TopPodcast.com
Menu
  • Home
  • Top Charts
  • Top Networks
  • Top Apps
  • Top Independents
  • Top Podfluencers
  • Top Picks
    • Top Business Podcasts
    • Top True Crime Podcasts
    • Top Finance Podcasts
    • Top Comedy Podcasts
    • Top Music Podcasts
    • Top Womens Podcasts
    • Top Kids Podcasts
    • Top Sports Podcasts
    • Top News Podcasts
    • Top Tech Podcasts
    • Top Crypto Podcasts
    • Top Entrepreneurial Podcasts
    • Top Fantasy Sports Podcasts
    • Top Political Podcasts
    • Top Science Podcasts
    • Top Self Help Podcasts
    • Top Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Top Stocks Podcasts
  • Podcast News
  • About Us
  • Podcast Advertising
  • Contact
Not in our directory?
Add Show Here
Podcast Equipment
Center

toppodcastlogoOur TOPPODCAST Picks

  • Comedy
  • Crypto
  • Sports
  • News
  • Politics
  • True Crime
  • Business
  • Finance

Follow Us

toppodcastlogoStay Connected

    View Top 200 Chart
    Back to Rankings Page
    TV & Film

    Terrific City

    TERRIFIC CITY is a podcast on the city and screen life of 1970s America, by journalist and author Melissa Gira Grant and filmmaker Cheyenne Picardo. It is made in New York City.

    Advertise
    • Apple Podcasts
    • Google Play
    • Spotify
    Latest Episodes:
    Goodbye City (Times Square Episode 8) Nov 07, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne say so long to The Deuce. We revisit Serpico, the film and the man, whose life became a myth borne from the 1970s. Our special guest is award-winning filmmaker Shine Louise Houston, founder of queer porn studio Pink & White Productions, on how 70s film influences her work today.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    no mourning for Ruby / "When someone shows you who they are, believe them" / #SayHerName / making Candy complicit in the disposability of other sex workers / "the tricks of the trade" / despondently eating a slice of pie / Deep Throat as letdown / "representation" is a cop-out / listener mail from Matthew / Shine Louise Houston / 70s porno chic vs 90s porno chic / Serpico / extra: Franco's porn thing / call us! / become a patron / so long

    Further reading and viewing

    • "Mobsters Skim New York City Sex Industry Profits," New York Times, July 27, 1977 (online archive)
    • "4 Groups Are Key Landlords For Midtown Sex Industry," New York Times, July 10, 1977 (online archive)

    • "The Erasure of Maya Angelou’s Sex Work History," Peechington Marie, Tits and Sass

    • Hustling. Prostitution in Our Wide Open Society, Gail Sheehy; 1973

      • New York Times review (online archive)

    • Dancer From the Dance, Andrew Holleran; 1978

      • Interview with Andrew Holleran; 2015

    Jenny Holzer

    Jenny Holzer

    • Snapshot, d. Shine Louise Houston; 2016
    • Blow-up, d. Michelangelo Antonioni;1966
    • Score, Radley Metzer; 1974
    Snapshot, Shine Louise Houston

    Snapshot, Shine Louise Houston

    Deep Throat, Gerard Damiano

    Deep Throat, Gerard Damiano

    “Mr. Lindsay and Commissioner Murphy spoke briefly with the patrolman, Frank Serpico, as he lay on a bed on the third floor of the cluttered, noisy hospital, but they reported he was too weak to answer. “He is a brave man,” Mayor Lindsay said, “and he deserves the highest praise.””
    — The Mayor Visits A Very Brave Man, New York Times, February 5, 1971
    Serpico, 1973

    Serpico, 1973

    Frank Serpico, 2017

    Frank Serpico, 2017

    • Serpico, d. Sidney Lumet; 1973
    • Frank Serpico, d. Antonino D'Ambrosio; 2017 (trailer)
    • "Former NYPD Detective Frank Serpico reflects on Knapp Commission, exposing police corruption and today's brutality issues," New York Daily News (online archive)
    • "The Police Are Still Out of Control. I should know.," Frank Serpico, POLITICO; 2014 (online)
    • Kink, d. Christina Voros; 2013 (trailer, featuring Franco)
    • Cruising, d. William Friedkin; 1980 (trailer)
    • Interior Leather Bar, d. James Franco, Travis Matthews; 2013 (trailer)
    • Mansfield 66/67, d. P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes; 2017 (trailer)
    Jenny Holzer

    Jenny Holzer

    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "One More Tomorrow," Henry Gross
    • "Four Strong Winds," Jim Dawson


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    TERRIFIC CITY is 100% listener-supported. Become our patron and help us make more seasons.

