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[Cornballer]

- Deadline: David Simon ’70s Times Square Porn Drama Starring James Franco, Capitol Hill Drama With Carl Bernstein Get HBO Pilot Orders

Ahead of this month’s debut of David Simon’s latest show for HBO, miniseries Show Me A Hero, the pay cable network has put in motion two new potential drama series from The Wire and Treme creator, giving pilot orders to dramas The Deuce starring James Franco, which is set in the Times Square demimonde of the 1970s and 1980s, and a Capitol Hill project, on which Simon is collaborating with veteran journalist Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame. The pilots are set to film back-to-back over the next year. It is unclear whether at least one is guaranteed to go to pilot, but, given Simon’s track record at HBO, that appears likely.

The pilots extends HBO’s 17-year collaboration with Simon and his Blown Deadline Productions. “We are thrilled to continue our longstanding relationship with preeminent producer David Simon, whose keen eye and visceral perspective on today’s socio-economic ills have set him apart from all others,” said HBO programming president Michael Lombardo. “No one else creates with such authenticity, integrity and brilliant realism.”

Written by Simon and long-time collaborator George Pelecanos and directed by Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad), The Deuce, which had been in development for awhile, will be the first to go into production in New York this October. Named for 42nd Street, it follows the story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world that existed in midtown Manhattan until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market all ended the bawdy turbulence.

The Deuce was inspired in part by the career of twin brothers who were players in the Times Square world and became fronts for Mob control of the volatile and lucrative sex industry from its origins. Both will be played by Franco.

“We’re interested in what it means when profit is the primary metric for what we call society,” said Simon. “In that sense, this story is intended as neither prurient nor puritan. It’s about a product, and those human beings who created, sold, profited from and suffered with that product.”

The pilot script is by Simon and Pelecanos, with Richard Price (The Color of Money) also credited on subsequent scripts. Simon, Pelecanos, Price, MacLaren and Franco will serve as executive producers, along with longtime Simon collaborator Nina K. Noble. Marc Henry Johnson (A Huey P. Newton Story), who was instrumental in documenting the story, is a producer.

“With The Deuce, I’m pleased to continue a creative collaboration with David Simon and Nina Noble that goes back nearly 15 years, from The Wire through Treme,” says Pelecanos. “Porn, prostitution, pimps, the Mob, after-hours nightlife, institutional corruption, and New York in its Wild West heyday…it’s a world rich in character, and a fascinating story we’re eager to tell.”

Set in the present-day world of Capitol Hill, the second pilot is described as a detailed examination of partisanship and the influence of money on national governance. Along with Simon and Bernstein, also attached to the project are Ed Burns, Simon’s co-writer and producer on The Wire, William F. Zorzi, former Baltimore Sun political writer who collaborated with Simon on Show Me a Hero, and Noble.

In addition to Show Me a Hero, The Wire and Treme, which he co-created, Simon, a former Baltimore newspaperman, also wrote miniseries The Corner and Generation Kill for HBO.

Giving a creator/filmmaker two simultaneous pilot orders is rare. HBO recently did it with David Fincher for Videosyncrazy and Utopia, the first of which has gone to series but both projects are on hold at the moment.

Franco next is starring in the Hulu limited series 11/22/63.

 

[Broken Joystick]

Franco playing twins in a porn drama sounds like some sort of parody.

 

[ivysaur12]

Franco playing twins in a porn drama sounds like some sort of parody.

It really does.

 

[Tucah]

I will watch anything David Simon makes.

 

[Blader]

If nothing else, I will always love HBO for giving David Simon a reliable platform.

Are these set to be full length shows or more miniseries?

 

[fallengorn]

David Simon on a show about "partisanship and the influence of money on national governance"?

Yes. A thousand times, yes.

 

[Squalor]

Franco playing twins in a porn drama sounds like some sort of parody.

Only truly so if they're/he's banging each other/himself.

 

[Mimosa97]

James Franco ...

Why ...

 

[blackw0lf]

If we had to choose only one I definitely would go with the Capitol Hill show.

