The original post: /r/television by /u/Lazy_Title7050 on 2025-08-30 01:03:52+00:00.
I finished watching Boardwalk Empire for the first time, and I was just blown away. With Netflix oversaturated with garbage for the masses that is purely based on profit, it’s really taken the art and creativity out of television. It really highlighted just how much tv and movies have changed in the last few years.
Every single episode had so much attention to detail, it was so well researched historically- both in terms of bootlegging and about the time period. I felt like I was transported to the 1920’s-30’s. The costumes, the sets and filming locations, the music, how authentic it felt when they incorporated items from the era(the vaccum sweeper) and phrases and slang from that time period.
An example of how much attention they paid to detail is a scene in season 5 where Nucky Thompson goes to a dive bar and gets wasted with two ladies. They are playing a game but we don’t know what. He starts reciting a poem… “Take your war club, Puggawaugun, And your mittens, Minjekahwun, And your birch canoe for sailing…”May pass the black pitch-water, Slay this merciless magician, Save the people from the fever, That he breathes across the fen-lands, And… straightway from the shining wigwam, Came the mighty Megissogwon, Tall of stature, Broad of shoulder. Clad from head to toe in wampum, armed with all his warlike weapons. Thus departed Hiawatha, to the regions of the home-wind. To the islands of the blessed. To the kingdom of Ponemah, To the land of the hereafter. “
They were playing a game of what is essentially strip poem! I got curious and went to r/askhistorians and apparently during the late 19th century and early 20th century, elocution classes were taught in grammar schools and kids were taught rote memorization using certain poems like this one called The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Longfellow. What a great historical tidbit for such a short scene. There are a lot of little examples of that, like when William goes for his interview to work in the district attorney’s office as a prosecutor and he’s sitting with a black woman. And it didn’t make sense to me since she seemed so out of place but after I looked it up I realized she was based off the first black woman to work as an assistant district attorney.
I also noticed how the show made you think, and didn’t spell things out for the audience like a lot of today’s shows do either with overacting, or just telling the audience what’s going on through the characters. For example, they weren’t in your face with civil rights issues(racism, classism, the oppression of women) and let the differences in treatment sink in without it being super in your face like a lot of tv and movies do. There are so many things you can miss if you aren’t paying attention.
Anyways, I’m completely bummed now because I feel like there isn’t anything else out there like this to watch. I know I absolutely love period pieces- this and peaky blinders are probably my two favourite shows. I love well written shows with great acting. Some of my other favourites are Chernobyl, Severance(preferred season 1), Breaking bad but wouldn’t do a rewatch, first few seasons of GOT(looking back sad that Boardwalk seemingly got overshadowed by this though), The Night Of, the OA, Fargo, Narcos, Stranger Things(season 1), True Detective(season 1), I liked the Wire but got really bored during the dock season and stopped watching. I tried hard to love the Sopranos and watched I think 2.5-3 seasons but just found it a bit slow for me. I didn’t like what I watched of the Gilded Age or Downton Abbey. But I did like Bridgerton.
Any recommendations based on what I like? Anyone find any shows that are as good as Boardwalk in terms of writing and quality?
I like drama, sci-fi, thriller, horror, fantasy but not into comedies or cartoons/anime. Would prefer to watch a drama, sci-fi, or fantasy show right now.