ANYONE who's visited New York during the past 25 years will doubtless have felt slightly let down by the fact that most of it no longer resembles the gritty urban jungle documented in classic movies like Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver and The Warriors.
However, next week Sky Atlantic will be reminding us of the bad old days before so-called 'Disneyfication' transformed Times Square into a corporate-sponsored tourist trap.
Created by David Simon (The Wire, Treme) and regular collaborator crime writer George Pelecanos, The Deuce follows the rise of Mob-sponsored 'porn culture' in New York from the early 1970s through to the mid-1980s.
The show stars James Franco as a pair of twins, struggling 42nd Street publican Vincent Martino and his debt-riddled deadbeat brother, Frankie, plus Maggie Gyllenhaal as streetwise streetwalker Candy who refuses to be pimped by the likes of CC (Gary Carr) and Larry Brown (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and sees the budding porno industry as a possible escape from prostitution.
Already renewed for a second series, this televisual timewarp is a reminder of simpler, sleazier times and their lingering cultural impact.
:: The Deuce starts Tuesday September 26 at 10pm on Sky Atlantic.
