The True Stories Behind HBO's Risqué New Drama, The Deuce

With its throngs of tourists and gigantic screens blaring advertisements, Times Square has become a symbol of the bustle and color and non-stop energy of New York City. Yet the Times Square depicted in HBO’s new drama The Deuce, set during the rise of the porn industry in ‘70s Manhattan, bears no resemblance to the Midtown region that you see each year for the New Year’s Eve ball drop.

The Times Square of The Deuce comes alive at nighttime. Rows of theaters playing adult films, not Broadway shows, light up the sidewalks. Drivers slow down and make deals with prostitutes from the window. Drugs are sold on every corner. What you’re seeing in The Deuce really is how things were in the ‘70s. As Michelle MacLaren, who directed the pilot episode, assured in The Daily Beast, “Every poster and sign in this pilot is accurate.”

The set is accurate, but how many of the characters sitting side-by-side in Vincent Martino's (James Franco) Times Square bar are actually based off real people? Let's find out.