''Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City'' is an American
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
streaming television
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
that premiered June 7, 2019, on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
, based on the
''Tales of the City'' novels by
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...
.
Laura Linney,
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta.
Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...
,
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...
, and
Barbara Garrick
Barbara Garrick is an American actress. Garrick has appeared on stage, television and in film.
Life and career
Garrick was born in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama, she has several stage credits, including ' ...
reprise their roles from previous television adaptations of Maupin's books: the original ''
Tales of the City
''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...
'' in 1993, and the sequels ''
More Tales of the City'' (1998) and ''
Further Tales of the City'' (2001). The series was Dukakis's final television role before her death.
The show won the
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Limited Series at the
31st GLAAD Media Awards, the third time the series has won the award following the original ''Tales of the City'' at the 1995 awards ceremony and sequel ''More Tales of the City'' at the 1999 ceremony.
Premise
Mary Ann Singleton returns to 28 Barbary Lane in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
after a 23-year absence for the 90th birthday of her former landlady, Anna Madrigal. Mary Ann is happily reunited with Michael Tolliver and Anna, but things are more complicated with her ex-husband, Brian Hawkins, and Shawna, the daughter she left behind to pursue a broadcasting career. Shawna follows a mysterious attraction to a new girl in town who is making a documentary about 28 Barbary Lane. The relationship between transgender man Jake Rodriguez and his lesbian girlfriend Margot Park faces challenges as Jake explores his newfound attraction to men. Michael struggles with the option to stop using condoms now that he is in a relationship with Ben Marshall, who is on
PrEP
PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allo ...
. Anna begins receiving mysterious letters threatening to expose a secret from her past.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Laura Linney as Mary Ann Singleton, Shawna's estranged adoptive mother who returns to San Francisco after leaving over 20 years prior
*
Elliot Page
Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, tw ...
as Shawna Hawkins, Mary Ann and Brian's adopted daughter
*
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta.
Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...
as Brian Hawkins, Mary Ann's ex-husband and Shawna's adoptive father
*
Murray Bartlett
Murray Bartlett (born 20 March 1971) is an Australian actor. His roles include Dominic "Dom" Basaluzzo in the HBO comedy-drama series '' Looking'', Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the Netflix revival of ''Tales of the City'', and Armond in the HBO ...
as Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, Mary Ann's best friend from 28 Barbary Lane
*
Charlie Barnett as Ben Marshall, Michael's younger boyfriend
*
Garcia as Jake Rodriguez, a transgender man who is Anna's caregiver at 28 Barbary Lane
*
May Hong as Margot Park, Jake's girlfriend
*
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...
as Anna Madrigal, a 90-year-old transgender woman and the owner of 28 Barbary Lane
*
Barbara Garrick
Barbara Garrick is an American actress. Garrick has appeared on stage, television and in film.
Life and career
Garrick was born in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama, she has several stage credits, including ' ...
as DeDe Halcyon Day, a socialite, Mary Ann's friend, and Margot's love interest
Recurring
*
Ashley Park
Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, ...
as Jennifer / Ani, an
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
influencer alongside her twin brother, Raven
*
Christopher Larkin as Jonathan / Raven, Ani's twin brother
*
Zosia Mamet
Zosia Russell MametAccording to Vermont Births, 1981–2001, and Vermont Birth Records, 1909–2008, at Ancestry.com. (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress and musician who has appeared in television series including ''Mad Men'', ' ...
as Claire Duncan, a documentarian and Shawna's love interest
*
Michael Park as Robert Watson, Mary Ann's husband who is divorcing her
*
Caldwell Tidicue as Ida Best, manager of the Body Politic burlesque bar
*Dickie Hearts as Mateo, DeDe's deaf butler
*
Michelle Buteau as Wren, Brian's neighbor and friend
*
Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...
as Sam Garland, a man from Rainbow Readers who reads books to Anna
*Benjamin Thys as Eli, a man who begins a
polyamorous sexual relationship with Shawna and his wife
*
Samantha Soule as Inka, Eli's polyamorous wife
*Juan Castano as Flaco Ramirez, Ben's co-worker and Jake's love interest
*Matthew Risch as Harrison, Michael's ex-boyfriend
*
Jen Richards
Jen Richards is a transgender American writer, actress, producer and activist.
Life and career
Richards was born in Mississippi and resides in North Carolina. She graduated from Shimer College with a BA in Philosophy, and studied at Oxford Unive ...
as young Anna Madrigal
*
Daniela Vega
Daniela Vega Hernández (born June 3, 1989) is a Chilean actress and mezzo-soprano singer. She is best known for her critically acclaimed performance in the Academy Award-winning film ''A Fantastic Woman'' (2017). At the 90th Academy Awards in ...
as Ysela, a transgender woman and Anna's first friend when she moved to San Francisco
Guest
*
Malcolm Gets
Malcolm Gets (born December 28, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Richard in the American television sitcom '' Caroline in the City''. Gets is also a dancer, singer, composer, classically trained pianist, vocal direct ...
as Stan, a friend of Harrison
*
Dan Butler
Daniel Eugene Butler (born December 2, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series ''Frasier'' (1993–2004); Art in '' Roseanne'' (1991–1992); for the voice of Mr. Simmons on the ''Nickelodeon'' T ...
as Dan, a friend of Harrison. Butler previously portrayed the character Edward Bass Matheson in ''
More Tales of the City''.
