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.
Goodbye City (Times Square Episode 8)
Nov 07, 2017
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.
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)
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
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)
Interior Leather Bar, d. James Franco, Travis Matthews; 2013 (trailer)
Mansfield 66/67, d. P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes; 2017 (trailer)
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.)
Like Nobody Knows The Rules (Times Square Episode 7)
Oct 27, 2017
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.
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.
the original Luxor Baths Hotel
March 13, 1976, New York Times, "Mr. Durst's Cleanup"
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
Behind the Green Door, d. Artie J. Mitchell, James L. Mitchell); 1972
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.)
Indoors / Green Doors (Times Square Episode 6)
Oct 18, 2017
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.
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
Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981)
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
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
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
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.)
Disco Overtime (Times Square Episode 5)
Oct 12, 2017
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.
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
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.
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.)
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.
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
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 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
A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography, Mireille Miller-Young (Duke University Press)
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.)
Hardhats and Runaways (Times Square Episode 3)
Sep 28, 2017
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.
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
"Ousted Times Sq. Smut Shop Reported Planning to Reopen," New York Times; July 11, 1977 (online archive)
Times Square, 1977
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)
"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)
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.
"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)
Fort Apache, The Bronx, 1980 (title card)
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.)
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.
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
"9 Peep Shows Are Raided in Times Square Area," New York Times; August 11, 1971 (online archive)
Klute, 1971
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
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"
“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)
"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
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.
"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
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
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)
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.
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)
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
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.
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