 

[dave is ok]

Always good to hear that he's getting money for more shows. Hopefully stuff a little more compelling than Treme was.

When is Show Me a Hero? Next week?

 

[Battersea Power Station]

oh god yass please

 

[El Daniel]

James Franco ...

Why ...

Franco can be good.

 

[BobLoblaw]

I'd go with the political show. He seems to have a knack for that. Of course, it would only further the distrust that people already have for Washington. Still, a light needs to be shone on the corruption/lobbying aspect and it would be worth that alone.

 

[Frog-fu]

Had me at David Simon.

Really looking forward to Show Me a Hero in the meanwhile.

 

[TheOddOne]

I'm down for some porn.

 

[Cornballer]

Here's part of the THR previous interview from June:

Simon acknowledges that he and Pelecanos were hesitant to take on the project when they first heard from one of their Treme location managers, who'd been researching the life of a man who had been one of the mob fronts on 42nd Street during that era. "He said, 'You’ve got to hear the guy’s stories,’" Simon recalls. "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.'”

Curiosity got the best of them, however, and Simon and Pelecanos agreed to meet with the subject. When he and his stories were indeed fascinating, the pair decided to continue exploring that world. As is always the case with Simon, a longtime journalist turned showrunner, that process entailed heavy research.

Still, there were a multitude of other challenges to consider. Simon felt strongly that he didn't want to be sneering at porn while using porn to sell the show, for instance. "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," he explains, adding of the sweet spot: "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."

Though the project has been in the works for some time, executives at HBO had opted to make Show Me a Hero, a miniseries about a housing project in Yonkers, N.Y., Simon's next move. Now, with the latter set to bow in mid-August, network insiders suggest a pilot order for Deuce could be forthcoming. When it's suggested to Simon that the world of '70s-era porn has the potential to be noisier — and thus higher rated — than some of the premises he's tackled in the past, he laughs. "It does," he says, "but I'm sure I'd f— it up."

 

[Paskil]

A David Simon Capitol Hill drama? All over my face.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

Saw porn in the title and thought I'd stop by.

 

[Illithid Dude]

70s porn drama?

i'm in

 

[biosnake20]

If nothing else, I will always love HBO for giving David Simon a reliable platform.

Are these set to be full length shows or more miniseries?

Sounds like full lengths shows.

 

[Valhelm]

David Simon is going to run three shows concurrently? Has this happened before?

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

Porn drama you say?

 

[maquiladora]

Omar cummin

 

[tanooki27]

I'll be on the lookout for the Capitol Hill thing. no one's really nailed a drama there.

 

[Futurematic]

David Simon is going to run three shows concurrently? Has this happened before?

Not concurrently, I imagine. He's just doing the pilots back-to-back, I doubt HBO will pick up both and if they do they'll shoot different times of the year.

So HBO keeps Simon employed purely for reviews, right? And right now their reviews are garbage without GoT level ratings to balance, plus so few new shows Netflix is laughing at them. So as I see it, the failures of HBO means 1-2 new series from David Simon: I am totally cool with that.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Poor David Milch.

David Simon is going to run three shows concurrently? Has this happened before?

Not concurrently, I imagine. He's just doing the pilots back-to-back, I doubt HBO will pick up both and if they do they'll shoot different times of the year.

This, plus 'Show Me a Hero' is a miniseries.

 

[gdt]

Ugh why order both. Just pick one and he'd do the other one after that.

If I had to choose I'd go with the Capitol Hill one. But the porn one has Pelecanos writing on it!

But Capitol Hill has Ed Burns!

Fuck!

 

[WyndhamPrice]

The porn project with James Franco playing twins sounds ridiculous and I want it

 

[dehydratedbabies]

The more TV that we get from David Simon the better.

 

[Summer Haze]

Omar cummin

Lol.

 

[JCtheMC]

Dear HBO, just give him money for that Legacy Of Ashes adaptation he wants to do. Come on. We want it. Just give it to us.

 

[Squalor]

Omar cummin

Cum at the king, you best not miss.

 

[BIGWORM]

Boogie Nights instantly came...to mind.

