Though it’s still early days for HBO’s newest drama The Deuce, the network recently announced that it has decided to renew the series for a second season. The Deuce has managed to rack up a significant amount of praise, and HBO has taken note. Impressively, The Deuce only premiered back on September 10th, and in less than 10 days following its first episode, the show has secured a second season.
Set in Manhattan during the early 1970s, The Deuce is titled after the city’s local name for its infamous 42nd Street and follows the sex industry and porn culture of the time. The drama stars James Franco as twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino as well as Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Candy Merrell.
Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming, recently spoke about why HBO had decided to move forward with another season of The Deuce. “We are thrilled to continue our creative collaboration with master storytellers David Simon and George Pelecanos,” he said. “Their unique gift for immersing the audience in their dark and edgy worlds brings a brilliant verisimilitude unlike any other.”
After the news of his show’s renewal, executive producer David Simon spoke with gratitude and excitement over continuing his work with HBO. “Everyone involved with this project is genuinely grateful to HBO for the chance to take the narrative where it needs to go,” said 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.”
The Deuce has received some serious praise from a wide variety of TV and culture critics. The New Yorker has called it “a clear-eyed portrait of lost universe of Manhattan decadence, neither sentimental and glamorizing nor disapproving and didactic”, while The Los Angeles Times has asserted The Deuce could be HBO’s next great drama, akin to The Sopranos or The Wire.
New episodes of The Deuce air Sundays at 9pm EST on HBO.