The series 'Boardwalk Empire' (Sun., 9PM ET on HBO) is set in Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition. Alcohol has just been outlawed in the United States, and gangsters are ready to take advantage of this fact. Lead character Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is half mob boss, half corrupt politician. And he hatches a plan to make a lot of money -- by selling booze illegally. But as Nucky is about to learn, this is the dawning of a new era, and you can't do things by "halves" anymore.

[Spoiler alert.]

Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) is Nucky's former protege. But Jimmy has recently returned to American from fighting in the trenches of World War I. Taking part in a brutal war has given Jimmy a fresh outlook on life, and Nucky isn't quite ready for it.

The world is radically shifting for the characters of 'Boardwalk Empire,' the fabulous new HBO drama that premieres Sept. 19 and is one of fall's best new shows.

Set in the booming Atlantic City of the 1920s, 'Boardwalk Empire' is an stylish, enthralling epic in which nuanced, complicated characters help tell a sweeping story of a nation in transition.

I recently spoke to 'Boardwalk Empire' creator Terence Winter, a former 'Sopranos' executive producer, who discussed the creative input of 'Boardwalk Empire' executive producer Martin Scorsese, Winter's concerns about not repeating stories that were told on 'The Sopranos,' and how Prohibition altered the social and political landscape of the era.

Did you know that Steve Buscemi once wanted to be a stand-up comic? It didn't work out, so he had to fall back on the whole acting thing. But why didn't it work out? Well, according to Steve, it's all Paul Reiser's fault.

Buscemi tells his sad tale on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC). Back in the '80s, Steve was trying to "make it" as a comic, and would show up at the Improv Comedy Club in New York City -- along with other young comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. These guys were picked to perform, but Steve never was ... because the club manager didn't like his act.

Even though the TCA Summer press tour wrapped up yesterday, I'm still in Beverly Hills awaiting my flight back to the wilds of New Jersey. But before I leave, I wanted to talk about HBO's presentation that concluded the tour, mainly for who was there... and who might be there in 2011.

HBO always presents their part of the tour like a broadcast network would, with an executive session and star-studded panels. And, while this summer's lineup had some pretty good star power, I can only imagine what next winter's panels are going to look like. Why? Because HBO showed clips of David Milch's 'Luck,' starring Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, the dark 'Mildred Pierce' miniseries starring Kate Winslet, and a fifteen-second clip of 'Game of Thrones,' which lit up Twitter feeds everywhere.

Oh, and we might also see Bruce Springsteen, as there's a documentary in the works about the making of The Boss' classic 1978 album 'Darkness on the Edge of Town.'

This time around, HBO had Spike Lee, whom I talked to during a roundtable earlier in the day about 'If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise,' and Tracy Morgan, promoting his fall comedy special.

But the highlights of the afternoon were the panels for the much-anticipated Martin Scorsese production 'Boardwalk Empire,' and the wonderfully wacky Carrie Fisher, promoting a documentary of her one-woman show 'Wishful Drinking.'

In their classic song 'Under the Boardwalk,' the Drifters crooned that "from the park you hear the happy sound of a carousel. You can almost taste the hot dogs and French fries they sell." But if Martin Scorsese has anything to say about it, the boardwalk is about to be singing a very different tune -- one involving the sound of gunfire and the taste of blood.

Yes, the television event of the year has finally been announced: as multiple outlets, including Deadline, are reporting, HBO has revealed that Scorsese's upcoming period drama 'Boardwalk Empire' will debut on Sunday, September 19 at 9PM.

No, the series isn't about the most ruthless game of Monopoly ever played, at least not literally. But like the board game, 'Boardwalk Empire,' which was adapted by 'The Sopranos' writer Terence Winter from the book 'Boardwalk Empire: the Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City,' is set prohibition era Atlantic City. Unlike Monopoly, however, this version has a violent pilot directed by the legendary Scorsese, which is the Hollywood equivalent of landing on Community Chest and drawing a Get Out of Jail Free card.

It's got 1920s classic cars, men with big guns and a nattily-dressed, slightly-mustachioed Steve Buscemi brandishing a cigarette. It's looks just like a scene right out of a gangster movie.

And then you see that it's HBO's just-released trailer for its upcoming new series 'Boardwalk Empire.' Produced by Emmy-winning 'Sopranos' writer Terence Winter AND Martin Scorsese, you know that this show is not just going to be gangster: It's going to be all-out, balls-to-the-wall, bloody gangsta.

Watch the video after the jump.

Just this past week, HBO announced the addition of Gretchen Mol to the cast of its upcoming series 'Boardwalk Empire,' starring Steve Buscemi as Atlantic City gangster Nucky Thompson. With a string of respectable supporting roles, Mol's made a career out of not-quite making it, starting with her famous 1998 'Vanity Fair' cover that asked the entirely premature question: "Is Gretchen Mol Hollywood's New It Girl?"