    Like Nobody Knows The Rules (Times Square Episode 7) Oct 27, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne line up everyone making money off the sex trade, including the landlords. And we expose the connection of art film/porn film obscenity prosecutions, with a look at Flaming Creatures. Our special guest is Jeremiah Moss, author of Vanishing New York and the long-running blog of the same name.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    The mob's landlords / Mayor Lindsay recruits Archie Bunker / Election Year vice crackdowns / the Public Morals Taskforce / Fantasia & "now the pimps wear blue uniforms" / stealing sex workers' dresses for slumming / "the whore who wants saving" / "the police are too busy being pimps to be art critics" / The Boys in the Sand / the whitening of the sex industry / Jeremiah Moss and wanting to be where things happen – in Times Square / "the innards of these places... they felt so exposed" / "to have empathy for spaces" / Flaming Creatures / the Fortas Film Festival / watch Serpico / call us! / become a patron / so long

    Further reading and viewing

    • Mayor John Lindsay's 1972 run for president
      • Nixonland, Rick Perlstein; 2008
        • "As for John Lindsay, he had practically moved there—going so far as to don a scuba suit to plumb Biscayne Bay to show his concern about pollution. “As Gene McCarthy made America face the war in 1968, Lindsay now details the battles destroying its cities” ran a timely Saturday Review cover profile, “The Sun-Kissed Lindsay.” “The switch is on to Lindsay” was his campaign slogan. It wasn’t. He pulled in 7 percent, only three points more than his fellow New Yorker Shirley Chisholm. George McGovern didn’t campaign in Florida and got 6."
        • "No one knew what Florida Democrats wanted; the appeals there were a confused mess. John Lindsay ran commercials starring Carroll O’Connor imploring Floridians “to vote your hopes, not your fears.” Then, sticking a cigar in his mouth, he added in Archie Bunker’s voice, “Ya know what I mean, stick with me as part of the Lindsay continguency.”

    • John Lindsay 1972 campaign commercials, featuring Carol O'Connor (online archive)

    • "4 Groups Are Key Landlords For Midtown Sex Industry," New York Times, July 10, 1977 (online archive)

    Formerly owned by The Durst Organization, 121-127 W. 46th St.

    Formerly owned by The Durst Organization, 121-127 W. 46th St.

    the original Luxor Baths Hotel

    the original Luxor Baths Hotel

    March 13, 1976, New York Times, "Mr. Durst's Cleanup"

    March 13, 1976, New York Times, "Mr. Durst's Cleanup"

    • "Secret Peeps," Jeremiah Moss, Vanishing New York
    • "Death Knell of the Peeps," Jeremiah Moss, Vanishing New York
    • "Show World's Basciano," Jeremiah Moss, Vanishing New York
    • "Cafe Edison is Closing," Jeremiah Moss, Vanishing New York
    • "Hakim of the Grand Luncheonette," Jeremiah Moss, Vanishing New York
    “Seymour Durst, a former member of the Mayor Beame’s committee to clean up Times Square, rents space to two theaters listed by Mr. Baumgarten’s task force as sex‐industry establishments. They are the Avon 42, at 133 West 42d Street, which features live sex shows, and the Avon‐at‐the‐Hudson, 130 West 43d Street, where explicit sex movies are shown.”
    — 4 Groups Are Key Landlords For Midtown Sex Industry, New York Times, July 10, 1977
    Flaming Creatures

