The executive decision was highly expected, and HBO has made the final call. According to Yahoo! News, on Thursday, Jan.9, the network confirmed that the upcoming fifth season of Boardwalk Empire will conclude the series.
“It has been an incredible honor to bring this powerful and groundbreaking series to our subscribers,” said HBO programming president Michael Lombardo. “Terry Winter has created one for the ages,” said Lombardo of the Boardwalk Empire front runner.
Winter, highly lauded for his writing expertise with The Wolf of Wall Street, premiered the serial drama on September 19, 2010. He has had all long lineage of success with the HBO network, as he was also a writer and executive producer for the hit mob drama series The Sopranos.
In wake of the premium cable network’s announcement, Winter shared his take on their mutual decision to end the show. “We’re thrilled to get the go-ahead for a fifth season of Boardwalk Empire,” said Winter. “After much discussion with my creative team and HBO, we’ve decided to wrap up the series after such a great run and look forward to bringing it to a powerful and exciting conclusion.”
The publication also reports that the decision to conclude the series appears to be directional, as the storyline may have reached a point of finality. Although the show’s ratings saw a slight decline in season four, the drop wasn’t substantial enough to cancel the series. Boardwalk Empire was still considered one of HBO’s most watched programs, ranking right alongside Game of Thrones and True Blood.
The critically acclaimed series has also garnered a number of prestigious accolades, including forty Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with seventeen wins. The series also won the Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Television Drama Series’ 2011, and two SAG Awards for ‘Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series’ in 2011 and 2012.
The HBO Network took to Twitter to publicly share the announcement with the avid Boardwalk Empire fans.
The final call for drinks on the Boardwalk comes this fall on @HBO pic.twitter.com/pbDM8VWts1
— Boardwalk Empire (@BoardwalkEmpire) January 9, 2014
Season five is set to return sometime this fall on HBO.
Image via Twitter | Boardwalk Empire
