HBO at the TCAs: Boardwalk Empire is ending next season, but you still have Game Of Thrones to look forward to
Much as all good things—like rampant bootlegging, gangster-run businesses, and men wearing snappy hats—must inevitably come to an end, so shall the fifth season of Boardwalk Empire be its last. HBO made the announcement today at its TCA presentation, where our own Todd VanDerWerff carved his way out of a crowded conference room with a lead pipe concealed in a rolled-up newspaper to relay us the news.
The series will return in the fall, as per usual, wrapping up the saga of Nucky Thompson, Atlantic City, and the assorted criminals and con men who populate it, as showrunner Terence Winter moves on to his Mick Jagger-produced rock ‘n’ roll drama with Bobby Cannavale. Winter speculated that the end was nigh when we spoke to him in November, and there have even been some rumors that the fifth season could see a reduced episode order—though there was no word on that at the TCAs. What is certain is that next season will put a “powerful and exciting conclusion” to the story of corruption in New Jersey, perhaps fading out from Nucky standing on the beach and into a shot of Chris Christie standing on the George Washington Bridge.
Other things announced at the TCAs: Game Of Thrones has an official debut date of April 6, to be preceded by a new GOT trailer paired with True Detective this Sunday. April 6 will also see the debut of the new season of Veep and the premiere of Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley. Todd deems the latter “very funny"—which sounds embarrassingly gushing and effusive to me, with its flowery language and so on, but okay.