    Flaming Creatures

    New York, November 29, 1971

    New York, November 29, 1971

    Still, Flaming Creatures

    Still, Flaming Creatures

    • Flaming Creatures, d. Jack Smith; 1963 (full film online)
    • On the film's star, Mario Montez (archive online)

    • Jonas Mekas, exhibitor, charged with obscenity

      • "The Dialectic of Obscenity", Hamline Law Review (full article free online)

      • Prosecutor Gerald Harris much later apologizes to Jonas Mekas (article archived online)

    • "Nixon, LBJ, and the First Shots in the Judges’ War," Patrick J. Buchanan, The American Conservative, April 7, 2017 (archived online)
    • Penny Arcade on Jack Smith (lecture archive online)
    • Behind the Green Door, d. Artie J. Mitchell, James L. Mitchell); 1972
    aa_news_19680727-flaming_creatures_going_to_washington.jpg
    Grand Luncheonette and peep shows, Times Square, 1980s

    Grand Luncheonette and peep shows, Times Square, 1980s

    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "One More Tomorrow," Henry Gross
    • "(I used to be a) Brooklyn Dodger," Dion


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    TERRIFIC CITY is 100% listener-supported. Become our patron and help us make more seasons.

    Indoors / Green Doors (Times Square Episode 6) Oct 18, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne track the indoor move of Times Square's sex trade. And we screen one of the first porn features of this era, Behind the Green Door. Our special guest is Annie Sprinkle, who, in addition to being an internationally known artist, worked as a prostitute and porn actress in New York City during porn’s golden age.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    Crackdown season's here / everyone's on the take / obscene courtroom boredom / porn defies definition / into the parlors and off the streets / "not really in the holiday spirit" / a weak Mob / a good soldier / inventing the private porn viewing booth / the Velvet Underground is always on somewhere / Behind the Green Door / Lynch, Kubrick, and the Mitchell Brothers / the WPA of porn / so Northern California / watch Flaming Creatures / call us! / become a patron / so long

    Further reading and viewing

    • "Supreme Court Rejects Appeal In Ginzburg Obscenity Case," New York Times, June 22, 1971 (online archive)

    • "Behind the Green Door," Roger Ebert, December 11, 1973 (online archive)

    WAR IS OVER!, 1969

    WAR IS OVER!, 1969

    i625566.jpg
    Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981)

    Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981)

    M*A*S*H'D (!976), featuring Annie Sprinkle

    M*A*S*H'D (!976), featuring Annie Sprinkle

    • Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, d. Annie Sprinkle; 1981
    • Club 90
      • "Annie Sprinkle on Reuniting with Golden Era Porn Legends for CineKink’s “A Tribute to Club 90”," Filmmaker Magazine, February 24, 2015 (online archive)
    Behind the Green Door, 1972

    Behind the Green Door, 1972

    Marilyn Chambers

    Marilyn Chambers

    “She is the most beautiful porno actress yet. (You may find her smiling out at you from the front of our Ivory Snow box.) And there’s no denying that in the movie’s trapeze scene she qualifies as the busiest actress in porno history.”
    — Roger Ebert, December 11, 1973
    Behind the Green Door

    Behind the Green Door

    Marilyn Chambers

    Marilyn Chambers

    • Behind the Green Door, d. Artie J. Mitchell, James L. Mitchell); 1972
    • "‘Behind The Green Door’ (1972): The Unpublished Story By George McDonald," The Rialto Report
    Times Square 

    Times Square

    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "We Want Mine," Crack the Sky;1976
    • score, Behind the Green Door; Eyes Wide Shut


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    TERRIFIC CITY is 100% listener-supported. Become our patron and help us make more seasons.