*
Stephen Spinella as Chris, a friend of Harrison
*
Bryan Batt
Bryan Batt (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series ''Mad Men'' as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Primarily a theater actor, he has had a number of starring roles in mo ...
as Chris Bauer, a friend of Harrison
*
John Glover as Bill Schwartz, a retired
SFPD officer and resident of the Flamingo Arms
*
Luke Kirby
Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''.
Early life
Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to ...
as Tommy, an SFPD officer who is Young Anna's boyfriend
*
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an or ...
as Mrs. Duncan, Claire's mother and an art collector
*
Katya Zamolodchikova
Brian Joseph McCook, known by his drag persona Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova (russian: Екатерина Петровна Замолодчикова), or mononymously as Katya (russian: Катя), is an American drag queen, actor, author ...
as wedding officiant
*
Mary Louise Wilson
Mary Louise Wilson (born November 12, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and comedian.
In a career that has spanned more than 50 years, she has appeared in a number of plays, films and television shows. Wilson's most notable work includes a ...
as Doris, a resident of a retirement community that Anna visits
Episodes
Production
Development
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
announced June 28, 2017, the development of a revival of the
''Tales of the City'' television miniseries, based on the novels by
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...
.
A subsequent April 23, 2018, announcement included a production order for ten episodes, with the series to be written by
Lauren Morelli
Lauren Morelli is an American television writer, producer, and director.
Early life
Morelli, who grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of McCandless, Pennsylvania, graduated from Winchester Thurston School and then studied dance at Marymount Manha ...
, who would serve as showrunner and executive producer, alongside an all-LGBTQ writer's room. Other executive producers would include Maupin,
Alan Poul
Alan Mark Poul (born May 1, 1954) is an American film and television producer and director.
Career
Poul served as executive producer for the HBO original series, '' Six Feet Under'', on which he made his directing debut. He directed four episo ...
,
Laura Linney, Andrew Stearn,
Liza Chasin,
Tim Bevan
Timothy John Bevan, (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films.
Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era ...
, and
Eric Fellner
Eric Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films.
Early life and education
Fellner was born to a Jewish family in England. From 1972 t ...
.
Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel '' The Hours'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is a senior lectur ...
would serve as consulting producer and Poul was also expected to direct. Production companies involved with the series include Working Title Television and NBCUniversal International.
An announcement on April 9, 2019, revealed the series would be released on June 7, 2019.
Casting
Alongside the initial series development announcement, it was reported that
Laura Linney and
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...
would reprise their roles as Mary Ann Singleton and Anna Madrigal, respectively.
Concurrent with the news of the series order, it was confirmed that Linney, Dukakis, and
Barbara Garrick
Barbara Garrick is an American actress. Garrick has appeared on stage, television and in film.
Life and career
Garrick was born in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama, she has several stage credits, including ' ...
would be reprising their roles, and that
Elliot Page
Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, tw ...
would be joining the main cast of the production in a new role.
In October 2018, it was announced that
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta.
Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...
would reprise his role of Brian Hawkins and that
Murray Bartlett
Murray Bartlett (born 20 March 1971) is an Australian actor. His roles include Dominic "Dom" Basaluzzo in the HBO comedy-drama series '' Looking'', Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the Netflix revival of ''Tales of the City'', and Armond in the HBO ...
,
Charlie Barnett, Josiah Victoria Garcia, and May Hong had also joined the main cast. Additionally, it was further announced that
Jen Richards
Jen Richards is a transgender American writer, actress, producer and activist.
Life and career
Richards was born in Mississippi and resides in North Carolina. She graduated from Shimer College with a BA in Philosophy, and studied at Oxford Unive ...
,
Daniela Vega
Daniela Vega Hernández (born June 3, 1989) is a Chilean actress and mezzo-soprano singer. She is best known for her critically acclaimed performance in the Academy Award-winning film ''A Fantastic Woman'' (2017). At the 90th Academy Awards in ...
,
Michelle Buteau,
Ashley Park
Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, ...
,
Christopher Larkin,
Caldwell Tidicue, Matthew Risch,
Michael Park, Dickie Hearts, Benjamin Thys,
Samantha Soule, Juan Castano,
Zosia Mamet
Zosia Russell MametAccording to Vermont Births, 1981–2001, and Vermont Birth Records, 1909–2008, at Ancestry.com. (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress and musician who has appeared in television series including ''Mad Men'', ' ...
, and
Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...
had been cast in recurring roles.
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an or ...
later joined the cast in a recurring capacity.
Filming
Principal photography for the series began by July 2018 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Filming of interior scenes of the series were shot in New York while exterior scenes were set to be filmed in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California. On October 5, 2018, the production was shooting in the Nodine Hill section of
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...
. On October 24, 2018, filming took place at
Mission Dolores Park
Mission Dolores Park, often abbreviated to Dolores Park, is a city park in San Francisco, California. It is located two blocks south of Mission Dolores at the western edge of the Mission District.
Dolores Park is bounded by 18th Street on the nort ...
in San Francisco. By January 2019, filming for the series had reportedly concluded.
Critical reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series received an approval of 83%, and a 7.50/10 average rating from 42 reviews. The critics' consensus states, "Like a pleasant visit to a place you used to live, ''Tales of the City'' provides ample nostalgic comforts and continues the series' mission of celebrating the diversity of San Francisco on its own terms."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
scored it 63 out of 100 based on 15 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews".
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Netflix original ended series (2019–present)
2010s American LGBT-related drama television series
2019 American television series debuts
2019 American television series endings
American LGBT-related web series
English-language Netflix original programming
Tales of the City
Television shows based on American novels
Television series by Universal Television
Television series by Working Title Television
Television shows set in San Francisco
Transgender-related television shows
Gay-related television shows
Polyamory in fiction