Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

This week the money figures were released for the Atlantic City casinos, which were down about five percent from the same month a year ago. This news, of course, generated the usual spate of stories about Atlantic City slipping into the ocean.

Now that our own governor has declared that Atlantic City is, in fact, falling into the sea, it is hard to maintain my “glass is half full” mentality.

However, if I were looking for a rose-colored glasses story, it would be the great press that Boardwalk Empire is receiving. The national television press was just introduced to the new fall TV season at the annual preview in Hollywood and a lot of buzz was generated by Boardwalk Empire. With Martin Scorsese at the helm of the pilot, the advanced word has been that this series will be HBO’s biggest new show in the fall.

As noted in a story in The Guardian, out of London, if the HBO series is a smash hit as expected, there could very well be more tourists who are curious about today’s Atlantic City and will visit our town, perhaps for the first time.

The idea is that the colorful corruption of our 1920s past could give a boost to town as it struggles with crushing competition from surrounding states — and as the debate continues between North and South Jersey politicians — perhaps competition from within the state.

New Jersey has been the butt of jokes for decades, but if this publicity bonanza from HBO is property utilized, it could help Atlantic City survive the tough times that seem destined to continue.

Right now Atlantic City looks pretty good with great entertainment, terrific restaurants, summer weather that has been nearly perfect and the jazzy, snazzy Boardwalk Empire on the way.

I’ve given up on trying to convert the Atlantic City haters. People seem to either love what Atlantic City has to offer or they only see the problems that need to be solved.

As a lifelong resident, I’ve learned to take the good with the bad.

Tags: Boardwalk Empire, HBO

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Hump Day Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.