    Disco Overtime (Times Square Episode 5) Oct 12, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne stay out late for the birth of NYC nightlife. Then we revisit the history of the 1970 film The Boys in the Band and refresh ourselves with "Maude." Our special guest is Ed Dixon, actor and author of the memoir Secrets of a Life on Stage…and Off.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    Theatre raids / proto-disco, all genders, all the time / a safe space, an outlaw space / OT / time-and-a-half at the massage parlor / "white savior Barbie" / Johnny and the rentboys / The Gaiety / The Haymarket / 8 shows for 8 dollars / bodacious ta-ta's / "when you think of it connected to Lauren Bacall" / The Boys in the Band / "a goddamn laugh riot" / "The Gay Bar," Maude / "Archie Bunker in an ascot" / watch Behind the Green Door / call us! / become a patron / so long

    Further reading and viewing

    • Hooking up in Times Square theatres
      • Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Samuel R. Delany; NYU Press, 1999
    • proto-disco
      • "A Night at the Loft, the Dance Party That Spawned All Other Dance Parties," Pitchfork, Andy Beta; February 19, 2014
      • "Lofty Ideals," Soho Memory Project; February 25, 2012
    • Police overtime and loitering arrests
      • "The NYPD Arrest Women for Who They Are and Where They Go: Now They're Fighting Back," Village Voice, Melissa Gira Grant; November 22, 2016
    • The Knapp Commission
      • "Mayor Lindsay appoints the Knapp Commission to investigate police corruption," New York Daily News, William Federici; May 22, 1970

    • "Homosexuals Hold Protest in ‘Village’ After Raid Nets 167," New York Times; March 9, 1970 (online archive)

    "Homosexuals Hold Protest in ‘Village’ After Raid Nets 167," New York Times, March 9, 1970

    "Homosexuals Hold Protest in ‘Village’ After Raid Nets 167," New York Times, March 9, 1970

    • Secrets of a Life On Stage... and Off, Ed Dixon (2012)
    • The Gaiety Burlesque
      • "Gaiety Boys," Vanishing New York, March 3, 2011
    • No, No, Nanette
      • Playbill, 1971 revival (online archive)
    • Pippin
      • Playbill, 1972 original production (online archive)
    • The Haymarket
      • "When Libido Ran Wild," Bruce Benderson, 3:AM Magazine
    The Boys in the Sand, 1971

    The Boys in the Sand, 1971

    The Gaiety, 1980

    The Gaiety, 1980

    “The most savage sequence is a telephone game blundered into by Alan (Peter White), a possible “straight” who was once the host’s college roommate. Each player must dial, and then blurt “I love you” to the person he holds dearest. All the players are stoned out of their minds, but not out of their situations. Amid the four-letter confrontations, ugly—and sometimes beautiful—revelations occur, until finally the game’s inventor is buried alive in a landslide of truths.”
    — Time, "Shades of Lavender," March 30, 1970
    The Boys in the Band

    The Boys in the Band

    The Boys

    The Boys

    • The Boys in the Band, d. William Friedkin; 1970 (full movie online)
    • "The Gay Bar," Maude, 1977 (full episode online)
      • "Florida Gay Rights Activists Boycott Orange Juice, 1977-1980," Global Nonviolent Action Database
    Times Square / Leland Bobbe

    Times Square / Leland Bobbe

    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "Midtown American Main Street Gang," Dion;1978


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    TERRIFIC CITY is 100% listener-supported. Become our patron and help us make more seasons.

    Hustling (Times Square Episode 4) Oct 04, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne have questions about The Deuce and its gay cliches. Especially after screening Hustling, the TV movie that may as well be The Deuce if it really had been made in 1975. Our special guest is the author of A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography, Mireille Miller-Young.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    A very special gay episode / more temporal hubris / Jean Naté / "What did you use in Vietnam?" / an anti-porn PR gambit / Ebert on Deep Throat / Channel J / soul porn, Ella Baker, Huey Newton / before The Deuce: "Hustling" / loitering with intent / johnalism: of editors & ethics / watch The Boys in the Band and "The Gay Bar" / call us! / become a patron / so long

    Further reading and viewing

    • The Stonewall Inn
      • Historic site
    • "One From the Vaults" podcast, Morgan M. Page
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Patreon
    • The anti-porn PR gambit
      • David Simon and George Pelecanos on "Fresh Air"; September 27, 2017 (online archive)
    • "Deep Throat," Roger Ebert review, March 6, 1973 (online archive)
    A Gay Activist Alliance protest march and demonstration against mafia-controlled gay bars and police harassment / August 1971.

