets as if Ms. Stanley did the same in the NYT review. She did just the opposite, in fact the costumes and sets and attention to historical detail were one of the few high points of her review. “No hating here.” Really? You said specifically and with many derogatory adjectives that the script, cinematography, acting, costumes, and sets were all very bad. Sounds like hatin’.
I’m not trying to goad you, just wanting to point out that your take differs in significant ways from that of Ms. Stanley in the NYT. Her review may not have been a rave, but was certainly not the bomb you thought the show to be.
I was enthralled with Nucky Thompson and I hope his character perseveres if another season is forthcoming. Nucky was sexy! I never missed an episode of Boardwalk Empire.
The hype was good, the article in American Cinematographer was very informative, but the show as at best a B-, and that’s being generous.I know it’s not TV, it’s HBO, but `the expensive sets looked like the worst back lot I’ve seen, cardboard with not a hint of wear. Scorsese’s direction was flat, did he just call this in as everything was shot eye level. And I’m sorry but Steve Buscemi’s acting was wooden and really bad.
20 mill for an hour evidently doesn’t go very far anymore.I’ll still watch the next few episodes to see if things improve and get my HBO money’s worth.
Mad Men
Breaking Bad
Rescue Me
30 Rock
HBO has been a wasteland since the Sopranos went dark.
uh The Wire? Bad Love (best soap opera ever!) Bill Paxton is hot enough to make me consider polygamy.
The premiere episode was great; it really is good TV.
Can the networks do as well? Wait till you see Blue Bloods, also from Sopranos alums, though they were fired 2 years from the end. Blue Bloods is as exciting and daring as a pair of Andy Sipowizc’s smelly old brogans. Great TV. Hot head rookie cops, perps, vics — the whole schmeer — TV the way they used make it and not a moment too soon.
Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Selleck’s brother Kevin……
Blue Bloods, are you fucking kidding me!?! I’d rather watch the pilot episode of DETROIT 187 on loop for 3 days straight than watch 1 minute of that filth. How DARE you compare a network sack of trash like that to Boardwalk Empire.
Apologize to Terrence Winter and Martin Scorsese for your BLASPHEMY!!!
Much better than Shutter Island… really enjoyed watching this.
It was very nicely done. Deadwood meets Once upon a time in America. It is great to see great work from terence winter & company back on TV, and Martin Scorsese’s contribution is the icing on the cake. Is it me or for quite a few years, with the exception of the yearly pixar offering and a couple of things here and there, the real decent, well-made and not grossly stupidified film-making is all on TV and cable? People call this “great TV”, but it is not TV. It is film making shown on TV. This is not more TV than Chinatown is TV when shown on AMC, for instance. Real TV is american idol, or 60 minutes or Oprah or stuff like that. And the interesting thing is that this sole island of good quality film making is posible for two reasons: 1) writers control the process , 2) there’s no development machine or twenty something airhead execs who’ve taken two syd field seminars and think that now they “are good with story”. I guess all this should make hollywood think, but of course it won’t. Anyhow, I’m happy to see there’s still people out there capable of creating smart, beautiful and enternating films even if it is for the small screen, and I’m happy that there’s somebody out there that still appreciattes it, even it is not a majority. I guess others prefer to pay 15 bucks to see some fake 3D crapfest and spend the whole time texting.
It doesn’t mean the writing is always as good as it should be on Boardwalk. It starts to veer towards melodrama around episodes 6 – 12 which is unfortunate. The show is also quite misogynistic like Deadwood. The cruelty towards women starts to feel purposeful and ugly in the second half of the series. Like the creator has an axe to grind towards dear old mom. Not that Scorcese or Winter are known for their female characters. Clearly that is not what the show is about.
uh, it was the time period, women didn’t even have the right to vote yet…
How did you get to see episodes 6-12?
I read them. Actors had to audition for them.
hello Blue Bloods shil…oops, i meant “kevin”!
What a wonderful pilot. Yes, the exposition was a little off, but Alan Sepinwall says that was because they had to introduce a lot of new characters in 75 minutes.
Sepinwall said that the exposition is better explained by episodes 2 &3. Otherwise great pilot nd Steve Buscemi is perfect for the part.
