Categories
The Deuce

Eleven bits of historical trivia from this season of HBO’s ‘The Deuce’

So what do you all think of the HBO’s drama series The Deuce, set in Times Square in the early 1970s? Sexually explicit but literate, with a modern viewpoint that gives rich, nuanced characterizations to women, The Deuce performs a unique negotiation between romanticizing the 42nd Street sex trade and condemning it. Whether or not… Read More

Categories
Gilded Age New York ON TELEVISION

Listen To These Podcasts After You Watch HBO’s The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age is finally here! The HBO Julian Fellowes prestige television drama, that is, in the vein of his lavish signature series Downton Abbey. It’s been awhile since New York City history has been depicted on screen; The Alienist, The Deuce and The Knick themselves seem like ancient history. The Gilded Age depicts the… Read More

Categories
Film History

“Is it just me or is it getting crazier out there?”: Reliving six New York City movie scenes from 2019

Is it just me or was there more New York City than ever before in TV shows and movies in 2019? Granted, there is simply more of everything — more TV shows than ever, on a growing number of streaming platforms. And generally speaking there were a lot of films released in 2019 — even… Read More

Categories
Health and Living The Alienist

Scenes from New York’s public baths: How tenement dwellers got clean and cool

HISTORY BEHIND THE SCENE What’s the real story behind that historical scene from your favorite TV show or feature film? A semi-regular feature on the Bowery Boys blog, we will be reviving this series as we follow along with TNT’s limited series The Alienist. Look for other articles here about other historically themed television shows (Mad Men, The… Read More

Categories
The Alienist True Crime

The Alleged New York Murders of Jack the Ripper

HISTORY BEHIND THE SCENE What’s the real story behind that historical scene from your favorite TV show or feature film? A semi-regular feature on the Bowery Boys blog, we will be reviving this series as we follow along with TNT’s limited series The Alienist. Look for other articles here about other historically themed television shows (Mad Men, The… Read More

Categories
The Alienist

The harsh lives of New York City street kids, captured — in a flash — by Jacob Riis

HISTORY BEHIND THE SCENE What’s the real story behind that historical scene from your favorite TV show or feature film? A semi-regular feature on the Bowery Boys blog, we will be reviving this series as we follow along with TNT’s limited series The Alienist. Look for other articles here about other historically themed television shows (Mad Men, The… Read More

Categories
The Alienist

The Slide, New York’s Most Notorious ‘Fairy Resort’: History Behind The Scene (The Alienist)

HISTORY BEHIND THE SCENE What’s the real story behind that historical scene from your favorite TV show or feature film? A semi-regular feature on the Bowery Boys blog, I’ll be reviving this series as we follow along with TNT’s limited series The Alienist. Look for other articles here about other historically themed television shows (Mad… Read More

Categories
The Alienist

The Slide, New York’s Most Notorious ‘Fairy Resort’

HISTORY BEHIND THE SCENE What’s the real story behind that historical scene from your favorite TV show or feature film? A semi-regular feature on the Bowery Boys blog, I’ll be reviving this series as we follow along with TNT’s limited series The Alienist. Look for other articles here about other historically themed television shows (Mad… Read More

Categories
Landmarks

In ‘The Post’, Katharine Graham returns to the scene of the party — the Plaza Hotel

Journalism history is on full, optimistic display in the Academy Award Best Picture nominee The Post, starring Meryl Streep as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. In this fast-paced drama, Graham heads a newsroom (headed by Ben Bradlee, played by Tom Hanks) in possession of the Pentagon Papers, damning reports exposing the U.S. government’s clandestine decision-making… Read More

Categories
Bridges The Alienist

The Construction of the Williamsburg Bridge — History Behind the Scene (The Alienist)

HISTORY BEHIND THE SCENE What’s the real story behind that historical scene from your favorite TV show or feature film? A semi-regular feature on the Bowery Boys website, I’ll be reviving this series as we follow along with TNT’s limited series The Alienist. Look for other articles here about other historically themed television shows (Mad… Read More

Categories
The Alienist

Love history trivia? Follow The Bowery Boys on Twitter during episodes of TNT’s The Alienist

We love it when television shows are set in New York City history — Mad Men in the 1960s, The Knick in the 1900s, Copper in the 1860s, Turn: Washington’s Spies in the 1780s. So how can we say no to TNT’s new limited series The Alienist, a mystery thriller (based on Caleb Carr’s book… Read More

Categories
Amusements and Thrills Podcasts The Deuce

Times Square in the 1970s: Grindhouses, peep shows and XXX neon nostalgia

PODCAST 42nd Street After Hours. Cinema and sleaze. Nostalgia and fantasy. The story of a real and imagined New York. Take a trip with us down the grittiest streets in Times Square — the faded marquees of the grindhouses, the neon-lit prurient delights of Eighth Avenue at night. LISTEN TO OUR LATEST EPISODE HERE: Times Square in the… Read More

Categories
Amusements and Thrills Podcasts The Deuce

Times Square in the 1970s: Grindhouses, peep shows and XXX neon nostalgia

PODCAST 42nd Street After Hours. Cinema and sleaze. Nostalgia and fantasy. The story of a real and imagined New York. Take a trip with us down the grittiest streets in Times Square — the faded marquees of the grindhouses, the neon-lit prurient delights of Eighth Avenue at night. LISTEN TO OUR LATEST EPISODE HERE: [geo_mashup_map]… Read More

Categories
The Deuce

Returning to Times Square in the 1970s with HBO and two James Francos

Will The Deuce succeed where Vinyl failed? I was disappointed that HBO’s luxury period series about the 1970s music industry quickly faded after only one season, but it appears the network is going back into New York City history with a hotter, sleazier concept. (And Vinyl was very, very sleazy.) The Deuce takes aim at… Read More