    A Gay Activist Alliance protest march and demonstration against mafia-controlled gay bars and police harassment / August 1971.

    A Gay Liberation Front march on Times Square, 1969 / Diana Davies, The New York Public Library

    A Gay Liberation Front march on Times Square, 1969 / Diana Davies, The New York Public Library

    “It is all very well and good for Linda Lovelace, the star of the movie, to advocate sexual freedom; but the energy she brings to her role is less awesome than discouraging. If you have to work this hard at sexual freedom, maybe it isn’t worth the effort.”
    — Roger Ebert, March 6, 1973
    Desiree West

    Desiree West

    Desiree West

    Desiree West

    • A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography, Mireille Miller-Young (Duke University Press)
    • "Hustling"; 1975 (full movie online)
    "Hustling," 1975 (promo)

    "Hustling," 1975 (promo)

    Outside the Terminal Bar, Times Square / Sheldon Nadelman

    Outside the Terminal Bar, Times Square / Sheldon Nadelman

    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "Happening In The Streets," The Voltage Brothers;1978
    • “When the Blue Begins,” Henry Gross; 1978

    • "One More Tomorrow," Henry Gross; 1974

    • "Hang Up Your Hangups," The Voltage Bros


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    TERRIFIC CITY is 100% listener-supported. Become our patron and help us make more seasons.

    Hardhats and Runaways (Times Square Episode 3) Sep 28, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne broach two generational clashes over war and sex, from Vietnam to Times Square. Plus: proto-warrior cops in Fort Apache, The Bronx. Our special guest is the author of Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television, Elana Levine.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    You're nobody, Dean Martin / "Hippies vs Hardhats" / Abbie Hoffman is not a bitch / "Lindsay's a Red!" and "the city needs to look good behind him" / getting paid to watch Mildred Pierce / the porn director with no film in his camera / "one loop and A Star Is Born" / “Today New York's grimiest is being replaced by New York's finest" / white girl innocence / the city as America's bad boyfriend / "I got something fine for New York's finest!" / watch "Hustling" / call us! / become a patron / so long

    Further reading and viewing

    • "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You"
      • Dean Martin (1969 performance)
    • The Hardhat Riot
      • "Then No One Would Be a Democrat Anymore," Rick Perlstein, The American Prospect; April 28, 2008 (book excerpt, Nixonland)
    • Joan Crawford
      • Mildred Pierce, d. Michael Curtiz ; 1945 (official trailer)
      • Our Dancing Daughters, d. Harry Beaumont; 1928
    • "Ousted Times Sq. Smut Shop Reported Planning to Reopen," New York Times; July 11, 1977 (online archive)
    Times Square, 1977

    Times Square, 1977

    Playland, Times Square, 1988 / Matt Weber

    Playland, Times Square, 1988 / Matt Weber

    “The owners of the Crossroads pornographic bookstore and peep show at 42nd Street and Broadway—converted in May into a travelers’ information center operated by the police after a transaction in which the owners were bought out for $81,000—are reported planning to resume business less than a block from their old location.”
    — Ousted Times Sq. Smut Shop Reported Planning to Reopen, New York Times
    "Hustling," 1975 (promo)

    "Hustling," 1975 (promo)

    "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway," 1976 (promo)

    "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway," 1976 (promo)

    • Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television, Elana Levine (Duke University Press)
    • "Television and Growing Up: The Impact of Televised Violence," Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior, National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); 1972 (archived report)
    • Runaways
      • "Little Ladies of the Night"; 1976
        • "Little ladies of the night," New York Times; November 16, 1975 (archive)
      • "Dawn – Portrait of a Teenage Runaway"; 1976 (promo ad)
      • "Hustling"; 1975 (full movie online)
    “The Runaway Unit then tries to discover who they are so that they can be sent home. In so doing, the unit contributes to Mayor Beame’s Times Square cleanup. If Senator Hubert Humphrey happens to stroll down the Minnesota Strip next June on his way to the Democratic convention, the number of present or future constituents that he will meet depends partly on the diligence of Officer McGinand.”
    — Little ladies of the night, New York Times
    Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)

    Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)