The pilot was nicely shot but the violence was unnecessarily gratuitous. When the man was beating his wife in silhouette then leaves angrily the audience didn’t need to see her bloody body. When same husband was grabbed by the cops and taken out in a boat the audience knows his fate they don’t need to see him being brutally beaten to a bloody pulp and then the ending gunshot via the perspective of the phonograph didn’t need to have stupid fake blood cover the screen. Acting was great, but most of the dialogue was slow and laboriousm
I miss Al Swearengen! That cock sucker had talent. But I am hopeful that Steve Buscemi will pull this off, I am willing to keep going with the series!
I miss Al, too. To compare this show to Deadwood is ridiculous. Deadwood was a brilliant series, with sparkling dialogue and the most interesting characters. The pace of Empire was slow, all the plot points were telegraphed (did you not know he would wind up in the hospital with Mrs. Irish chick?) It does have interesting casting, but Buscemi doesn’t have the gravitas, and humor, that Ian McShane displayed in Deadwood. You hung on his every c**ksucker.
I know I’ve been brainwashed by watching too many pretty people on TV and in the movies, but I couldn’t help but wonder by Buscemi never fixed his teeth. But then, they didn’t do a lot a cosmetic dentistry back in the 1920′s…
First off – he had a lot of characters to introduce that either weren’t real (Jimmy Darmody is an agent at CAA, the federal agent was a complete invention) or had virtually nothing to do with Atlantic City (Luciano, Capone, Rothstein – some of them visited Atlantic City in 27, but none were there this early). So the “obligations” the writers had were pretty much imagined, as was MOST of what happened in the pilot. Having read the source material, to say they took creative license is to undermine any aspect of proper storytelling as regards the American mafia. The dialog was trite, I agree – I read an earlier draft of the script and it sounds like Winter tried really hard to make a mafia period show, that he forgot to do it. Clams every other word, vaudeville handshake routines? It was bordering on campy. And yes, it was shot well, lit well – all of the things you would expect from Martin Scorsese. Sadly, it’s woefully inaccurate, and from what I’ve read, becomes increasingly NOT about Atlantic City and NOT about the titular BOARDWALK EMPIRE. Also, based on the book, Buscemi is absolutely miscast: in one instance, Capone throws a fit over being denied from a hotel and gets into it with Nucky, Nucky throws him up against the car and says “You motherfuckers will follow me!” And seeing Buscemi throw someone playing Capone against a car, I don’t see. Then again, given the revisionist bent of Winter et al, I imagine that scene, or that event (the one time all the mobsters in the pilot ACTUALLY WERE in Atlantic City) probably won’t find it’s way into the show.
So no, you’re not alone in not liking the pilot. There is a great story out there, this just isn’t it. Because you don’t need to fictionalize the American Mafia in the 20s. And Boardwalk does exactly that.
it’s called entertainment, and according to most reviews and intellectual people out there it did just that. Or were you paying too much attention to the history book you were referring to while you were watching that you missed all the provocative moments? i mean i just feel bad for you. For one, you are probably an unemployed producer in LA, and two, you are just so angry that the business didn’t fulfill your dreams that you can’t truly enjoy a well-told story, fact or fiction. My advice to you: lighten up. You don’t want to miss the great moments in life.
Pros: Very slick pacing and a terrific supporting cast, Jersey is “in” and looks to be for some time to come and a great backstory – small town publisher/small press book makes good.
Cons: As someone said, falls down into ep #3 and some of the CGI and fake-looking sets were cheese; also another example of NJ women coming off as put upon victims or tramps or smart a**es. Once it starts to lose the “Jersey” and becomes a more generic “Once Upon a Time” meets “The Untouchables”, it’s just another period crime piece.
First 6 episodes are awesome. 2-3-4 completely soar. Have seen them in post. Not sure what you’re hearing. Character of Margaret takes off. So does Agent Nelson. Michael Shannon is such a crazy bad ass. Chalky White (Omar from The Wire is introduced big time in #3). It just gets better and better.
