bigguy-03763 great gritty series but--as someone who lived thru the period most of the dialogue and visuals were on point and represent the seventies except two big errors-referring to saving an overdose victim thru narcan- :narcan---referring to saving an overdose victim thru use of narcan. while it is true narcan was approved for opiate overdose in 1971 it was not used to any degree until at least the ninties.And was not well known until recently.guitar hero-- character (Abby I believe) refers to a band in the bar being "better than that guitar hero s**t" when the game was not published until 2005.sorry to be nit picky but kind of spoiled the period piece aspect for me for those episodes

Falconeer This HBO production really pushes the envelope with the explicit sex, but anyone familiar with cinema of that time, knows it is just keeping things authentic. Dark, gritty, sometimes even disgusting reenactment of the time in New York City history that will never be repeated, "The Deuce" follows the lives of the pimps and prostitutes who inhabited the Times Square scene of the Golden 1970's. If you were there, this is surely a nostalgia trip, and if you were too young, or too sheltered to have been there, you might find it to be merely seedy, and even horrifying. Whoever was in charge of art direction deserves high praise for recreating this look, in a city that has changed so much since then that it is barely recognizable. The filmmakers had to travel up to Washington Heights to find an area that still has this "old New York" look, and they really succeeded in bringing 42nd Street (the Deuce) back to life. Performances are all around very good, with Maggie Gyllynhal a particular standout as the independent hooker, living a double life, who refuses to take on a Pimp, and later finds out why having a man on the street can come in handy. James Franco admittedly hogs up more screen time than necessary, casting himself as identical twin brothers working in a seedy Midtown bar, but he is still good in the dual role. I must admit that it's a breath of fresh air to see how people interacted with each other before cellphones turned everyone into lobotomized zombies. People back then actually connected with each on a human, physical level back then, before phones and internet took that away. It shows that in certain ways, we have declined as a culture. "The Duece" is a good show, but really is intended for an adult audience. The clothes, the hairstyles, the cars, the music, and the lingo of the 70's will really bring you back to the era that is now just a memory..

leestansfield Halfway through the fifth episode, and I don't think I'm going to finish it.The series hasn't gone anywhere since the pilot. There's no real story arc or interesting conflicts, so it's not like you're left wanting to know what's going to happen next. There are plenty of likable characters (Gyllenhaal not being one of them) and some slick dialogue, but without any real plot it's not enough to sustain interest. Unless you want to turn every penis sighting into a drinking game.

Paul Creeden I lived in Spanish Harlem in the period of this series. As a new college grad, recently a dental school drop out, I ventured to Oz. I walked the length and breadth of Manhattan in my wing-tip shoes. I couldn't find work. I was laughed out of clothing stores where I applied for sales jobs by gay clerks who correctly judged me as a provincial. Yes, it was a tough town.I partook of 42nd Street entertainments occasionally. Times Square and 42nd Street were shabby and inhabited by street people of every sort. The vibe was similar to what we can experience today in large cities of Africa, South America and South East Asia. Why? Because Manhattan then was a place where run-down housing was cheap. Hordes of disenfranchised young people fled there from every corner of America. The false promise of success drew them. Yet the aristocracy still ruled and exploited them. This series has captured the mood of 42nd Street and Times Square of that time. It has even brought back to me some of the smells of that district. It was pungent with cigarette smoke, burned grease from shabby diners, cheap perfume, and disinfectant. Cars spewed unfiltered pollution. Cabs honked incessantly. Loud voices pierced the din. Wary tourists gawked and skittered.I appreciate the show's avoidance of retrospective political correctness. Hookers, pimps and corrupt cops were not gentile. Perhaps the show softens them all a bit, but the basic content is accurate. As a young gay man of a politically aware nature, I lived the experience of being hunted by crooked cops and exploited by mob venues. I winced when James Franco first appeared as identical twins in the pilot. I doubted the show's ability to pull this off, but it has remarkably well. Maggie Gyllenhaal does an exemplary job as an aging prostitute, independent of the pimp patriarchy. Her character exposes the underside of pre-feminist independence for women of the 1950's and 1960's. While Katherine Hepburn was playing upper class women of stature, the reality on the ground was quite different, especially for working-class women and women of color.This is the kind of programming which might save channels like HBO in an age of increased streaming competition. I place it on a tier with Showtime's "Ray Donovan". Gritty drama with suspense and good character development (writing) seldom fail.