''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 b ...

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 a ...

miniseries 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 fi ...

, 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 31st GLAAD Media Awards is the 2020 annual presentation of the GLAAD Media Awards, presented by GLAAD honoring the 2019 media season and held on July 30, 2020. The awards honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that ...

, 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 for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

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 as Shawna Hawkins, Mary Ann and Brian's adopted daughter *

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 *

as Anna Madrigal, a 90-year-old transgender woman and the owner of 28 Barbary Lane *

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 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 as young Anna Madrigal * Daniela Vega 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 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 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 o ...

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

announced June 28, 2017, the development of a revival of the ''Tales of the City'' television miniseries, based on the novels by

. A subsequent April 23, 2018, announcement included a production order for ten episodes, with the series to be written by Lauren Morelli, 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 epis ...

, 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

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

would be reprising their roles, and that Elliot Page would be joining the main cast of the production in a new role. In October 2018, it was announced that

would reprise his role of Brian Hawkins and that

, Charlie Barnett, Josiah Victoria Garcia, and May Hong had also joined the main cast. Additionally, it was further announced that Jen Richards, Daniela Vega, Michelle Buteau,

, Christopher Larkin, Caldwell Tidicue, Matthew Risch, Michael Park, Dickie Hearts, Benjamin Thys, Samantha Soule, Juan Castano,

, and

had been cast in recurring roles.

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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Filming of interior scenes of the series were shot in New York while exterior scenes were set to be filmed in

, 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 en ...

. 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

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 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

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