The Deuce
GrittyRaw, unglamorous realism in both look and subject matter.This show: 10/10Big city lifeThe metropolis itself as a character.This show: 9/10Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 9/10Sexually explicitFrank sexual content.This show: 8/10NaturalisticUnderstated, lifelike performances and look.This show: 8/10Slow burnDeliberate pacing where the payoffs are earned over long stretches.This show: 8/10Social commentaryDeliberate critique of how society works.This show: 8/10Criminal underworldOrganized crime, gangs and the criminal life seen from the inside.This show: 8/10
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Starring
James FrancoMaggie GyllenhaalLawrence Gilliard Jr.Margarita LevievaEmily MeadeDaniel Sauli
Written by
George PelecanosDavid Simon
Starring
James FrancoMaggie GyllenhaalLawrence Gilliard Jr.Margarita LevievaEmily MeadeDaniel Sauli
Written by
George PelecanosDavid Simon
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
The Deuce Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 8.4 | ||
| S2 | 8.1 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 8.6 | |
| S3 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 9.1 |
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About
"A patient, unglamorous history of American sleaze"
Set in 1970s New York, this drama follows the sex workers, bar owners, and mobsters around Times Square as street prostitution curdles into the birth of the legal porn industry, then tracks that world across two later decades. It's a slow-burn, novelistic show built on institutional detail rather than plot twists, more interested in economics and exploitation than titillation. James Franco plays dual roles as hustling twin brothers, while Maggie Gyllenhaal anchors the show as a sex worker who becomes a filmmaker. It rewards patience with a rich, lived-in sense of place and people.
Watch it for
the meticulous, unsentimental portrait of an industry and city changing over decades.
Maybe skip if
you want fast plotting rather than slow, sociological world-building.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12017
8.111K88h 42m
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Season 22018
8.17K99h 41m
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.
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Season 32019
8.36K88h 44m
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.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
James Franco Frankie Martino, Vincent Martino
Maggie Gyllenhaal Eileen 'Candy Renee' Merrell
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. Chris Alston
Margarita Levieva Abigail 'Abby' Parker
Emily Meade Sarah 'Lori Madison'
Daniel Sauli Tommy Longo
Chris Bauer Bobby Dwyer
Chris Coy Paul Hendrickson
Michael Rispoli Rudy Pipilo
David Krumholtz Harvey Wasserman
Crew
George Pelecanos
David Simon
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