HBO's Boardwalk Empire

Just watched the show. It wasn't too dynamic. I may give it a couple more shows, nothing like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, or the Sopranos. I liken it to the boring episode of Detroit 187 that I am currently watching.

 

Yeah, I didn't catch that until I read Sepinwall's review. You had to listen closely to the conversation Jimmy had with Capone out by the cars while the big wigs were inside meeting.

 

I believe Terence Winter was the writer on a lot of Sopranos episodes. I'm excited about this show because this era is so rarely covered in either movies or TV. One thing I couldn't believe was Scorsese saying they asked Asbury Park to film there and Asbury TURNED THEM DOWN. Yeah, cause that town doesn't need a shot in the arm. Unreal.

 

The broad character of Asbury Park has . . . shall we say . . . changed. Ask
people who have lived there for more than a decade how things are, now.

 

Yeah, Asbury is pretty cool these days. Magic, where did you see that Asbury Park said no. I've read several places, most recently the article linked below, that the producers considered Asbury, but decided against it for a variety of reasons.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100919/ENT/100917058/1005/NEWS01/HBO+gangster+series+re-creates+old+Atlantic+City++—+in+Brooklyn

 

Actually, Ben and Jake, we've vacationed in Asbury the past two summers so spent more than two weeks there recently. Asbury has changed somewhat but they definitely could have filmed there. I saw an interview with Scorsese on the On Demand segments of Boardwalk Empire. I think it was in the preview one because I haven't had a chance to watch them all yet.

 

Scorsese said in the pre-show that they wanted to film in Asbury Park, but the city didn't want them.
I have no reason to think he's lying, but his opinion about why it didn't work isn't necessarily the truth. He made some comment about NJ politics, and on that topic the more outrageous the claim the more likely it is to be true.

 

I didn't doubt that he said it, just thought it was interesting that Winter was saying something different about the Asbury Park situation.

I think the big thing is that NJ no longer offers the big tax credit for shooting there. I could see how maybe in Scorsese's mind that's telling the show they don't want it.

 

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons why it didn't work out. The interpretation probably varies depending on who's telling it.

 

Got to applaud the show's passion for accuracy: The referee of the midget boxing match was Randy Neumann, a former NJ heavyweight who went on to become a referee after hanging up his gloves.

 

As a proud son of NJ, I find it impossible to believe Atlatic City ever looked that clean.

 

Was away earlier in the week, so I just watched it On Demand.

Loved it, even if pacing was a little slow at first.