New Feature! Dr. Lizardo's TV Club! "The Deuce" Premiers Tonight (9/10/17) on HBO

Doc here, a man who some say knows your reality is already half video hallucination. If you're not careful, it will become TOTAL hallucination. You'll have to learn to live in a very strange new world.

Welcome to the newest regular feature here at The Journal of Adult Theaters. The title is "Dr. Lizardo's TV Club", and in it, we will watch and then discuss episodes of a brand new series debuting on HBO Sunday night, September 10th, 2017.  That series is "The Deuce". 

"The Deuce" is the first mainstream series that tackles the adult theater and Golden Age porn scene as elements of it's dramatization. In future installments of "TV Club", we will get into the research done by it's stars to bring this/our scene authenticity. 

Let's start with the official trailer for "The Deuce", shall we?

Pretty interesting, right? The New York City of Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and "Mean Streets", and Michael Winner's "Death Wish". This is not your Disney corporate theater district of the present. This was 1972, the birth of the porn industry and the genesis of the Golden Age of porn theaters & movies.  

One of the reasons I am so excited for "The Deuce" is the work behind the scenes by my good friends at "The Rialto Report", the go-to resource for insight on the Golden Age of adult film in New York City, as well as on the West Coast. Their fantastic podcasts featuring adult stars of the past are required listening for enthusiasts of this thing of ours. I don't miss a podcast, and you shouldn't either. Professionally produced as well as anything you might hear on NPR, with the major exception that the content is a tad juicier, with the occasional mention of anal sex. 

The Rialto Report's association with "The Deuce" was in the role as consultant, and no one knows that rich history better than Ashley West, April Hall, and the other terrific contributors to their site.  And I for one cannot wait to see their DNA in the details of series. Whatever credit they get in the show will not be enough in my opinion. 

(Please note: Follow The Rialto Report on Twitter @TheRialtoReport  and on Facebook )

Where was The Deuce?  Well kids, The Duece refers to 42nd Street between 6th and 8th Avenues in New York City. Here is a diagram of the 18 adult and grindhouse theaters on The Deuce in the 70's & the 80's:

"The Deuce"

Now, you may be asking yourself, "I wonder if Doc ever ventured to The Deuce?"  The answer is yes and no.

As a young Lizardo in my early 20's, I found myself on The Deuce along with some co-workers from the summer job I had just outside The City. It was a Wednesday afternoon in mid-July, 1983 and it was Africa-hot. We were driving in my co-worker's blue Chevy Citation, and The Deuce was in the midst of it's most sleazy time.  We did not get out of that Chevy unfortunately, as it was too rough a scene for 4 college students fresh from the Catskills. But looking back, I wish we did. Badly!

OK, history lesson is over.  It's time to watch some TV with our new TV Club.  At 9pm ET, 8pm CT, HBO  broadcasts Episode 1 of "The Deuce". I'll give you some feedback, and I welcome your's.  Please submit your reviews to me directly at emiliolizardo1@gmail.com  , and I'll publish the best of them. 

Something tells me we will have a lot to talk about!

Thanks to you, the good readers of The Journal, along with the awesome "The Rialto Report", for the chance to step back in time when porn was king.

Thanks,

Doc