HBO’s latest attempt to recapture the magic that made The Sopranos a hit may just be the most expensive television show in the world.

According to The New York Post, the pilot episode for Boardwalk Empire has set HBO back $50 million—around five times the price of Lost’s two-hour pilot episode, formerly thought to be the world’s most expensive television episode.

Boardwalk Empire fuses the period style that made AMC’s Mad Men popular with the gangster drama that propelled Sopranos to the top. It will star Steve Buscemi as politician and gangster Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, who reigned over Atlantic City in the 1920s. The series was created by Buscemi’s fellow Sopranos alum Terence Winter and is produced by none other than Martin Scorsese.

Boardwalk Empire is set to debut in late 2010 with a 12-episode season.

You already know about the world’s most expensive sunglasses, but what about prescription glasses? In 1998, a pair of glasses became the most expensive prescription eyeglasses in the world.

What was so special about these glasses? They were one of two pairs of glasses sold by the widow of Buddy Holly and formerly worn by the legendary Father of Rock and Roll himself. The first pair, auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1990, sold for $50,000. The other pair was worn by Holly during the infamous crash that took his life.

That pair spent 22 years in an Iowa sheriff’s office before being sold by Maria Elena Diaz-Holly to the City of Lubbock, Texas, for $80,000. Lubbock, where Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley, is the site of the Buddy Holly Center where the glasses are now on display.

Both pairs were furnished for Holly by Dr. J. Davis Armistead, who recalls that Holly experimented with contact lenses before settling on his iconic glasses.

Chicken is often one of the cheaper meats at the grocery store, but you can still pay a premium price for the poultry if you try hard enough. Bresse chickens, from their namesake area in France, are valued for their gamey flavor and tender flesh while Silkie chickens are valued as show chickens for their almost mammalian plumage. The Sussex chickens offered by Greenfire Farms, however, may be the most expensive chickens in the world.

Sussex chickens are a dual-purpose breed. They’re useful for both their egg-laying capacity—up to 250 eggs per year—and their fat, meaty bodies. As the breed’s name suggests, the Sussex chicken comes from Sussex County in England and only four of the eight different varieties of Sussex chicken are widely available in the US.

Greenfire Farms offers two of the varieties less common in the US, the Silver Sussex and the Coronation Sussex, for a hefty price. The Silver is black with prevalent streaks of white and silver while the Coronation is an almost opalescent white. Greenfire offers both of these bloodlines at $750 for six day-old chicks.

Coronation and Silver Sussex chickens

When the Louisville Slugger used by legendary baller Babe Ruth to hit his first home run at Yankee Stadium in 1923 went up for auction, some feared that the winner might destroy it—either to end the dreaded “Curse of the Bambino” and allow the Red Sox victory in that year’s World Series or to sell pieces of it for profit. Instead, it became the most expensive baseball bat in the world as it sold for $1.3 million.

The bat, which left Ruth’s hands as a prize for a Los Angeles high school batting champion, features an autograph and dedication “To the Boy Home Run King of Los Angeles” and a brass plate that reads “Presented to Victor Orsatti at Manual Arts H.S. by the Los Angeles Evening Herald.” The 46-ounce bat’s model number, 148, is still visible amidst the lathe marks.

During his career, Ruth hit 714 home runs. His mythic batting prowess paid for the original Yankee Stadium—earning it the monicker “The House that Ruth Built”—and filled the 58,000-seat stadium with at least 60,000 fans in its first game, when the Yankees played against the Red Sox.

Speaking of the Red Sox, the Curse of the Bambino was lifted the year of the auction when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 in the 2004 World Series.

What can you carry in the most expensive backpack in the world? From the look of it, you could stuff just about anything you need for a good day’s hike in one of its many pockets.
Leather goods producer Mulholland has made this luxury backpack out of deerskin, a supple but strong leather. The buckles are [...]

In 2005, a couple named Mike and Liz started a blog about a special french fry they’d found at McDonald’s. The fry, which they had dubbed the Lincoln Fry, featured a near perfect profile of the sixteenth president as seen on the common penny. It was also seen in an “amateur” commercial during that year’s [...]

It’s only available at Mélisse in Santa Monica, CA and even then only between October and December. It’s the most expensive macaroni and cheese in the world and it’s a far cry from Velveeta Shells and Cheese.
The decadent dish is just one example of Chef Josiah Citrin’s cuisine, blend of traditional French and modern American [...]

How much would you pay for a tablespoon of dirt? Before you answer, you might want to ask about the quality of the dirt, what nutrients a hungry plant might extract from it. Those, as the world’s most expensive dirt will attest, are the wrong questions to ask. No, you need to know where it’s [...]

