Boardwalk Empire is an HBO drama series directed by Martin Scorsese. The series premiered on Sunday, September 19, 2010. Boardwalk Empire is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the early-1920s, during the rise of Prohibition. The series was adapted from the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson. Terence Winter (The Sopranos) adapted the story into a television series.http://boardwalkempire.com/ http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/19/entertainment/la-ca-preview-boardwalk-empire-20100919

Steve Buschemi stars in Boardwalk Empire as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson - a local Atlantic City politician who sees great opportunity in Prohibition. Thompson begins meeting with gangsters and other politicians who want to illegally get alcohol into major cities, at a big profit for themselves. In addition to Buschemi, Boardwalk Empire also stars Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald and Michael Shannon.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979432/

Reviews for Boardwalk Empire began coming out long before the show's pilot aired in September of 2010. Overall, critics raved about the first season of the series, which scored an 88 out of 100 on Metacritic on September 20, 2010.http://www.metacritic.com/tv/boardwalk-empire/season-1 Critic Matt Roush of TV Guide calls Boardwalk Empire a "instantly captivating period piece feels thrillingly modern as it captures with remarkable detail a chaotic time of invention and re-invention, of social progress and prosperity upstaged by the gaudy corruption and jazzy debauchery of the Prohibition era."http://www.tvguide.com/News/Roush-Review-Boardwalk-Empire-1023141.aspx Variety critic Brian Lowry says Boardwalk Empire lives up to lofty expectations, saying the series "grows richer, deeper and more absorbing with each of the six episodes previewed."http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943535.html?categoryId=32&cs=1 Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times says the characters in Boardwalk Empire are "unforgettable" and the history in the show is "more entertaining than fiction."http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/wiser/2717494,CST-FTR-paige17.article

"Like a good whiskey, it's rough and smooth in all the right ways. By a few episodes in, you'll want to order it by the case."— James Poniewozik, TIME magazinehttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019631,00.html

"What Buscemi brings to this production is his great gift for channeling neurotic self-consciousness into a man of action. He may fret about retaining his empire, but you believe Nucky Thompson is a lord of venality, right down to his immaculate spats."— Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weeklyhttp://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20419665,00.html

"Watching HBO's new Boardwalk Empire is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say, "Drinks are on the house." Friends, it doesn't get much better."— David Hinckley, New York Daily Newshttp://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/09/17/2010-09-17_20s_saga_off_to_a_roaring_start.html

"It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread but rather a well-made sort of sliced bread, a thing you have had before but prepared with quality ingredients by bakers who know their business."— Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Timeshttp://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-0917-boardwalk-empire-20100917,0,7322692.story

"It's a big production-the first episode alone cost nearly twenty million dollars-and it looks authentic in a way that, paradoxically, seems lifeless. You're constantly aware that you're watching a period piece, albeit one with some vivid scenes and interesting details."— Nancy Franklin, The New Yorkerhttp://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2010/09/20/100920crte_television_franklin