
“Once upon a time in America, pleasure became a business.”
The story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early ’70s through the mid ’80s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world that existed there until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market ended the bawdy turbulence of the area.
First Aired: 9/10/2017
Languages: English
Created by: David Simon, George Pelecanos
Type: Scripted
Companies: Blown Deadline Productions
Countries: United States of America


Resuming five years after the culmination of the first season, season two returns to the world of 1977. Disco and punk are in full swing, and police corruption and political tolerance for New York's midtown demimonde is at its height. And the Mafia, the early backer of pornography at the moment when courts declared for its legality, is now seemingly poised to reap great profits.

Season three brings us into the world of 1985, just as VHS overtakes film as the primary medium for porn production and distribution. The lure of the California sunshine, the city's aggressive takeover of commercial sex properties in Times Square and the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic mark the end of an era. With the party of the 1970s winding down, 42nd Street has deteriorated into a hive of uncontrolled violent crime and seedy video stores, making urban renewal seem more unlikely than ever before.
Bobby Dwyer

James Franco
Vincent Martino / Frankie Martino

Maggie Gyllenhaal
Eileen 'Candy' Merrell

Chris Bauer
Bobby Dwyer

Chris Coy
Paul Hendrickson

Lawrence Gilliard Jr.
Chris Alston

Luke Kirby
Gene Goldman

Margarita Levieva
Abigail 'Abby' Parker

Emily Meade
Lori Madison

Michael Rispoli
Rudy Pipilo

Sepideh Moafi
Loretta

Daniel Sauli
Tommy Longo

David Krumholtz
Harvey Wasserman
2021

2015

2015

2021

2014
1980

2014

2014

2007

2015

2016

2015

2015
1994