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David Simon's '70s Times Square Porn Project May Come To HBO
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 17, 2015
Modified Jun 17, 2015
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 17, 2015
Modified Jun 17, 2015
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A porn shop with cinema and live shows in Times Square, 1975. (Getty)
As Baz Luhrmann prepares his 1970s South Bronx show for Netflix, David Simon will head to Midtown, for an HBO show focusing on 1970s Times Square.
While the deal isn't final yet, if it moves forward we'll be getting a show specifically about the porn industry, titled The Deuce. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it "will chronicle the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s. Also explored: the rough-and-tumble world that existed in midtown Manhattan until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and a rejuvenated real estate market ended the bawdy turbulence."
1980s Times Square (Photos by Mitch O'Connor)
Simon has teamed up with George Pelecanos for the project, and says it started when they heard of "a man who had been one of the mob fronts on 42nd Street during that era," and had some stories to share. This eventually led to heavy research, and the idea to focus on the porn industry... but don't expect much of a peep show. He says, "You really have to land it in such a way where it’s a story about people... about the moment where something became legal and profitable and what happens to people in that environment when markets prevail."
More photos of 1970s Times Square here, and 1980s here.
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1980s
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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