Lee and DeNiro Hatch ‘Alphabet City: The TV Show!’

Probably owing to The Wire’s having proven America’s appetite for urban grit and squalor on the small screen, Showtime is currently developing a dramatic series that will chronicle the yeasty days of New York’s Alphabet City during the 80’s. According to The Hollywood Reporter, native Gotham-ites Spike Lee and Robert DeNiro are on board to direct and produce respectively, with John Ridley (of Undercover Brother fame!?) penning the series. The title: Alphaville. Somewhere in the world Jean-Luc Godard is throwing up right now.

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As some remember and the rest are no doubt aware, Alphabet City wasn’t always the seat of high-priced hipsterdom. Rather, it was the apotheosis of urban decay: poor, neglected, and a frequent home to building fires. It was in this troubled environment that, beginning in the late 70’s, a nascent bohemian culture took root. The roster of artists and musicians born out of this particular period is by now very well known, as are some of the more unfortunate skirmishes that occurred between police and local homeless. Now, of course, the area is as gentrified as they come—borderline fratty even.

What Showtime & Co. do with this material remains to be seen, though I for one am pretty archly skeptical. Making a show about Alphabet City seems like the last degree of co-optation for a neighborhood whose steady whitewashing has already caused no end of disappointment to those who “were there,” as it were. If the show isn’t just right—and how can it be?—the ghost of Johnny Thunders will surely exact a horrible revenge.