Having been sufficiently reassured that it doesn’t have another Vinyl on its hands, HBO has renewed David Simon and George Pelacanos’ The Deuce for another season. That’s according to Variety, which also quotes co-creator Simon as saying with characteristic straightforwardness, “HBO is a serious outfit. And they don’t scare.” It’s a bit early for ratings numbers, but The Deuce has been a hit so far with critics, scoring a 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.