Political boss Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi) runs Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition in this drama inspired by Nelson Johnson's non-fiction book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City. Follow the life of Thompson, a political fixer and backroom dealer who makes his living from numerous questionable activities including rum-running. Working with the town's sheriff and his brother, Thompson carves a name for himself in the underworld. However, things start to take a turn for the worse when a former associate of Thompson's returns and wants to get his hands in on the business.

Sep 2011

WHEN ALCOHOL WAS OUTLAWED. OUTLAWS BECAME KINGS. From Terence Winter, Emmy Award-winning writer of 'The Sopranos,' and Academy Award Winning Director 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 Great War is over, Wall Street is about to boom and everything is for sale, even the World Series. It is a time of change when women are getting the vote, broadcast radio is introduced, and young people rule the world. On the beach in southern New Jersey sits Atlantic City, a spectacular resort known as "The World's Playground," a place where rules don't apply. Massive hotels line its famous Boardwalk, along with nightclubs, amusement piers and entertainment to rival Broadway. For a few dollars, a working man can get away and live like a king -- legally or illegally. The undisputed ruler of Atlantic City is the town's Treasurer, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, (Steve Buscemi) a political fixer and backroom dealer who is equal parts politician and gangster and equally comfortable in either role. Because of its strategic location on the seaboard, the town is a hub of activity for rum-runners, minutes from Philadelphia, hours from New York City and less than a day's drive from Chicago. And Nucky Thompson takes full advantage.

• Frankly, this complex and entertaining show is the kind of things that the networks--cable and broadcast--just don't make anymore: It's a grand, handsome saga about a whole slice of society, from shop clerks and showgirls to fixers and Feds. - AOL TV
• The characters are unforgettable, and the history, of course, is more entertaining than fiction. The filming of Boardwalk Empire just may be more decadent than the decadence it's celebrating. It's not TV, and it's not really HBO. It's an event, not to be missed. - Chicago Sun-Times
• BOARDWALK EMPIRE has everything you'd expect in an HBO drama--sharply drawn characters, large-scale stories intercut with intimate moments and a sense that you couldn't find something like it anywhere else on the guide. It's maybe the best new show HBO has launched in several years. - Zap2It