'Boardwalk Empire:' 2nd season pickup

  And just like that, "Boardwalk Empire" has a second season. HBO just picked it up which hardly qualifies as the shockeroo of the century given viewer and media response to Sunday's launch....

 “All the ingredients aligned for this one, from Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson’s initial pitch, to Martin Scorsese’s enormous contributions as director and executive producer, to the genius of Terry Winter and the expertise of Tim Van Patten, to a stellar cast led by Steve Buscemi,” said [programming chief Mike Lombardo.  “The response from the media and our viewers has been nothing short of amazing.”