Now that we've had a day to nurse that New Year's hangover and tidy up a bit, it's time to get cracking on 2011. If your resolutions this year run along the lines of drinking less and eating healthier, you'll find inspiration along with the entertainment in programmes premiering on television this week.
In the much-anticipated American historical drama Boardwalk Empire (HBO; Thursdays at 9pm), drinking don'ts far outweigh the dos. But that's what makes it so much fun to watch, as we ponder the naivete - or insanity - of prohibition. The ban on alcohol in the United States, which lasted from 1919 to 1933, unleashed an era of bootlegging and organised crime, known as the Roaring 20s.
Boardwalk Empire picks up as prohibition is rung in. Main character Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson (Steve Buscemi; The Sopranos), based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson, is equally at home giving touching speeches at ladies' church groups as he is in smoky salons amid gambling and prostitution. As Atlantic City and County's corrupt treasurer, Thompson is able to leverage his civic popularity for personal gain at the outset of the liquor ban. With enforcers on both sides of the law, Thompson sets to expanding his underground empire, by courting kingpins in Chicago and New York such as Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano - other real-life mobsters. Visually a boozy love letter to Atlantic City in its heyday, Boardwalk Empire is at heart a study of influential men who don't let the law get in the way of business and pleasure.
Much like the characters it portrays, the series is preceded by a certain notoriety. Its executive producer is gangster specialist Martin Scorsese. The Hollywood legend directed the first episode himself and, in the process, set a new record for money spent on the production of a single episode for television - a whopping US$50 million, according to the New York Post.
Now ... what were we talking about? Oh, right, moderation.
Britain's baby-faced chef-activist, Jamie Oliver (above), is at it again, continuing his real-food crusade in Jamie's Food Revolution (TLC; Thursdays at 7pm). Bolstered by his success in improving school dinners and overall awareness towards better eating in Britain, Oliver is crossing the pond to deal with obesity in the US. His landing point is the West Virginian town of Huntington, where first-graders can't identify fresh tomato and the rate of obesity-related early deaths is among the highest in the country.