    • Fort Apache, The Bronx, d. Daniel Petrie; 1981
      • trailer
      • "FORT APACHE, THE BRONX,' WITH PAUL NEWMAN," New York Times; February 6, 1981(online archive)
      • "FORT APACHE, THE BRONX," Roger Ebert; January 1, 1981 (online archive)
    • "St. Elsewhere" season 4, episode 5 (online)
    • The Disclaimer
      • "The program you are about to see is 'All in the Family.' It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show— in a mature fashion— just how absurd they are." (1971)
    Scarface, 1932 (title card)

    Scarface, 1932 (title card)

    Fort Apache, The Bronx, 1980 (title card)

    Fort Apache, The Bronx, 1980 (title card)

    Times Square, 1976 / Leland Bobbé, from the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York

    Times Square, 1976 / Leland Bobbé, from the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York

    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "Happening In The Streets," The Voltage Brothers;1978
    • “When the Blue Begins,” Henry Gross; 1978


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    TERRIFIC CITY is 100% listener-supported. Become our patron and help us make more seasons.

    Peeps, Police, and Marquees (Times Square Episode 2) Sep 20, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne take us from the illicit porn sets of the Bronx to the cascade of billboards of Times Square in the 70s. Our special guest is former Manhattan borough president Ruth Messinger.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1975 / Getty

    On this episode

    Does David Simon not fully understand his own show / Communism? / we called the shag / Edison and one-man peep shows / porn with a soup can of art / pandering feminist catchphrases / goodbyeVillage Voice / Siberia / the Times Square Redevelopment Corporation / "the crossroads of nowhere" / "loitering with intent to Elmo" / lost little rich girls / unpaid police companionship / watch Fort Apache, The Bronx / call us! / so long

    Cine 42, 1993 / Gregoire Alessandrini

    Cine 42, 1993 / Gregoire Alessandrini

    Times Square, 1978 / Fernando Natalici

    Times Square, 1978 / Fernando Natalici

    Times Square, 1978 / Fernando Natalici

    Times Square, 1978 / Fernando Natalici

    Further reading and viewing

    • Klute, d. Alan J. Pakula; 1971
      • original theatrical trailer
      • Jane Fonda's shag politics (You Must Remember This)
    • Edison Kinetoscope films
      • 1894-1896 compilation reel
      • The Black Maria studio
    • Haircut, d. Andy Warhol; 1963
    • "9 Peep Shows Are Raided in Times Square Area," New York Times; August 11, 1971 (online archive)
    Klute, 1971

    Klute, 1971

    San Francisco Kinetoscope Parlor, 1895

    San Francisco Kinetoscope Parlor, 1895

    “The machines show two minutes of a film for a quarter. Some of the films are in 10 parts, some in 12. Nearly all the films are in color. Some films deal with male or female homosexual acts, but most are heterosexual.”
    — 9 Peep Shows Are Raided in Times Square Area, New York Times
    • Gail Sheehy and New Journalism
      • "Wide Open City/Part I: The New Breed," Gail Sheehy, New York magazine; July 26, 1971, A1 (archive)
      • "The original ‘Deuce’ was a 1975 TV movie called ‘Hustling’," New York Post; September 11, 2017 (online)
    • Communism...?
      • "David Simon: HBO's new show 'The Deuce' is really about ... business," Yahoo; September 11, 2017 (online)
    • Siberia
      • "Siberia Bar: Exiled in Times Square," Brooklyn Rail; July-August 2001 (online)
    Camel billboard, Times Square, 1943

    Camel billboard, Times Square, 1943

    Camel Signs in Times Square, NYC from the 1940s to 1960s (17).jpg
    • Ruth Messinger and the Times Square Redevelopment Corporation
      • "DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR TIMES SQ. WINS UNANIMOUS BACKING OF ESTIMATE BOARD," New York Times; November 9, 1984 (archive)
      • "5 LAWMAKERS URGE EXTENDED HEARINGS ON TIMES SQ. PLAN," New York Times; May 3, 1984 (archive)
    "The Mod Squad" promotional still

