As HBO’s new telecommunications overlords figure out how to mess with a good thing, the premium-cable network is over here conducting the kind of business that earned it the reputation that got AT&T’s attention in the first place.
One day after the well-received debut of Sharp Objects, HBO has shared the premiere date for season two of The Deuce, David Simon and George Pelecanos’ engrossing series about the rise and legalization of the porn industry in 1970s New York.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is prominently displayed on the promo art, and with good reason—her performance as the enterprising Candy, a sex worker in search of greater agency, is one of the highlights of the show. Not featured is James Franco, who plays twin brothers Vincent and Frankie. Though five women accused Franco of sexual misconduct back in January, Simon and HBO confirmed the actor would continue on the show because there was “no complainant or complaint or any awareness of any incident of concern involving Mr. Franco” on the set of The Deuce.
It also looks like there will be a bit of a time jump, as the new season takes place in 1978, and promises “punk, disco and porn.” ’78 was the year of the last Sex Pistols show (until their reunion in 1996), Van Halen’s self-titled debut, as well as the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hears Club Band and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Now, we have no idea how those touchstones fit together or if they’ll be a part of the new season at all, but it’s clear that year was a mixed bag.