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HBO’s Prohibition-era drama Boardwalk Empire opened its second season with 2.9 million viewers. That was down 40% from Boardwalk Empire‘s series debut last September, when it posted HBO’s largest series premiere audience in six years. There was a mitigating factor: the series premiere ran on the Sunday before the broadcast premiere week, while the Season 2 opener aired on Premiere Week Sunday, facing stiffer competition. (Boardwalk Empire‘s first season finale drew 3.3 million in its original airing). Including two additional plays at 10 PM and 11 PM, Boardwalk Empire‘s Season 2 premiere averaged 4.5 million viewers.
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I thought the season 2 premiere was much better paced than any episode last year. Boardwalk Empire is becoming a better show.
Yeah but how does it compare to the season finale of last season? Last years premiere was good but the show quickly went downhill from there.
This is one of two shows I have stopped watching in the past year. The other was Alphas. I wanted to like them, but just found myself bored.
I saw it on DVR I think so Jack this was better pace show I think people probably “forgot about it” They been busy watching NFL Football
True dat. The NFL trumps any show, airing on any network, on Sunday nights.
did i miss all the advertising for this? i had NO idea the season was starting. am i the only dumb one?
That’s probably because it’s a boring show.
If you think Boardwalk Empire is boring, you must have a low attention span. I bet you have never watched any old movie or such where the pacing is so much slower than everything today.
I personally love old movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. The writing was incredible. You can’t insult the golden age of Hollywood’s classic films by comparing them in any way shape or form to the snooze fest that is Boardwalk Empire.
I love old films.
Fortunately, that has nothing to do with how incredibly boring Boardwalk Empire is.
I love everything about Boardwalk Empire except the actual show…
Extremely talented group of folks… but the story… it just snoozes.
It’s interesting to read the comments here. I had heard such great things about Boardwalk Empire, but had put off watching the show until they had a recent marathon.
I watched a few, thought the sets were amazing, the costumes great, the acting was good, and the writing was ok. Overall, I also found myself so bored. I tried to watch one after the other, but after a while, I just gave up. I can’t put my finger on it, but the show is missing something, whether it’s drama, a heart or a spark, it’s just to slow and boring for me to continue.
There is next to no character development on Boardwalk Empire. This is TV writing 101. On Boardwalk Empire new characters keep being created and plot heaped upon plot to cover the weaknesses of character writing. The creator simply doesn’t want or know how to write there. Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Mad Men go deep into character. Character reveals plot and plot reveals character. That’s what makes TV such a blast to watch. On Boardwalk Empire they write long speeches without interruption (playwright in the room?)in place of character development. It’s way overused. The poor treatment of female characters reveals a total neanderthal streak and the intricate plotting revealing nothing about the characters involved is a damn shame. The Good Wife achieves far more in less time with less budget. I love the time period and Steve Buscemi is a top notch actor. HBO needs roll up their sleeves with this show or write a new one using those sets.
you are NUTS if you think MM goes deep into characters. SO opposite of reality.
Wow, Hawkeye. It sounds like you know so much that YOU should be writing on that show. Hey, wait a second…
Uninteresting characters will do that to a show.
It is a boring show. Admit it. Get over it.
Well, that’s just your opinion, Jenkins. Many people, like me, do not find it boring.
This show is too smart for idiots. It’s brilliant on every level, which is why it’ll struggle to find a bigger audience.
Nice work, reality TV.
show is not boring…need more Chalky White though..he steals every scene, as usual..(see Omar)
Love the show, all the boring stuff people commenting about is all the details that lead to bigger events down the road! HBO Delivers!!!!
I think Boardwalk Empire has awesome production values — great sets, great costumes, and some great supporting performances from Michael Pitt, Shea Whigham, and Gretchen Mol.
I just think the writing is really lousy; the show is poorly plotted and not able to sustain enough narrative/dramatic tension. Which is crazy given the subject matter at hand. Will Aleksa Palladino ever get to Paris or won’t she? What’s going to happen to Michael Shannon’s and Paz de la Huerta’s baby? Will Chalky hang on to his business this season? Who cares?
Game of Thrones is superior in every way to this show.
No, GoT sucks.
Really tried getting into this one but it’s a convoluted mess and not as interesting as the premise would suggest. Not may hardcore Boradwalk fans out there I’m guessing, just an audience desperate to get their moneys worth from the HBO package they’ve invested in.
This is a perfect example of TV that doesn’t hit with the simpletons. Too slow = I have to use my brain. Perhaps Jersey Shore is more your thing. This is one of the best shows on the air and the premiere episode of this season was great. GOT on the other hand is a hot mess. Talk about boring…
Thank you!
I guess that’s why I love The Wire and Breaking Bad but think Boardwalk Empire is boring.
Because I’m dumb.