I thought it the Pilot was fabulous. It set itself up for many seasons in 1 episode… I hope everyone watching recognized that Capone’s rise doesn’t happen for a few years… ie. we get to see Capone as muscle man and then his rise to power over a course of season’s I presume (that’s an incredible narrative itself and it’s within something greater than that!). I know, I’m just letting the show be great without scrutinizing, but you can do that to any show and I WANT to love this.
I CHALLENGE ANY ONE OF YOU CRITICS TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE, SELL, AND PRODUCE A PILOT THAT GARNERS 7.1 MILLION VIEWERS. GET OUT OF YOUR MOTHER”S BASEMENT, WIPE OFF OUR STICKY HANDS, AND SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN DO.
Amen.
Easy there “Buddy”. All caps and a you-jerk-off-in-your-mom’s-basement comeback? OK we get you work for HBO. Or are typing on your mom’s computer. In her basement.
Snarky cheap shots often litter the comments section. I get really sick of it. Studio hacks or civilians trying to knock down people that are actually make things. But that doesn’t seem the case here. Everyone clearly is trying to be thoughtful and supportive. I watched with several other filmmakers and we were ready to love it. Yeah we’d heard things. But it’s Scorsese! I loved the opening titles. Loved the first shot. This is going to be amazing. Then we watched in silence for a few minutes and the groans started.
Clearly, some of us here who didn’t like it are pained by that fact. We were dying to love it. And just citing the premiere numbers doesn’t mean anything since Scorsese’s name and a zillion HBO marketing dollars are behind the show. It’s got to be on the screen. And so far it isn’t.
I hope it gets better. I’m still scratching my head. Camp? Nostalgia? Irony? Just looks and sounds like a really cheap fringe cable TV show. Steve Buscemi is like Atlas holding the world just above drowning all on his own. He’s valiant, but the weight is too much.
Sorry. On just the first viewing, I don’t get it. I want to. But I don’t understand the vision. I’ve never said that about Scorsese before. I haven’t loved everything he’s done, but most of it. And what he’s going for is always clear.
And of course I’ll watch the season. Of course.
But that doesn’t mean you can bully me into liking it.
WELL SAID!!
TV Critics say that the Boardwalk Empire get much better throughout the season as we start to learn more about these characters lives. It’s called character development.
I too, wasn’t impressed with the pilot. But then again, most pilots are weak, so I’ll give it a few more episodes.
I just hope this doesn’t go down the same road as Treme, which I found unwatchable after about 2 episodes.
Is it just me or does anyone else think that Buscemi was the wrong guy to lead the show. I’ve been a fan of his work for years but I do think he’s a much better supporting character, villian or antagonist than a leading man. Gandolfini was perfectly cast as the mob boss. You felt his presence when he walked into a room, an aura of fear surrounded him. Not Buscemi. I don’t think the show can legitimately last without the right guy in the lead.
i think he’s perfect for the part.
The show builds and Buscemi is GREAT. Seriously GREAT. All fears will be eradicated. No one was sure about Michael Hall in Dexter either or Bryon Cranston in Breaking Bad.
Michael Pitt and Al Capone also rise up and become major players. Lucky Luciano and Gretchen Mol are fantastic.
Expect a lot of award nominations. TV Critic Alan Sepinwall thinks that this could beat Mad Men at the next years Golden Globes. He’s said after seeing some of the later episodes.
The pilot was phenomenal!! Anyone who didn’t like this is either: a beer comercial watching american-idol enthusiast OR an annoying art school type who went to Emmerson, whose sole purpose is to criticize everything that is ever made. People who matter in life, and whose opinions are informed and intelligent LIKED this show. To all you haters, you are eating your WORDS right now, because this pilot was phenomenal. Scorcese came through with flying colors. This was the best directed episode of television I have ever seen.
Someone had the AUDACITY to criticize the cinematography: did you not see the panning dolly shots!?!?!? Did you not see the best shot in the film, when the Italian mob boss was killed and the blood sprayed over the lense???
To any of you fools you prefer network television or hype sickening shows like “Blue Bloods” you just got hit with the absolute truth when you saw this show. To those with feeble network minds, it was like being hit with the light of god, and then not knowing what to do, shitting and pissing your self wondering where you are for hours, because your mind couldn’t process the brilliance what just happened.
That is the funniest post I’ve read in a long time. A+ for passion. D- for articulation of why the show was so good.
