Following early critical raves, HBO has renewed the drama series The Deuce for a second season, it was announced today by Casey Bloys, president, HBO Programming.
The series was created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, who previously collaborated on the HBO series The Wire and Treme.
“We are thrilled to continue our creative collaboration with master storytellers David Simon and George Pelecanos,” said Bloys. “Their unique gift for immersing the audience in their dark and edgy worlds brings a brilliant verisimilitude unlike any other. With the remarkably talented Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco leading an exceptional cast, we look forward to delving deeper as this captivating story evolves.”
Titled after the local slang for New York’s fabled 42nd Street and starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Deuce began its eight-episode season Sunday, Sept. 10.
The show chronicles the rise of the porn culture in New York from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world of the sex trade from the moment when both a liberalizing cultural revolution in American sexuality and new legal definitions of obscenity created a billion-dollar industry that is now an elemental component of the American cultural landscape.
It follows a cast of barkeeps, prostitutes, pimps, police and nightlife denizens as they swirl through a world of sex, crime, high times and violence, and the porn business begins its climb from Mafia-backed massage parlors and film labs to legitimacy and cultural permanence.
“Everyone involved with this project is genuinely grateful to HBO for the chance to take the narrative where it needs to go,” says Simon. “We knew the theme and purpose of the story, but there are many people in the entertainment industry who might not have it told, or worse, would have told it for the wrong reasons. HBO is a serious outfit. And they don’t scare.”
**Photo courtesy of HBO**