'Boardwalk Empire' Renewed for a Third Season

Well huzzah to that. HBO's highly decorated new series "Boardwalk Empire," which recently began a stellar season two, has been officially renewed for a third season. In its first season on the network, the show garnered 8 Emmy Awards out of 18 nominations, including one for Martin Scorsese for directing the pilot.

“Following a triumphant first season, I was eager to see what Terry Winter, Martin Scorsese and the rest of their stellar team had in store, and they continue to surpass our highest expectations. The response from the media and our viewers has been extremely gratifying," said Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

While the show delivers decent ratings during its regularly scheduled hour (it got 1.2 million viewers and a 1.2 rating this past Sunday), it typically kills in On Demand and repeat viewing, with an estimated 10 million viewers per episode - one of the many advantages of cable, friends.

The latest season of "Boardwalk Empire" sees Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson facing threats coming at him from all sides, including family members (his brother), a self-righteous Prohibition agent, and former underlings (including Michael Pitt's Jimmy Darmody).

Will Nucky be able to withstand the slings and arrows? With a third season to play out, let's just say we can't see him going out without at least throwing a few well-placed swings.