ATLANTIC CITY — According to the New York Times‘ blog ArtBeat, HBO ordered a third season of Boardwalk Empire on this Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Not too surprising considering the overwhelming response the drama series based in Atlantic City during Prohibition has received around the world since kicking off in September 2010.

That first season earned the show 18 Emmy nominations and several Emmy wins in addition to more awards in other global contests.

Terence Winter, the show’s creator, told AC Weekly in early September that he was already set to start writing the third season, which, if the current second season is any evidence, should be an intense continuation of this half-real/half-fictional tale of the origins of Atlantic City as we know it today; political corruption; the early stages of the Mob and notorious gangsters such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Myer Lansky and Arnold Rothstein; the roots of racism in America; how relevant the world of 1921 is to today’s modern world, and how Prohibition affected the course of both Atlantic City and the country.

Rich with characters whose back stories could make for their own future seasons, Boardwalk Empire is one of the most popular cable TV dramas in history and it’s not even halfway through its extraordinary second season, which began Sept. 25 with the much anticipated episode “21.”

The 2010 pilot episode, which reportedly cost $18 million to make, earned an Emmy for Martin Scorsese, who directed the pilot and who has continued to play a key role as one of the show’s executive directors.

Steve Buscemi, who plays bootlegger and political powerbroker Nucky Thompson is the show’s star and his story gets meatier and meatier with each episode.

Expect a DVD of season one out in time for the holidays (maybe with the bonus documentaries that HBO aired in conjunction with the series premiere in 2010, and featuring many Atlantic City locals and historians).

Whether or not HBO releases the DVD with this bonus material, fans of Boardwalk Empire (based in part on the book by Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson) should check out the Atlantic City History: Conversations & Storytelling Web video series, which was filmed at the Atlantic City premiere screening in 2010, held at Caesars. All 13 episodes of the series, produced by Atlantic City Weekly, can be seen here.

For Boardwalk Empire interviews, news, videos, photos and more, bookmark the AC Weekly Boardwalk Empire Notes Page and join the AC Weekly Boardwalk Empire Fan Club Facebook Page.

Finally, if you would like to win a full-size season two Boardwalk Empire poster, click here to enter.

FURTHER READING:  5 Questions with NPR TV critic David Bianculli on ‘Boardwalk Empire’

FURTHER READING: “All Mobbed Up”

JWOWW and blogger Perez Hilton in Atlantic City over Halloween weekend 2010 for the OUT in AC festivities.

Although Atlantic City for the most part wants no part of this MTV show, which recently kicked off its third season after the first season cast became superstars over the past year or so with all types of Joisey slang introduced or re-introduced to a national audience (how?).

See video of the cast in Atlantic City here.

But, for those who like the show, below are some juicy bits regarding the third season, courtesy of thestir.com. The third and latest season of the popular MTV show, kicked off Jan. 6. But first, thestir.com offers the following list of things to look out for this season:

• The whole gang — save Angelina — is back in Jersey. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio, Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, and Vinny Guadagnino have all come back to the beach.

• There’s a new smurf in town. Snooki has brought along a pal: Deena Nicole Cortese, a 23-year-old former waitress from New Egypt, New Jersey. So what’s the new girl like? Sammi sums up Deena this way: “She’s four feet tall, a short little meatball … exactly like Snooki.”
Snooki gets drunk. A lot. In the trailer she’s shown falling off a bike, stumbling in the sand, hiding in a plant, and getting arrested. Oh — and she searches vainly for the beach. While standing on the boardwalk. Right next to that big pile of sand next to the water.

• New housemate Deena takes it all off in the first 24 hours. In her words: “It took a day for somebody to see my goods.”

• The word “bitch” is tossed around. A lot. The most creative usage of the “B” word? Snooki labels one of the girls as an “f**ing slutty-assed bitch.”

• Get ready for some tension. As Vinny puts it: “The dynamic has definitely changed. It’s not one big happy family anymore.”

OK, now here are some juicy bits to look forward to this season, from thestir following this week’s first episode:

• “The Situation may start his down slide. When you make a career out of being a cheesy sleazebag that people secretly mock and you suddenly actually become famous and rich (don’t even get me started) based on that shtick, it might go to your head. And it seems it has. Watch for a major downplay of who he used to be and an aloof  ‘I’m too cool for this’ attitude to emerge.”

• “JWoww gets dumped, it seems. And so does Ron. This season looks like it will have less laughs and more tears. I really hope it doesn’t turn into the Jersey Shore meets The Notebook, though because honestly, I’m not sure I can take seeing JWoww too distraught. I much prefer my Jersey Shore with pasties, public lewdness, and laughter.”

• Sam goes home.

Read more here.