Claim: Boardwalk empire is a television series.

`` Boardwalk Empire '' is the pilot episode of the HBO crime drama Boardwalk Empire . Written by series creator Terence Winter and directed by Martin Scorsese with a budget of $ 18 million , the episode introduces the character of Nucky Thompson , played by Steve Buscemi , as the corrupt treasurer of Atlantic City who is involved in gambling and bootlegging in 1920 . The show used a large ensemble cast and a specially constructed boardwalk set to re-create the Prohibition and Jazz Era , and was based on Boardwalk Empire : The Birth , High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson . Filming for the pilot took place at various locations in and around New York City in June 2009 . The episode first aired in the United States on September 19 , 2010 .   The episode opens with bootleggers being ambushed , and then moves to a Temperance rally two days earlier during which Nucky Thompson attracts the attention of a pregnant woman who later seeks assistance from Thompson for her husband , Schroeder . In a night club the day after the rally , we are introduced to other characters , including Thompson 's brother , Eli , the town sheriff , and Jimmy Darmody , a political assistant . Thompson makes a deal to supply alcohol to four gangsters , including Arnold Rothstein who agrees to use his own men to transport the alcohol . Meanwhile , Schroeder drunkenly tangles with Thompson , and then beats his -LRB- Schroeder 's -RRB- wife into a miscarriage . The next day , Darmody plots with Al Capone to rob Rothstein 's incoming whiskey shipment . The episode returns to the ambush and we see Capone and Darmody shoot all the bootleggers and run off with the whiskey , with Darmody later giving Thompson a share of the heist .   David Hinkley of the New York Daily News awarded the episode five stars , saying `` Watching HBO 's new ` Boardwalk Empire ' is like sitting in your favorite tavern and hearing someone say , ` Drinks are on the house . ' Friends , it does n't get much better . '' Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times called it '' ... an event not to be missed , '' and praised Buscemi in particular , calling his performance `` fascinating . '' The episode gained a 2.0 / 5 ratings share among adults aged 18 -- 49 and garnered 4.81 million viewers . This was the highest rated premiere for a HBO series since the pilot of Deadwood in March 2004 . Following this successful debut , HBO immediately renewed the series for a second season .