‘The Deuce’ Earns a Second Season from HBO

The Deuce star James Franco
James Franco stars in HBO’s ‘The Deuce’ (Photo by Paul Schiraldi)

HBO has given an early season two renewal order to The Deuce, the new dramatic series from Treme and The Wire‘s George Pelecanos and David Simon. Season one stars James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, with Gary Carr, Margarita Levieva, Lawrence Gilliard, Jr, Dominique Fishback, Emily Meade, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Chris Bauer, Chris Coy, Natalie Paul, and Michael Rispoli co-starring. Michelle MacLaren directed the first and last episodes and serves as an executive producer.

Season one’s eight episode run kicked off on September 10, 2017.


“We are thrilled to continue our creative collaboration with master storytellers David Simon and George Pelecanos,” stated HBO Programming President Casey Bloys, announcing the renewal. “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.”

“Everyone involved with this project is genuinely grateful to HBO for the chance to take the narrative where it needs to go,” added 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.”

“Many thanks to HBO, our longtime partners, who’ve now given us the opportunity to continue to tell this compelling story,” said Pelecanos. “We’re ready to get back to work with our amazing cast and crew.”

The Plot: 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.