‘The Wire’ Creator to Develop HBO Series on the Early Porn Industry

Sometimes two already great things can combine into a spectacular one. Do you know what happens when you merge the writing talents of the mastermind behind one of the greatest shows of the golden age of television, with the sordid and exciting story of the golden age of porn?

If you guessed “a BaDoink writer gets an unstoppable entertainment-based boner”, you got it right!

You see, David Simon, creator of the legendary show The Wire — and to a lesser degree of greatness, the also enjoyable Treme — has announced that he and his frequent collaborator George Pelecanos are currently in development of a show called The Deuce, which will chronicle the legalization and rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early 70s through the mid-80s. HBO still needs to pick up the project to make it happen, but considering the network’s penchant for nudity, mob-linked businesses and Simon’s proven talents, it looks pretty damn likely they will.

Simon and Pelecanos originally heard of the project from one of Treme’s location managers, who had been researching one of the 42nd Street mob fronts of the time. The racy topic made family man Simon a bit hesitant at first. “[The location manager] said, ‘You’ve got to hear the guy’s stories,’” Simon told the Hollywood Reporter. “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.’”

Interesting choice of words from a man who brought us the cold-hearted world of Baltimore’s inner-city drug empire.

Simon and Pelecanos met with the guy and were indeed fascinated with the stories he had to tell, which is an amazing sign considering Simon’s well-known extensive journalistic research process, and his ability to create ensemble pieces that cover a broad demographic spectrum.

Simon wants to be careful and respectful of the subject, understanding that people tend to have preconceptions about the adult industry.

“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 explained. “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.”

HBO is already in production of a Simon-ran miniseries called Show Me a Hero — which, by the way, looks wonderful on paper. After that wraps up in Mid-August, network insiders expect HBO to order the pilot for The Deuce.

Top image: legendary 70s porn icon John Holmes.