"Boardwalk Empire" ending after season 5, "Girls" renewed for season 4
"Boardwalk Empire" will come back to Atlantic City once more for a final act.
The Emmy-winning drama series starring Steve Buscemi is set to premiere its fifth and final season this fall, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo announced on Thursday.
Creator Terence Winter has served as executive producer since the series first premiered in 2010.
"It has been an incredible honor to bring this powerful and groundbreaking series to our subscribers," Lombardo said in a statement. "Terry Winter has created one for the ages."
It seems the decision to bring things to an end was a mutual one.
"We're thrilled to get the go ahead for fifth season," Winter said. "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."
Buscemi stars as 1920s bootlegging mobster Nucky Thompson. The series won five Emmys in September, including a best supporting actor nod for Bobby Cannavale as the villainous Gyp Rosetti.
According to TV By The Numbers, the ratings for the November fourth season finale were down by about 20 percent compared with the previous year's finale.
The future of another HBO series was also revealed on Thursday.
During a Television Critics Association press tour panel, it was announced that "Girls" had been renewed for a fourth season. Executive producer and actress Lena Dunham leads a cast of twenty-something characters trying to survive and thrive in the Big Apple.
The renewal announcement came ahead of Sunday night's third season premiere.
The season 2 finale averaged 632,000 viewers when it first aired in March, 2013 -- down from about a million viewers for the first season finale in June, 2012.
Tell us: Are you sad about the end of "Boardwalk"? And are you looking forward to more "Girls"?
