Boardwalk Empire

WHEN IT comes to the history of Atlantic City, Nelson Johnson literally sees things in black and white. Johnson, an Atlantic County Superior Court judge from Hammonton, N.J., is the author of Boardwalk Empire , which plotted Atlantic City's storied tale by focusing on the white power structure from the town's founding in 1854 through the current casino era. The chapter about early-20th-century political and underworld boss Enoch "Nucky" Johnson was...

ATLANTIC CITY - When Judge Nelson Johnson wrote Boardwalk Empire , his history of corrupt Atlantic City, he certainly had no idea the Prohibition-era chapters would inspire the celebrated HBO series. But he did know this: The chapter on the African American involvement in the creation of the resort - Chapter 3, titled "A Plantation by the Sea" - was destined to be the basis for another book. "It became apparent if you remove the black experience from Atlantic City's history, then the town never comes to be," Johnson said in a phone interview from his chambers in the Atlantic County Civil Courthouse in Atlantic City.

Who would have thought that filmmaking titan Martin Scorsese and "The Sopranos" scriptwriter Terrence Winters would be the ones to deliver to Atlantic City what, in these troubled times for the gaming capital, appears to be the marketing equivalent of biblical manna from heaven? That analogy may be overstating the case, but there's no debating the town and its casinos are grabbing onto "Boardwalk Empire," HBO's based-in-fact historical drama set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, like rescued sailors on a lifeboat.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Twenty-four hours after the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore" caused a minor stir here simply by demonstrating the ability to stand upright and take questions for 20 minutes ? the network, in a departure from protocol, hadn't put out chairs for them, possibly fearing some sort of wardrobe malfunction involving tight, short skirts - HBO this weekend brought out some of the stars of its own Jersey Shore project. Easily the most anticipated new show of the fall among critics, "Boardwalk Empire," which premieres Sept.

HBO, SO FOND of telling us it's "not television," has a new TV series premiering on Sunday called "Boardwalk Empire. " Maybe you've heard of it. Set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City and loosely based on Nelson Johnson's history of the resort town, it's a show whose buzz started even before the first plank went in on the boardwalk-to-nowhere set in Brooklyn, N.Y., that will stand in for the Jersey Shore resort for the next 12 episodes....

LOOK FOR Caesars Atlantic City to play a major role in a promotional campaign for the upcoming HBO series "Boardwalk Empire," which is set in Atlantic City during Prohibition. According to New York Times marketing columnist Stuart Elliott, the midtown pleasure palace is hosting what is shaping up to be a glammed-out Sept. 16 premiere of the highly anticipated historical drama, as well as a first-episode screening Sept. 19 (when the program debuts in its regular Sunday-night slot)

LOS ANGELES - Premium pay channel HBO dominated the nominations Thursday for the 63d Primetime Emmy Awards, earning a stunning 104 nods, including honors for its two freshman series, Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire , as well as the acclaimed mini-series Mildred Pierce and the TV movies Cinema Verite and Too Big to Fail , about the nation's banking crisis. Mildred Pierce , the period melodrama starring Kate Winslet in the role that Joan Crawford made famous in 1945, earned the most nominations.

ATLANTIC CITY - Officials say plans are being made to repair cracks on the Boardwalk Empire facade on the Boardwalk. The Atlantic City Press reported that some cracks have appeared there in the past few weeks, emerging in the vinyl along the edges of the facade's panels. Officials say the problem should be corrected "in the very near future. " The 180-foot facade, in front of Boardwalk Hall near Florida Avenue, was erected in July. The majority of the mural is still visible and unblemished.

* PROHIBITION. 8 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, WHYY. * BOARDWALK EMPIRE. 9 p.m. Sundays, HBO.   WE DIDN'T really need Ken Burns to tell us there was nothing dry about Prohibition. Not with HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" already partying on for its second season in a long-ago Atlantic City. But it's nice to be sure. And there's nothing like a documentary miniseries from Burns and his producing partner, Lynn Novick, to make it clear that HBO hasn't cornered the market on colorful characters when it comes to telling the story of the 18th Amendment, one of history's better illustrations of the law of unintended consequences.

ATLANTIC CITY - Always willing to be reinvented, this seaside resort officially hitched its rolling chair to the retro glamour of HBO on Thursday night, playing host to a red-carpet premiere of the 1920s series, a show set - though not filmed - in Atlantic City. The Hollywood-style fuss on the Boardwalk - 14 stars of the show, including Paz de la Huerta, drinking champagne and showing a long tattooed leg, posed in front of a vintage Rolls-Royce used in the show - drew a gaggle of photographers not seen perhaps since Miss America.

Two days before Christmas, gaming regulators made history by green-lighting a Scores strip club inside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City. Approval was granted on the condition that dancers keep their thongs on and promise not to "fondle themselves or simulate sexual activity. " Unstated was that New Jersey casinos are so hard up for cash that every dollar counts - even singles wedged by sweaty hands into a lace garter. New Jersey has lost roughly $1.5 billion in revenue and thousands of jobs since Pennsylvania got into gaming in 2006.

