Hm... yeah, I get that (not the part about Boardwalk Empire, haven't seen that yet). Most people in BB are definitely miserable!
I liked BB a lot, especially on a second watch through many years later, but the main reason is probably just that I can understand why each character behaves the way they do - the writing is consistently "realistic" in a manner I haven't really seen anywhere else with a comparable length.

Ist das gerade echt ein unironisches "das Gesetz verbietet den Armen und den Reichen gleichermaßen unter Brücken zu schlafen"?