A period drama every bit as violent as the Tony Soprano story, “Boardwalk Empire” centers around Atlantic City politician Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi. Seeing enterprise within the national restrictions of Prohibition, Thompson quickly ascends to notoriety in the bootlegging business and interacts with tons of historical figures (and characters based upon them), giving the series creator a spacious sandbox to play in. Winter elaborates with Esquire:

“And the ability to do it as a long-running series, where you get to spend dozens of hours with these characters who were really in their infancy, was just irresistible. You get to meet young Al Capone before he became Al Capone. You get to meet a young Lucky Luciano and these guys still trying to figure out who they were.”

Al Capone (played in the show by Stephen Graham) and Lucky Luciano emerged from Chicago and New York gangland, jungles every bit as violent as the North Jersey landscape where the crime families ruled in “The Sopranos” – families whose real-life inspirations, notably, got their start during Prohibition. Crafting pro rum-runners wasn’t any more daunting than writing the likes of consigliere Silvio Dante. Per Winters:

“Even with a guy like Al Capone, you’re going to see moments of humanity there. You’re going to see him with his kid or with his brother dying. And even as horrible of a person as he was, you’re going to feel something for him. It was certainly true with Tony Soprano. It’s just incredible how you start to shed tears for people who you otherwise wouldn’t have given two thoughts about.”

Whether by mafia boss having panic attacks or a Chicago gunman teaching his deaf son how to fight, the key to writing scoundrels and knaves across any series, Winters asserts, is tangibility.