But though Mol didn't exactly fade into obscurity (she earned kudos for her eye-opening turn in the indie 'The Notorious Bettie Page' and co-starred in ABC's short-lived 'Life on Mars'), neither did she become the huge success the industry predicted she would be. What happened? Was it luck, timing, bad choices or simply a case of too much hype? Whatever that case, Mol's casting got us thinking about other "Almost It" girls that Hollywood left behind about as quickly as it tried to make them mega-stars.

The world of animation is about to get a little more dangerous: Mr. Pink is coming to town. Steve Buscemi, who is best known for such intense indie film roles as Mr. Pink in 'Resevoir Dogs', has signed on to provide one of the voices in the upcoming TBS animated comedy 'Good and Evel.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will also star Stanley Tucci and follow the lives of two brothers reconnecting after very different upbringings. The two actors head up Olive Productions, which is developing the concept by 'The Colbert Report' writer Glenn Eichler.

We've been following the progress of Boardwalk Empire here at TV Squad for awhile now. Don't take my word for it; click that link if you don't believe me. HBO was waiting to get a look at the pilot, directed by executive producer Martin Scorsese, to see if they wanted to move forward with it.

Of course, all things were looking good, and who really expects Scorsese to hand in crap, but now it's finally official. HBO has given a 12-episode commitment to Boardwalk Empire, including that pilot.

The series takes place in 1920s Atlantic City and features Steve Buscemi as an important city figure, as well as a bootlegger. I absolutely love it when HBO does period pieces like this. They seem to excel at authentically bringing these bygone eras to stunning life.

Prohibition was a tumultuous time in this country, and I can just imagine how intense things got in a hotbed for seedy behavior like Atlantic City. And then there's Buscemi. Brilliant, unpredictable, I can't imagine anyone better to play a character who's described as "equal parts politician and gangster." HBO's hit streak looks to keep on going.

(S01E07) "I am God, and you are an asshole." - God

Oh, the times I've wanted to say that in my life. I'm sort of living vicariously through Nurse Jackie these days. She does stuff that everyone else wants to do, but doesn't because they don't have the guts. Like:

• Yanking the catheter out of the repeat sex-offender, then telling Mo-Mo, "He's a fucking pedophile!"
• Giving the Cartier bracelet that Eddie gave her to the morphine-drugged, steak-knife guy to give to the girl who's really just looking for a nice guy.
• Telling God to get back on his meds.

Yes, I want to be Nurse Jackie when I grow up.

(S03E20) "It's the biggest regret of my life, Lemon. And I once made love to Kathy Hilton." - Jack, about not confronting his dad

Oh, come on. There's no way that Liz Lemon would be that incompetent when it comes to replacing a water bottle. It was like she was a mixture of Steve Urkel and Barney Fife, dropping the bottle, getting herself soaked. I mean, she could have at least known that you take the empty jug off before you attempt to put the new one on. That whole scene was odd. It went on a lot longer and was more slapstick-oriented than most 30 Rock gags.

Steve Buscemi is in talks to star in Martin Scorsese's new HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. The series chronicles the rise of Atlantic City as a gambling haven in the 1920's.

Buscemi has never been a leading man, to my knowledge; however he's an extremely versatile character actor and has always had a prominent supporting role in every drama or comedy in which he's appeared (my favorite still remains Airheads. Yeah, I'm weird that way).

He's no stranger to HBO drama either, as he had a sizable role in one of its most critically acclaimed dramas The Sopranos. He directed episodes of that show as well, before he even got in front of the camera. Martin Scorsese has also historically been attracted to mob dramas, so it seems like a good match.

The show itself has a lot of talent behind it (including Mark Wahlberg, who also executive-produces Entourage), so this show has a better chance of being a hit than most others, particularly anything on network TV.

TV Guide is reporting that the complete series of The Sopranos will be available as a box set on Nov. 11, 2008, with a $400 price tag. That seems like a heckuva deal to me, given that fact that most seasons of any given show cost anywhere from $30 to $60. The individual seasons of The Sopranos sell for $60 each on the HBO Web site, and the complete series was released last year for $515.

So let's do the math here: Six seasons (TV Guide says seven, but the official HBO site refers to Season Six, Parts 1 and 2, as one season, so we'll go with that) divided by $400 comes out to $66.66 per season.

(S14E19) Now, let the speculation begin!

Did you really think that ER would end its fourteenth season with everything all honky-dory at County General? You haven't watched it recently, have you? Fact is, the season-ender for the last few years has been some sort of cliffhanger. Last season the fate of Neela was unknown. The year before it was Abby and Luka. A few years before that the fates of Pratt and Jing-Mei were undecided.

Now we have two (or three, or four) characters to consider as potential victims. But, who will be the lucky -- or in this case, unlucky -- one who will end up as a patient in their very own Emergency Room when season 15 of ER begins? Let's take a look at the candidates. Oh, by the way, spoilers ahead if you didn't watch the last three minutes of the episode.