Boardwalk Empires creative team for season two needs to take a good long look at Downton Abbey to see a perfect marriage of character and plot. Breaking Bad as well.
The way these characters on Boardwalk go unrealized and underwritten is so aggravating. The show is missing a beating heart. It’s cold and lifeless, perverted even.
Season two of Boardwalk is DOA.
I hated DA with a passion.
It’s a show I want to love, but I one that I don’t think about much from Monday morning on.
The lack of a real antagonist is a big problem. You can’t invent fake bad-guys who build towards anything of real consequence, and HBO seems to be glamorizing its true-life characters as opposed to exposing them. The Delecio brothers were weak caricatures, and their little leader – whose throat Jimmy cut, although who really gave a shit – was basically a parody of a twenties-gangster.
They have to fall out of love with themselves.
The potential was there, but BWE just never really delivered the goods for me. I never really cared about the characters. And quite honestly, little Stevey Buschemi doesn’t have the pedigree to be lead man on a show this big.
Direct TV had a free HBO preview and I still couldn’t muster up interest. Everything that is derivative of Mad Men, still isn’t Mad Men. I remember that when I think of shows like this.
Mad Men fanboys will be Mad Men fanboys. BTW, like Mad Men was the first of its kind, you’re delusional.
I stuck with the show last season. Episode 4, Anastasia, and Episode 5, Nights in Ballygran, were incredible. Filled with rich character detail for Nucky and Margaret that had terrific payoff. The show never came close again in marrying character and plot. The show also had a soul in these two episodes, something it lost quickly for the rest of the season. Mindless violence has no drama to it. It’s not good writing. The rest of Boardwalk Empire didn’t let us get to know the characters in small and yet meaningful ways like eps. 4 & 5. Too bad. I’d still be watching.
HBO, Showtime, AMC, and other cable networks are the destinations of choice for quality scripted programming. And HBO arned all of those Emmy noms for a reason – they consistenly present quality programming that is sorely under-represented on broadcast television.
Shows like Boardwalk Empire also revel in multiple concurrent story-lines, making it hard to “drop in” to the series somewhere in the middle. The pay-off is often worth it as the season arcs collide at the end.
The premiere viewership is also less meaningful than if the show were on one of the Big Three, since HBO puts Boardwalk Empire eps in heavy rotation each month (same with Game of Thrones, et al). I set the DVR to record Boardwalk Empire’s west coast feed showings, although I am in the central time zone, so not sure how those numbers are counted ratings-wise.
This is not a good show. Too dark, too slow, dull acting, no compelling storylines, the only people who watch it are people who think they should be watching it but don’t understand why.
Absolutely agree. I love old films and complex story lines but just cannot get into this series. I don’t need action/violence every 30 minutes of a show but I find Boardwalk Empire boring. It would also be nice if the actors mirrored the real life people they portray. I just can’t take the guy who plays Al Capone seriously. Capone was an intimidating 5’11 250 lbs. The actor who portrays him looks like he is 5 feet tall, he’s dwarfed by anyone he has a scene with. I think HBO was looking for a replacement for The Sopranos demographic and this falls way short.
I think the characters of BOARDWALK EMPIRE continue to get better and richer as the episodes go on. As an ensemble piece, I’m sure it’s difficult for the writers to have equal time with all the characters. I think they do a fantastic job of giving the audience who they want to see. Every aspect of this show satisfies me: the music, the costumes, the characters, the emotion, RICHARD HARROW!!! Can’t wait to see more of Season 2!!! Bravo!!!
It’s funny. That when people critisize Boardwalk Empire, it sounds like criticism for people who tried to get into The Wire back in the day. People said the same thing about Boardwalk that they said about The Wire. Too many characters, nothing happens, too boring. At the time it was thought the Sopronos was the better of the two shows. Some people might still think that but most do not, especially when you look at the series as a whole and the dissappointing last few seasons of the Sopronos. To me The Wire is the better show. Hindsight is 20/20.
Boardwalk Empire is a really good show which is heading towards being possibly great. Most people who find it boring. probably do not appreciate or know this countries history. Most Americans don’t. There are developing a lot of interesting storylines with race relations at the time, the corrupt political machine of this country, and the true rise of Organized Crime in America.
Boardwalk Empire shows just how ugly America is, just like The Wire. Hence most Americans are not interested in that. That’s why movies about slavery, the massacre of Native Americans, World War II Japanese internment camps, Civil Rights, don’t tear it up at the box office or on TV. When all is said and done and Boardwalk goes off people will look back and see how great this show was as a snapshot of America at this time.
Oh and Mad Men is a White Man’s fantasy. Nothing more. I think it’s joke that people fawn over it so much. That’s the only demographic it appeals too. White Men, and maybe their stepford wives.