Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy
    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to The Business

    The Business

    In ‘The Deuce,’ David Simon follows the money of the porn industry

    When David Simon started shopping his new show The Deuce--about the rise and legalization of the porn industry--he quickly realized a lot of networks didn’t quite grasp his seriousness of purpose. The creator of The Wire and Treme tells us how The Deuce ended up back at his longtime TV home, HBO, and why he ended up making a show about porn in the first place.

    • rss
    Download MP3
    • Share
    By Kim Masters • Sep 8, 2017 • 28m Listen

    Writer-producer David Simon has a long history with HBO. He created Treme, Show Me a Hero, and the immortal series The Wire. Now he’s back with a new drama The Deuce. The show focuses on the rise of the pornography industry in early 1970’s Manhattan. Given the subject matter, it’s no surprise that there’s a lot of sex, but Simon didn’t want those scenes to be sexy. He tells us about walking the tricky line of making a show about porn, that’s not porn.

    Photo: Writer-producer David Simon. Courtesy of HBO.

    In this episode

    2 stories
    1. 0:52

      Hollywood news banter

      Richard Rushfield, creator of The Ankler, joins Kim Masters to discuss top entertainment news stories of the week.

      Read the story
      6 min
    2. 7:08

      David Simon on ‘The Deuce’

      Writer-producer David Simon’s new HBO series The Deuce  begins in early 1970’s Times Square, then a seamy part of New York that was to become the birthplace of the modern pornography industry.

      Read the story
      21 min
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kim Masters

      partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kaitlin Parker

      Producer, 'The Business' and 'Hollywood Breakdown'

      CultureEntertainmentArts

    In this episode

    2 stories
    1. 0:526 min

      Hollywood news banter

    2. 7:0821 min

      David Simon on ‘The Deuce’

    Back to The Business