That seems to be the case with many of the supporting posts calling the film brilliant and asking for patience.
No one’s really rebutting the argument against. Seems like a lot of HBO and production related people trying to hype the show.
Again. I want this show to be great. Just not seeing it at all so far.
We can only hope.
My God. You’re right! I am depraved, self-loathing, and I cannot appreciate anything good, ever. Here I thought I was a fan of Scorsese who was sad to see him go awry with a project that makes a mockery of not only its source material but history in general. I thought I loved HBO, Showtime and FX, but now I realize I need to go watch Blue Bloods because I am that stupid and senile and I have no appreciation whatsoever for quality that’s entirely invented even though it claims a book and history as its inspiration. What I really can’t process is the brilliance of your mastery of the English grammatical structure: “your mind couldn’t process the brilliance what just happened.”
Thank you, kind sir, for insulting, degrading, and overgeneralizing anyone with a single negative comment about this show into a heap of mindless children who wouldn’t survive if not for being spoonfed by the proper geniuses of this world.
Now THIS is writing! Thanks for making me laugh.
Ok, so it annoys me that Steven Levinson is “executive producing” this show. We all know he didn’t do jack shit BUT manage Mark Wahlberg. But, like most annoying managers, he has the audacity to insert himself as a producer. Annoys the hell out of me.
Managers are NOT producers.
You’re right. Levinson only bought the book rights and then used his client/co-producer to lure Scorsese to the project, which is how he landed Winter as a showrunner. Fuck that guy.
Shea Whigham is one of the most underrated actors on the planet. That guy is so good in every role. He was off the charts amazing in Wristcutters.
Love Shea Whigham and Kelly McDonald. This pilot was TERRIFIC.
Would love to see all the numb nuts whining on this site get a real job.
What a bunch babies.
THE PILOT WAS AMAZING!!!! Has the look and feel of a movie – but it’s not a movie and will take a few episodes to feel connected to these characters. I know it’s only gonna get better. I’m already impressed.
Apparently, Kelly MacDonald’s character Margaret will become a much stronger character in the later episodes.
Good. Love Margaret. Love Angela. Lucy is completely out there. Hear Gretchen Mol is coming too with a big part.
Everybody is bagging on me because I stuck up for Blue Bloods. I still say it as exciting, daring, and novel as a pair of Siposwisc’s smelly old brogans.
The ME, the DOA, the DA, the JATTF. the Feebs, “our friends at Langley”, the SO team, an ETA here and there. Yes! Finally! Again!
Then the explanations, “Well, lieutenant, guy who owns the deli said, he heard blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…”.
The disturbing blob of flesh under the tarp.
Then in the pilot, they even show a perp get his head jammed in the toilet Have you ever seen this?
And the heroism. Saving babies. The speeches to the cadets, the shuffling junkies . You guys are not ready for this, nachos at your side?
The dinner table arguments. Someone storming from the table after emotiionally defending a piece of police theory or something about America, his chair going over in anger, leaving a sad and heavy silence. to be broken — or not, if so, with a melancholy but humorous bon mot.
TV has gotten too smarty-pants for it’s own good. Especially cable. It’s like Mitch Green says.
FOIBLES for the lead characters, not vices. Crusty, or chatty, or curt, or hates paperwork, maybe even doesn’t get it done on time, maybe likes a dram of the old peat now and again — but not VICES and OBSESSIONS. Leave these to the bad people, NOT THE PROTAGONISTS FOR CHRISSAKE!
What’s needed is something the values voters can watch. Blue Bloods is it.
So beat me up again for wanting something that lets me go to sleep at night.
Sorry man, you lost me on the first line.
GOD DAMMIT! Those of us who graduated with a degree in the school of great television already took out back in the alley and kicked the shit out of you!! And you post this BLASPHEMY again. How dare you try and shill for shitty television when we’re talking about an Emmy caliber show.
ONCE AGAIN: Apologize to Martin Scosese and Terrence Winter and beg for their forgiveness!
Some of you just can’t except the fact that a lot of people liked this show. So, you’re only offense is to call those of us who did like it an “HBO Flack”? That’s a pretty weak argument.