    "The Mod Squad" promotional still

    • "The Mod Squad"
      • “The Teeth of the Barracuda” (pilot); 1968
    • "Barney Miller"
      • "Christmas Story” (season 3, episode 10); 1976
      • "Barney Miller: 40 Years Later, The Most Intelligent, Literate US Sitcom Ever," ibt.com; 2014 (online)
    • Fort Apache, The Bronx, d. Daniel Petrie;1981
      • trailer
    Proto-peep

    Proto-peep

    Times Square, 1983 / Andreas Feininger

    Times Square, 1983 / Andreas Feininger


    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "Happening In The Streets," The Voltage Brothers (1978)


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant. (Thanks to Bradley Robinson for helping with music supervision.)

    From Port Authority to the Shoeshine Scene (Times Square Episode 1) Sep 13, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne tour Times Square social scenes in the 70s, through the pilot episode of "The Deuce." Our special guest is the author of The End of Policing, Alex Vitale.

    Listen and download. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

    Times Square, 1971 / Getty


    On this episode

    "Nixon is pimp" / What year is it? 1971 / Darlene's tour of the SRO / Candy does some bookkeeping / Franco's Death Wish / Critics agree: "sex work is work" / Ellsberg, paranoia, and the plumbers / the Watergate years of porn / KLUTE, and Bree Daniels as everywoman / One of the two schools of police reform thought: "The Mod Squad" / the other isn't "Barney Miller" but you should watch it / call us! / so long

    Franco's Patty Duke moment ("The Deuce")

    Franco's Patty Duke moment ("The Deuce")

    Further reading and viewing

    • Death Wish, d. Michael Winner; 1974
      • original theatrical trailer
    • "Wide Open City/Part I: The New Breed," Gail Sheehy, New York magazine; July 26, 1971, A1 (archive)
    nymag - Sheehy cover.png
    nymag - Sheehy interior.png
    Paul DeMaria / New York Daily News

    Paul DeMaria / New York Daily News

    • "The Mod Squad"
      • “The Teeth of the Barracuda” (pilot); 1968
      • closing scene
    • "Barney Miller"
      • "Christmas Story” (season 3, episode 10); 1976
      • "Barney Miller: 40 Years Later, The Most Intelligent, Literate US Sitcom Ever," ibt.com; 2014 (online)
    • "Night Court"
      • opening titles
    A conversation (Klute)

    A conversation (Klute)

    • Richard M. Nixon
      • Nixonland, Rick Perlstein; 2008
    • Daniel Ellsberg
      • The Vietnam Archive, New York Times; June 13, 1971
      • The Pentagon Papers at The National Archives
      • Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg; 2002
    • "When Leer Was King," New York Times; September 8, 2017 ("Review: HBO’s ‘The Deuce’ Works a Vibrant Hustle in the Naked City," online version )
    • "David Simon: ‘If you’re not consuming porn, you’re still consuming its logic’," theguardian.com, September 10, 2017 (originally published in The Observer, online version)
    • The End of Policing, Alex Vitale; 2017
    • City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics, Alex Vitale; 2008
    • Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Samuel R. Delany; 1999


    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • “Tomorrow’s Memory Lane,” Henry Gross; 1975
    • "American City Suite," Cashman & West; 1972


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant.

    Terrific City (Pilot) Sep 06, 2017
    Show notes

    On this episode, Melissa and Cheyenne introduce our exploration of the city and screen life of Times Square in the 1970s on the occasion of the new television series, "The Deuce." Our special guest is author and podcaster Tina Horn.

    A glimpse of "Deep Throat" (All the President's Men)

    A glimpse of "Deep Throat" (All the President's Men)


    On this episode

    Our origin story / Why cities, why film and television, why the 1970s / "The Deuce" (inspired by but not limited to) / When the New York Times ran a front page story about there being no prostitution arrests on one day in 1971 / A preview of "The Deuce" through the eyes of the television press / "Brown bagginess" / Not preachy, not porn / an interview with podcaster and author Tina Horn about media representations of sex work, feminism, and pornography / watch Klute/ so long

    Protest of Deep Throat, Dave Pickoff/Associated Press.

