The HBO original series, Boardwalk Empire, has picked up two more Golden Globe nominations.

The noms were released Thursday morning.

Again, the award-winning series was nominated in the following categories:

DRAMA SERIES

“Breaking Bad”
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Downton Abbey”
“Homeland”
“The Newsroom”

DRAMA-ACTOR

Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, and will air live on NBC.

… that Caesars built.

The lobby at Caesars Atlantic City (above) has been readied for the upcoming season of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and the free screening of the third season’s premiere episode Saturday, Sept. 15 in Atlantic City. Click here for details.

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”

Courtesy of HBO

UPDATE: 12:41pm EST

A very reliable source who wishes to remain anonymous tells Atlantic City Weekly that filming for the second season of the award-winning HBO series is slated to begin in February.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all fronts with regard to the second season, which everyone is looking forward to now that the debut, much-anticipated (and loved) first season has commenced.

In related news, a story in the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper from last Thursday, Jan. 20, hails the series — it debuts months later across the pond;  we’re told it may debut in the U.K. “next week” — as “a fascinating look at the birth of US gangster mythology.” Read full story here.

On the “unbiased media and entertainment news” site, Beehive.com, there is another story indicating that British viewers will be “hooked from the beginning episode,” also suggesting the series has just come to the U.K.

In the story, entitled “Preview: Boardwalk Empire – Scorsese hits the jackpot in Sky’s new Atlantic City,” the following is revealed:

“[Kelly] Macdonald has signed up for six seasons, which suggests Boardwalk Empire will demonstrate a Sopranos-style stamina. With Buscemi promising a towering, nuanced central performance to match James Gandolfini’s, that’s good news for British viewers who will be hooked from the opening episode.”

Six seasons? Don’t get excited yet.

According to a spokesperson for HBO, just because an actor/actress has signed a multi-season deal doesn’t necessarily mean the series will run for six seasons.

“It’s standard business practice for actors to sign a multi-year contract,” says the spokesperson. “That is normal, not unusual.  It also does NOT mean that the series is committed to six years, just that the actors are committed to the project. The network reserves the right to continue production and presentation of the series or not. So, the U.K. press really misinterpreted that information as something unique and extraordinary – it is not.”

In addition to the Great Britain premiere, “150 territories” have purchased the rights to the series. Debut dates for each are not available at this time.

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.