HBO Picks Up James Franco's 'The Deuce' to Series

James Franco is set to star and executive produce a porn drama "The Deuce" which was picked up to series by HBO (Publicity photo).

LOS ANGELES - HBO has picked up James Franco's porn drama "The Deuce" to series. Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal will star.

The show will follow the fight to legalize porn and its subsequent rise in 1970s New York City as it also exaimes the wild and seedy side of midtown Manhattan through the rise of HIV, the violence and upheaval of the cocaine epidemic and its impact on the industry.

Franco will play twins, while Gyllenhaal will portray Eileen Merrell, a Times Square prostitute who goes by “Candy” who’s attracted to the fledgeling industry.

The show will be executive produced by David Simon ("Homicide: Life on the Street), Franco and Gyllenhaal for Simon's Blown Deadline Productions. Simon wrote the original pilot and will hand over writing duties to Richard Price known for his episodic work on "The Wire" and the film "Clockers."

HBO’s ‘Girls’ to End After Sixth Season

Lena Dunham in a scene from her HBO cult comedy, "Girls," which will end after Season 6 (Photo by HBO).

LOS ANGELES - HBO’s cult comedy “Girls” will end after Season 6, according to TheWrap.

The comedy starring Lena Dunham is set to begin its fifth season in February. “Girls” is produced by Judd Apatow’s Apatow Productions and stars Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet and Adam Driver. The show premiered in 2012 and tells the stories and experiences of a group of girls in their early 20s.

Dunham first came to prominence with her semiautobiographic 2010 feature film “Tiny Furniture” which won Best Narrative Feature at South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, and later screened at such festivals as Maryland Film Festival. Dunham played the lead role of Aura. Laurie Simmons (Lena Dunham's real-life mother) played Aura's mother, and Lena's real-life sister Grace plays Aura's on-screen sister.

Dunham also won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.“Girls” was greenlit by HBO thanks to the success of “Tiny Furniture,” according to the network.The show is scheduled to premiere its fifth season on Feb. 21 at 10 p.m. ET.