Well sheeeeit. HBO and David Simon are once again getting in to bed together for a new show, and this time, James Franco is jumping in with them.

Variety is reporting that the new drama, The Deuce, will tell a story about the growth of the porn industry in New York City’s Time Square in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The show will examine 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.”

Franco will star on the show, but he will actually play two parts: real life twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino, who were heavily involved with the porn scene in New York, and who worked as covers for the Mob (which controlled New York’s porn game at the time). Maggie Gyllenhaal will co-star opposite Franco as Candy, a Times Square hooker that gets involved in porn.

1970s New York is proving quite the fertile ground for HBO these days. Martin Scorsese’s ’70s rock n’ roll series Vinyl is set to debut on the network next month.

Simon co-wrote The Deuce with George Pelecanos. Both will serve as executive producers alongside Franco and Nina Noble, who has worked with Simon in the past on Treme and The Wire. It is unknown at this time how many episodes the first season will run. Simon’s last project with the network was the mini-series Show Me A Hero, which starred Oscar Isaac.

What’s your favorite David Simon show? Tell us in the comments below.

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HT: Variety
Image: Hulu