Penny Dreadful: City of Angels was inspired by the birth of Los Angeles' freeway system

TheWrap

Creator John Logan notes how the freeways were used to segregate communities. In fact, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels takes place in 1938, the same year that the 110 freeway began construction. “What began as a civil engineering project turned in to a sort of de facto social engineering,” Logan said. “Because of these freeways, we no longer have a Sugar Hill, or Bunker Hill, most of North Main Street, Sonoratown. What we created are quarantined zones for ethnic minorities. So we have Watts, we have East LA. This pattern that began in Los Angeles was then replicated across the country.” ALSO: Logan said the original Penny Dreadful is closed like "a complete novel" so it won't seep into City of Angels.