BusinessWeek has put together a list of fifty of “The Most Expensive Suburbs to Live in Now” for 2009. The list features the most expensive suburb in each state rated by median home price, median property tax and cost of living, each compared to the state average. Of course, “compared to the state average” doesn’t [...]

In its original form, the word “whisky” meant “water of life.” I’m sure some of you readers out there will agree with that sentiment. Luckily for you, there’s quite a variety of different whiskies (or “whiskeys,” if we’re talking about American or Irish liquors). Check out the most expensive whiskies in these popular varieties.

The Most [...]

Canadian rye whisky doesn’t quite have the prestige of its Scotch cousin, but it still has its moments. One such moment happened at the 2007 Kentucky Derby, when the attending Queen Elizabeth II was presented with the world’s most expensive Canadian whisky.
“Canadian whisky” refers to any whisky that is mashed, distilled and aged at least [...]

Bourbon whiskey, like Champagne, is named after the region from which it comes—Bourbon, Kentucky. Unlike Champagne, however, Bourbon’s production isn’t limited to its home region. While it is still made primarily in Kentucky, Bourbon can be distilled anywhere in the US.
Currently, the most expensive Bourbon is the 16 year old A. H. Hirsch Reserve. This [...]

George Takei and Brad Altman
You’ve probably heard of Proposition 8, the Californian ballot measure that denied gays the right to marry as of November 2008. What you might not know is that the battle over Prop. 8 was the most expensive social issue campaign in US history.
The effect of Proposition 8 was simple—it added a [...]

November 2008 marked the end of what was the most expensive election in US history, which culminated in the election of Democratic nominee Barack Obama. Now, it’s likely true that every presidential election could claim that title until the next one came around—and that will probably continue to be true in 2012—but this last [...]

How much does public transit in your town cost? According to a recent survey by Citizens Taking Action, a transit watchdog group, most Americans pay a basic fare around $1.53. According to the group, Chicago’s public transportation system is the most expensive in the US at $1.50 for bus fare and $2 to ride the [...]

The long anticipated Corvette ZR1 may finally see the light of day in 2009. First unveiled at the 12 Hours of Sebring race in 2005, the car was supposedly the result of GM CEO Rick Wagoner wondering what his Chevrolet designers could do for $100,000. The answer, of course, is the most powerful and most [...]

The price of Super Bowl advertising has steadily increased since the event’s inception in 1967. Forty-two years later, Super Bowl advertising is as popular, if not more so, as the game itself. A thirty second advertising spot during the first Super Bowl cost a nominal $40,000. The same spot during Super Bowl XLII cost $2.7 [...]

You might have heard that the 2008 presidential election was the most expensive election season in the history of the United States. Surprise, surprise—it’s being followed up with the most expensive inauguration.
The ceremony, which President-elect Barack Obama has attempted to make as accessible as possible, is expected to attract 1.5 to 2 million attendees—around three [...]

The world’s most expensive cake may look tasty, but was it? If this glitzy wedding cake’s creators are to be believed, no one ever knew.
Unveiled in 2006 at the Luxury Bridal Show on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, the expensive cake was created by cake designers Nahid La Patisserie Artistique along with jewelers Mimi So. [...]

Broadway theatre has its roots in the very end of the 18th century, when New York’s first theatre companies were formed. Nowadays, Broadway audiences can expect to see a mixture of well known television and movie stars and stage actors who only play bit parts outside of theatre. Considering the salaries commanded by film actors, [...]

Anyone who’s ever read anything about US military spending shouldn’t be surprised that the world’s most expensive aircraft was a Department of Defense project.

Created as part of a secret project in the 1980s, the expensive plane is a design executed with the Soviet Union in mind. The Northrop Grumman ATB (Advanced Technology Bomber) [...]

(Image via The German Car Blog.)
One of the world’s most prestigious car auctions has produced some very impressive figures this year. Part of the famed Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance, Gooding & Company’s auction has set several world records since its inception in 1990. Now it has hosted the auction of the most expensive car ever [...]

If you think “most expensive trailer park” sounds laughable at best, then you need to check out these luxury trail—uhm, mobile home parks in Malibu. Located in the same areas as the multi-million dollar homes of celebrities, these two parks both include homes that sell for over $1 million.
The Paradise Cove mobile home park started [...]

Paintball was originally inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, a short story in which a Russian big-game hunter, bored with hunting animals, turns to hunting humans for sport. Since its inception in 1976, the game has exploded in popularity. Each year, over 10 million people play paintball in the US alone. It’s little [...]

Coffee has a long history dating back, as far as we can tell, to 9th century Ethiopia. The first coffee aficionados, though, weren’t the native peoples. Rather, it was their goats whom they noticed “dancing” after eating certain wild beans. It wasn’t until they reached Arabia, however, that they were first roasted and brewed into [...]