Thanks to Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire and Treme, writer and producer David Simon has had a seriously successful streak with HBO. His next project, the mini-series Show Me a Hero, is currently shooting for the network, and now he's announced that its follow-up will be a series about the porn industry.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Simon and his partner George Pelecanos are currently working on a new HBO series called The Deuce. The show follows the '70s and '80s rise of the porn industry in New York City's Times Square. The rise of HIV, cocaine abuse and the real estate market are also themes in the show.
Speaking with THR, Simon said the story was presented to him by a Treme location manager who was researching a New York mobster from that era. Simon says he and Pelecanos were hesitant to take it on. "George and I looked at each other and said, 'I don't wanna make a porn show.… I'm married with kids and lawn furniture. I don't want to go there, man. That's dark.'"
He also said that he wanted to make sure the show's porn was handled correctly so that the show doesn't come across as exploitative. "You don't want to make porn to critique porn because that would be a venal journey — nor do you want to look down on people because that also is fairly dishonest.... You really have to land it in such a way where it's a story about people and it's a story about markets — about the moment where something became legal and profitable and what happens to people in that environment when markets prevail."
The Deuce has not yet been picked up by HBO. While we have a feeling it's something they won't be able to resist, they've proven to be a little picky of late having recently shut down David Fincher's music video series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Simon and his partner George Pelecanos are currently working on a new HBO series called The Deuce. The show follows the '70s and '80s rise of the porn industry in New York City's Times Square. The rise of HIV, cocaine abuse and the real estate market are also themes in the show.
Speaking with THR, Simon said the story was presented to him by a Treme location manager who was researching a New York mobster from that era. Simon says he and Pelecanos were hesitant to take it on. "George and I looked at each other and said, 'I don't wanna make a porn show.… I'm married with kids and lawn furniture. I don't want to go there, man. That's dark.'"
He also said that he wanted to make sure the show's porn was handled correctly so that the show doesn't come across as exploitative. "You don't want to make porn to critique porn because that would be a venal journey — nor do you want to look down on people because that also is fairly dishonest.... You really have to land it in such a way where it's a story about people and it's a story about markets — about the moment where something became legal and profitable and what happens to people in that environment when markets prevail."
The Deuce has not yet been picked up by HBO. While we have a feeling it's something they won't be able to resist, they've proven to be a little picky of late having recently shut down David Fincher's music video series.