 

[Ricky_R]

Oh yes! HBO better keep Simon around forever. Has their been any news about Milch cooking something up for HBO as well? Hopefully it takes off.

 

[Squalor]

Oh yes! HBO better keep Simon around forever. Has their being any news about Milch cooking something up for HBO as well? Hopefully it takes off.

His television-exclusivity deal with HBO was extended until 2016. They agreed upon that last year even after HBO passed on his pilot for a show called The Money.

He's apparently still working on a feature-length adaptation of a William Faulkner novel.

I love Deadwood, but that sounds like a terrible idea. Faulker novels don't translate well. The narrator and narrative style are far too important.

 

[Jelly Rajah]

70s porn drama?

i'm in

hell yeah

 

[firehawk12]

Ugh why order both. Just pick one and he'd do the other one after that.

If I had to choose I'd go with the Capitol Hill one. But the porn one has Pelecanos writing on it!

But Capitol Hill has Ed Burns!

Fuck!

Spoiler for The Deuce - your favourite character dies in a tragic manner that exposes the pointless nature of everyday life.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Poor David Milch.

lol poor guy

Ugh why order both. Just pick one and he'd do the other one after that.

If I had to choose I'd go with the Capitol Hill one. But the porn one has Pelecanos writing on it!

But Capitol Hill has Ed Burns!

Fuck!

Pilot order to series order can be a long road at HBO (especially for dramas). Far from any guarantee both of these will be ordered to series.

 

[Ricky_R]

His television-exclusivity deal with HBO was extended until 2016. They agreed upon that last year even after HBO passed on his pilot for a show called The Money.

He's apparently still working on a feature-length adaptation of a William Faulkner novel.

I love Deadwood, but that sounds like a terrible idea. Faulker novels don't translate well. The narrator and narrative style are far too important.

Yeah, read a bit about The Money just now. Sounded pretty cool, and with his writing it could've been great.

Thanks.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Both of these sound amazing.

Go on HBO, greenlight the entire series and keep earning my HBO Nordic subscription

 

[Dan]

James Franco? larrydavidunsure.gif

It's David Simon and company, so those guys will have me interested in anything.

 

[dead souls]

David Simon has never let me down (Homicide, The Corner, The Wire, Generation Kill, Treme, hopefully Show Me A Hero) but James Franco playing twins has me more than a little worried.

Given that these are HBO drama pilots they probably have like a 10% chance of getting ordered to series, and even then they probably wouldn't air until like 2020, so I'm not going to agonize over it or anything.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Maggie Gyllenhaal To Topline HBO Drama Pilot ‘The Deuce’

Maggie Gyllenhaal is set to star opposite James Franco in David Simon’s HBO drama pilot The Deuce. Gyllenhaal also will produce the project, a narrative set in the Times Square demimonde of the 1970s and 1980s.

 

[berzeli]

Maggie Gyllenhaal To Topline HBO Drama Pilot ‘The Deuce’

I loved her in The Honourable Woman (and basically everything else she's been in), so this is great news.

 

[Blader]

Maggie Gyllenhaal To Topline HBO Drama Pilot ‘The Deuce’

First read that as "Maggie Gyllenhaal to go topless," though I guess given the premise that's a possibility too.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

I hope they film in time square since I work right there.

And the capitol hill one looks like an non idealistically take on the west wing. I really hope it focuses on staffers a lot more and not just the funny bits like veep but their sociopathic desire to advance. Their vices, and complete moral vapidity.

 

[biosnake20]

Maggie Gyllenhaal To Topline HBO Drama Pilot ‘The Deuce’

nice

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I loved her in The Honourable Woman (and basically everything else she's been in), so this is great news.

She's one of those actresses who is great in everything she's in.

 

[Jarmel]

The Capitol Hill one is probably going to be depressing beyond all belief.

 

[Peru]

I

And the capitol hill one looks like an non idealistically take on the west wing. I really hope it focuses on staffers a lot more and not just the funny bits like veep but their sociopathic desire to advance. Their vices, and complete moral vapidity.

You just described veep