Tales of the City (miniseries)

Infobox Film
name = Tales of the City


image_size =
caption =
director = Alastair Reid
producer = Alan Poul
writer = Armistead Maupin
Richard Kramer
narrator =
starring = Olympia Dukakis
Donald Moffat
Chloe Webb
Laura Linney
Marcus D'Amico
music = John Keane
cinematography = Walt Lloyd
editing = David Gamble
distributor = PBS
PolyGram
American Playhouse
released = 1993
runtime = 360 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:122989
imdb_id = 0106148

"Tales of the City" is a 1993 television mini-series based on the first of the "Tales of the City" series of novels by Armistead Maupin.

To date, the first three books in the sequence have been adapted into television miniseries; the first, "Tales of the City", was produced by the UK's Channel 4 and was first screened in the UK in 1993, then shown on PBS in the US in January, 1994. Channel 4 eventually teamed up with American cable network Showtime to produce the sequel, "More Tales of the City", which premiered in the US and UK in 1998. The third installment of the series, "Further Tales of the City" was produced by Showtime (without Channel 4) and was originally aired in the US on Showtime in May, 2001.

"Tales of the City"

Amid the controversy surrounding the homosexual themes, nudity, and illicit drug use in the miniseries, "Tales of the City" gave PBS its highest ratings ever for a dramatic program. In deference to local standards, PBS gave stations the option of showing an edited version in which male and female body parts were obscured by pixelation. The original six-part series was produced by Britain's Channel 4 Television Corporation with San Francisco's PBS station KQED and PBS's American Playhouse. Despite the ratings success of "Tales of the City", PBS bowed to threats of federal funding cuts and announced it would not participate in the television production of the original miniseries' sequel, "More Tales of the City".

Despite the changes in production companies, four central characters were played by the same actors throughout all three miniseries. Academy Award Nominee Laura Linney played Mary Ann Singleton, Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis played the matriarch, Mrs. Anna Madrigal, Barbara Garrick played DeDe Halcyon Day, and Billy Campbell (credited as "William Campbell") played Dr. Jon Philip Fielding. In addition, Thomas Gibson reprised his "Tales" role as Beauchamp Day in "More Tales" and Mary Kay Place, who had a cameo as Prue Giroux in "Tales", played that role as a major character in "Further Tales". In "More Tales of the City", Paul Hopkins inherited the role of Mouse, Whip Hubley played Brian, and Nina Siemaszko was Mona. Hopkins and Hubley returned for "Further Tales of the City". Armistead Maupin himself made cameo appearances in all three miniseries.

Regarding the recasts of Brian, Mouse and Mona for the sequels, Maupin has said, "Paul Gross was committed to his own TV series, "Due South". Chloe Webb had expressed enthusiasm about playing Mona again, but she backed out when the show's producers declined her request to be paid more than the rest of the cast. (The show was operating under a 'favored nations agreement' that required leading cast members to be paid equally.) While everyone felt Chloe was important to "Tales," she was not more important than Laura Linney, Thomas Gibson, Billy Campbell or Barbara Garrick. Despite the rumorsFact|date=January 2008, it is not true that Marcus D'Amico wasn't invited back because of issues surrounding his sexuality. The production team met with Marcus and he expressed 'ambivalence' about returning to the role of Mouse. The director felt it was important to find someone who would enthusiastically embrace the role." [http://www.armisteadmaupin.com/oftasked_01.html]

"More Tales of the City"

In "More Tales of the City," Mona discovers her true heritage when she winds up in a brothel in Nevada, run by Mother Mucca (Jackie Burroughs); on a cruise to Mexico with a lovelorn Michael, Mary Ann falls in love with Burke, a man without a past; DeDe decides to have her babies, much to Beauchamp's chagrin, and meets D'orothea; and Brian begins a rooftop dalliance with a mysterious woman. Events in "Tales of the City," like the disappearance of Norman Neal Williams, are resolved, and Mrs. Madrigal reveals her secret to her tenants.

"Further Tales of the City"

In "Further Tales of the City", Mary Ann has landed a job at a local TV station and finds a story that might make her a reporter; Frannie mourns the apparent loss of her daughter DeDe and grandchildren in the tragedy at Jonestown, until she makes a shocking discovery; Michael dates several men, including a cop, a cowboy, and a movie star; and Prue falls in a love with a mysterious stranger living in a shack in Golden Gate Park. In the miniseries, Mother Mucca visits and introduces Mrs. Madrigal to a handsome, older man, a story line that does not exist in the books but was added for television. There is also a new plot line for Connie Bradshaw which did not feature in the original novel.

Cage Tyler, the movie star with whom Michael has a brief fling, is based on Rock Hudson, who was a friend and lover of Maupin's. In the novel, the character was not named, but was represented by underscores (e.g. ____ ____) wherever his name would have appeared.

"Babycakes"

Plans for a two-hour version of the fourth "Tales" novel, "Babycakes", were reported in 2003, and Maupin has completed a script. Showtime has not yet moved forward with a production.

Casts

In the first miniseries, the character is named Jon Fielden. In the second and third miniseries his surname has reverted to Fielding, the name used in the novels.

External links

*imdb title|0106148|Tales of the City
*imdb title|0120574|More Tales of the City
*imdb title|0245625|Further Tales of the City