Tales of the City (1993 miniseries)
A miniseries adapting Armistead Maupin's first novel.
Tales of the City (formally Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City) is a 1993 television miniseries based on the first novel in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series. Produced by the UK's Channel 4, it was first screened in the UK in 1993 and later shown on PBS in the US in January 1994. It is the first of three miniseries adapting the first three books, with a fourth installment premiering on Netflix in 2019.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Drama
- Based on
- Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin
- Screenplay
- Richard Kramer
- Director
- Alastair Reid
- Theme music
- John Keane
- Country
- United Kingdom; United States
- Language
- English
- Episodes
- 6
Facts from the source article.
Premise and release
The miniseries follows the storyline of Maupin's first book, beginning in the summer of 1976 after Mary Ann decides to stay permanently in San Francisco following a vacation. The story spans several months and concludes on New Year's Day 1977. It premiered on Channel 4 in the UK on 28 September 1993 and was screened by PBS in the US in January 1994. Despite controversy over homosexual themes, nudity, and illicit drug use, the series achieved PBS's highest ratings ever for a dramatic programme. PBS offered stations an edited version with pixelated body parts. PBS later declined to participate in the sequel due to threats of federal funding cuts.
Production
HBO acquired rights to the first two books in 1982 for a weekly sitcom, with pre-production beginning that fall and a pilot script by Richard Kramer described as a "Mary Tyler Moore for the '80s." HBO abandoned the project amid the AIDS epidemic and a conservative social climate, feeling the book's attitudes toward homosexuality, casual sex, and marijuana would not be acceptable. The rights to the first book were later picked up by Channel 4 and PBS, who produced it jointly as a six-part series in 1993. Its PBS airing drew criticism from political figures, and the network backed out of co-producing further installments.
Reception
In 2005, Entertainment Weekly named Tales of the City one of the ten best miniseries on DVD, calling Laura Linney the "breakout star" and describing the series as a time capsule treating characters with humor, respect, and sexual frankness uncommon for PBS in 1993. A 2025 study of Australian audience reactions to the 1994 broadcast argued the series prompted mediated public debate through letters to a local TV guide, reflecting changing attitudes toward the LGBTQ community.
Sequels
Canadian producer Kevin Tierney and his company Productions La Fête persuaded Showtime to bring the series back. The follow-ups, More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City, were shot in Montreal by Productions La Fête under director Pierre Gang, airing in 1998 and 2001. Four actors stayed with the franchise for all three miniseries: Laura Linney as Mary Ann Singleton, Olympia Dukakis as Anna Madrigal, Barbara Garrick as DeDe Halcyon Day, and Billy Campbell (billed as William Campbell) as Dr. Jon Philip Fielding. Thomas Gibson returned as Beauchamp Day in More Tales, while Mary Kay Place expanded her cameo role as Prue Giroux in Further Tales. Parker Posey made brief appearances in the second and third installments. For More Tales, Paul Hopkins took over as Mouse, Whip Hubley as Brian, and Nina Siemaszko as Mona; Hopkins and Hubley returned for Further Tales. Armistead Maupin appeared in cameos across all three. Regarding the recast roles, Maupin explained that Paul Gross was tied up with his own show, Chloe Webb backed out after her pay request was denied under the production’s equal-pay agreement, and Marcus D’Amico expressed uncertainty about reprising Mouse, leading the team to seek a more enthusiastic actor.
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