Steve Buscemi will continue to rule over his "Boardwalk Empire" on HBO for another season. The network renewed the prohibition-era gangster epic Tuesday morning, just 36 hours after it first aired Sunday night.
Michael Lombardo, HBO's president of programming, announced the renewal.
“All the ingredients aligned for this one … The response from the media and our viewers has been nothing short of amazing,” Lombardo said.
The speed of the announcement was dramatic, but "Boardwalk Empire" was clearly destined to receive a second season from the get-go. In a conversation on Sept. 16, Lombardo told TheWrap:
“We thought ‘Boardwalk’ was a success when we saw the cuts. I knew in my gut, and we knew in our gut, that this show deserved a second season.”
The series premiere of "Boardwalk Empire" on Sunday was HBO's most-watched series debut since "Deadwood" in 2004. With airings at 9 p.m., 10:15 p.m. and 11 p.m., the show drew 7.1 million viewers on its first night.
Buscemi stars in "Boardwalk Empire" as Nucky Thompson, a fictionalized version of real-life Atlantic City kingpin Enoch "Nucky" Johnson. "Boardwalk Empire" was created by "Sopranos" executive producer Terence Winter. It is executive produced by Winter, Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Tim Van Patten and Stephen Levinson.
Oscar-winner Scorsese directed the premiere episode of "Boardwalk." He was unable to direct other episode in season one do to his film projects, but he has expressed interest in doing further episodes.
(Updated 10:23 a.m.)