Inside the leaded glass windows, behind the polished walnut bar, above the original fireplace in Atlantic City's Knife & Fork is a plaque listing the establishment's founding members. When it opened in 1912, this was a private men's club, and one name on the plaque, The Commodore, would make any Boardwalk Empire fan squeal with delight. The Commodore was Louis Kuehnle, the early-20th-century powerhouse who pulled the strings of Atlantic City's shady political machine for years.

NEW JERSEY Killer: Dental plan bites Michael LaSane apparently has a toothache. The convicted killer sued New Jersey's prison system for failing to provide proper treatment after dental surgery. Last Friday, a federal court in Trenton rejected the suit. LaSane was convicted four years ago of the 1996 carjacking and murder of Kathleen Weinstein, an Ocean County teacher who secretly recorded the crime as it unfolded. The tape was played during the trial. LaSane was convicted of abducting Weinstein outside a Toms River restaurant and killing her after driving her to a wooded area near his home in Berkeley Township.

ATLANTIC CITY - Officials say plans are being made to repair cracks on the Boardwalk Empire facade on the Boardwalk. The Atlantic City Press reported that some cracks have appeared there in the past few weeks, emerging in the vinyl along the edges of the facade's panels. Officials say the problem should be corrected "in the very near future. " The 180-foot facade, in front of Boardwalk Hall near Florida Avenue, was erected in July. The majority of the mural is still visible and unblemished.

ATLANTIC CITY - Back in Nucky Thompson's fictional Atlantic City, as imagined by HBO, there was an arts district all right. Yeah, it was Angela Darmody painting half-faced man Richard Harrow in a house on the beach, and if you watched the last two episodes of Boardwalk Empire this month, you know how that all worked out. Not too well. Luckily, in the present-day and real-life Atlantic City, the arts district idea, unlike Angela, is alive and kicking, if a bit pie in the sky. But it's one of a bevy of ideas now under consideration as the master plan for Gov. Christie's tourism district takes shape.

FOR A TOWN that needs every scrap of good news it can get these days, the hit HBO series "Boardwalk Empire" has been like manna from heaven. Although set in an Atlantic City that has, save for the Boardwalk and Atlantic Ocean, no similarities at all to the present-day gambling-and-entertainment resort, "Boardwalk Empire," which had its second-season premier Sunday, has given the beleaguered gaming capital a higher national profile, not to mention a...

* PROHIBITION. 8 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, WHYY. * BOARDWALK EMPIRE. 9 p.m. Sundays, HBO.   WE DIDN'T really need Ken Burns to tell us there was nothing dry about Prohibition. Not with HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" already partying on for its second season in a long-ago Atlantic City. But it's nice to be sure. And there's nothing like a documentary miniseries from Burns and his producing partner, Lynn Novick, to make it clear that HBO hasn't cornered the market on colorful characters when it comes to telling the story of the 18th Amendment, one of history's better illustrations of the law of unintended consequences.

Gwyneth Paltrow received an award for her guest role on Glee at the Creative Arts Emmys in L.A. on Saturday, and Justin Timberlake was honored for the Saturday Night Live monologue for which he wrote the music and lyrics. But the night's big winner was HBO's chronicle of Atlantic City's heyday, Boardwalk Empire , which netted seven drama awards, including for casting and cinematography. The ceremony will be shown Saturday on ReelzChannel, and the Primetime Emmy Awards can be seen the following night at 8 on Fox.   That was fun, but . . . The real show Saturday was the taping of Comedy Central's Charlie Sheen roast with Mike Tyson , William Shatner , Kate Walsh , and a slew of comedians riffing on Sheen's high-profile antics, meltdown, and March firing from Two and a Half Men . "Charlie's meltdown was so bad, Al Gore 's making a documentary about it," said comic Jeffrey Ross . Asked Jon Lovitz : "How much [cocaine]

Cable is king for the second consecutive fall. Last year, HBO's Boardwalk Empire was the only blockbuster newcomer. This year, while the broadcast networks have a passel of passable, and entertaining, new series, cable's the place to make your appointments. You'll have to wait until October, and you'll have to pay extra for two of them. Claire Danes is as good as ever as a personally troubled spy in Showtime's Homeland, and you've never seen Kelsey Grammer as he is in Starz's Boss.

Scads of series return this fall. Here's my pick of the litter, with premiere dates: Survivor (CBS3. 8 p.m. Sept. 14.) Still the best reality show, it goes to the South Seas this season, dragging along two notable alumni, crazy Coach and hottie Ozzy. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX. 10 p.m. Sept. 15.) The little engine that could. Consistently hilarious in a way that - almost - makes you hate yourself for laughing. Two and a Half Men (CBS3. 9 p.m. Sept.