Premise Versus Plot

Caught the premiere of HBO's The Deuce, a drama created by David Simon and George Pelecanos of The Wire.

New York City, 1971.  42nd Street.  It's dirty, drug-infested and crime-ridden. (I wasn't there then, but I've seen enough movies to know.) Vinnie Martino has trouble making ends meet.  From Brooklyn, he works at a couple bars (I think), sells drugs (or maybe just gives them away--I don't recall any money changing hands) and owes a large gambling debt--not his own, but that of his twin brother, Frankie.  His wife is sleeping around, but so is Vinnie, who leaves his family to live in a cheap hotel.

Vinnie is the central character, if there is one, but there are also a bunch of pimps and prostitutes, and we spend a lot of time in their company, learning how the business works.  There's Lori, from Minnesota, who's comes into town looking to be a hooker and gets put on the street pretty quickly by C.C., though his other earner, Ashley, is jealous.  And there's Candy, a rare prostitute who doesn't have a man to handle her career.

There's also Abby, a smart NYU student who's arrested for trying to buy speed. Ultimately, the officer let's her go--as was his plan so he could hook up with her--and they go to Vinnie's bar where she and Vinnie click.  Later, Abby decides to leave school, though what she'll do next isn't entirely clear (presumably it'll have something to do with Vinnie).

There's a fair amount of well-done dialogue, often in street language (and, this being HBO, plenty of nudity).  But while things are happening, overall, it's not clear what the story is about.  The Wire had a large setting--Baltimore--but had a focus (especially in the beginning) on a police unit trying to infiltrate the drug world.

So far The Deuce has a milieu.  But it'll need more than that to hold interest. I've read the show is about the growing porn industry of the era. Perhaps it will be, but it isn't yet.

Still, The Deuce is colorful enough to keep watching.  The actors include James Franco (as the twin brothers), Maggie Gyllenhaal and Zoe Kazan.  And as the creepy cop, Don Harvey--an old friend of mine from college. Don has played creepy cops before.  I wonder if he's getting typecast.

I also caught the new Seth MacFarlane show on Fox, The Orville.  It's set in the future and if you turned down the sound, you'd think it's a new Star Trek series.

MacFarlane, who created Family Guy, stars as Ed Mercer, a guy who catches his wife Kelly (Adrianna Palicki) cheating with an alien.  It knocks him for a loop, and off his career track. A year later, he manages to get what he's always wanted--the captaincy of a starship--but it's a midlevel cruiser not meant for the most meaningful mission.

He has a crew made up of a mix of genders, races and species.  The big twist is the XO assigned Ed turns out to be his ex-wife--she wants to make it up to him but he isn't having it. (It's no surprise of course because Palicki is a name so she had to figure in the story.)

Each of the crew has clearly defined characteristics but none really stand out in the pilot, except for Malloy (Scott Grimes), the helmsman who's also Ed's best friend.  Unfortunately, what stands out is he's a bit of a jerk.

The jokes are so-so--some might work better when done as an aside in a cartoon, which is MacFarlane's specialty.  But somehow, as part of a plot that we're supposed to be taking somewhat seriously, they don't quite play.  And the action is, so far, not that compelling.

But I like sf, so I'll give it another chance to see if it hits a groove.  But it better hit warp speed soon. (A different show on Fox that is truly funny but takes its plot seriously is Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  Admittedly, that's a straight half-hour sitcom, while The Orville is a different creature.)