    Protest of Deep Throat, Dave Pickoff/Associated Press.

    Further reading and viewing

    • Deep Throat, d. Gerard Damiano; 1972
      • New York Times on Deep Throat and "porno chic"; 1973
    • "No Arrests Made for Prostitution," Martin Gansberg, New York Times; July 13, 1971, A1 (archive)
    • Klute, d. Alan J. Pakula; 1971
      • original theatrical trailer
    • All the President's Men, d. Alan J. Pakula; 1976
    • original theatrical trailer
    “There were no arrests for prostitution in Manhattan on Sunday and no arraignments of prostitutes in Criminal Court yesterday — the first time in 15 years that there have been no such hearings... The police at the West 54th Street station said that more than 40 women were arrested in the area yesterday and were charged with loitering. They said that large‐scale arrests did not allow the use of undercover patrolmen, who pose as clients and make arrests for prostitution, so that the easily proved loitering charge was filed instead. Judges and clerks in the Criminal Court spent most of their time yesterday relaxing.”
    — New York Times, 1971
    Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda (Klute)

    Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda (Klute)

    • Factory Girl, d. George Hickenlooper; 2006
    • Beauty #2, d. Andy Warhol; 1965
    • Ciao Manhattan, d. John Palmer; 1972
    • BUtterfield 8, d. Daniel Mann; 1960
    • Michael O'Donoghue
      • Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue, Dennis Perrin; 1998
      • "Is America Ready for Mr. Mike?," Rolling Stone; July 26, 1979 (archived online)
    • Norman Lear
    • Linda Lovelace/Linda Marchiano
      • Ordeal, Linda Lovelace; 1980
    • Richard M. Nixon
      • Nixonland, Rick Perlstein; 2008
    • Bob Woodward
      • All the President's Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein; 1974
    • "James Franco pulls double duty in The Deuce first look," EW.com; March 20, 2017 (online)
    • "Sleaze in the City," New York Times; August 27, 2017 ("‘The Deuce’ Recalls Sex and Sleaze in 1970s Times Square," online version )
    • "Maggie Gyllenhaal on Hollywood sexism and porn drama The Deuce," Time Out, August 22, 2017 (archived online)
    • "Maggie Gyllenhaal Bares All For Feminist TV," New York; August 21-September 3, 2017 ("Maggie Gyllenhaal Tests Her Comfort Zone With The Deuce," online version)
    • Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Samuel R. Delany; 1999
    • Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil; 1996
    Jane Fonda as Bree Daniels in Manhattan (Klute)

    Jane Fonda as Bree Daniels in Manhattan (Klute)

    • Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work, Melissa Gira Grant; 2014
    • "Klute," Melissa Gira Grant, HiLobrow; 2017
    • Remedy, d. Cheyenne Picardo; 2015
    • "Why Are People Into That" podcast, Tina Horn


    Featured Music

    • "Shannon," Henry Gross; 1976
    • "American City Suite," Cashman & West; 1972


    Credits

    TERRIFIC CITY is hosted by Melissa Gira Grant and Cheyenne Picardo. The show was recorded and edited by Cheyenne Picardo, and it was produced by Melissa Gira Grant.

    Related Podcasts

    You Must Remember This

    1

    You Must Remember This Games & Hobbies
    Seincast: A Seinfeld Podcast

    2

    Seincast: A Seinfeld Podcast TV & Film
    Watch What Crappens – Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam

    3

    Watch What Crappens – Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam Arts
    The Watch

    4

    The Watch MZGenre.Podcasts.TVFilm
    NetFreaks: Covering Netflix Originals

    5

    NetFreaks: Covering Netflix Originals TV & Film
    Punch Drunk TV

    6

    Punch Drunk TV TV & Film
    footer-logo

    Contact Us

    Toll Free: 844-670-7747

    Links

    • Home
    • Top Charts
    • Networks
    • Apps
    • Independents Podcasts
    • Podcast Advertising
    • Podcast News
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Analytics & Insights

    Stay Connected

      Privacy, Terms of Use & Our Code of Ethics Protecting Content Creators Copyrights