Netflix is getting gayer by the second, and we are here for all of it.
The latest announcement that’s brightening up queer subscribers’ lives is a big one: The streaming giant has officially revealed plans to revive Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.
The TV adaptation of Maupin’s popular book series revolving around queer life in San Francisco originally aired as a miniseries in the ’90s, and will make its triumphant return on Netflix next year.
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Some of the original stars are already signed on to reprise their roles.
Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis will revisit their roles as Mary Ann Singleton and Anna Madrigal respectively, and Ellen Page has been cast as Mary Ann’s daughter.
We also expect to see more diversity this time around. Maupin has previously said of his all-white cast:
“I was scared as a writer that I would look uncool if I tried to represent people who were not of my race and didn’t do it well. That’s just stupid. I took on lesbians, and I didn’t think I knew anything about them. As I said in the [documentary], it’s about the human heart, so that was a mistake on my part.”
Back when it first aired in the US in 1994, the show became a point of controversy for its LGBTQ themes. Nowadays, every show seems to have at least one queer subplot, so it’ll be interesting to see how the revival challenges viewers this time around.
According to an official synopsis, the new series “follows Mary Ann (Laura Linney), who returns home to San Francisco and is reunited with her daughter (Ellen Page) and ex-husband Brian, twenty years after leaving them behind to pursue her career.
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“Fleeing the midlife crisis that her picture-perfect Connecticut life created, Mary Ann returns home to her chosen family and will quickly be drawn back into the orbit of Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis) and the residents of 28 Barbary Lane.”
Netflix has also released the first page of the new script, which finds Mary Ann back at her former home, the near-mythical Barbary Lane:
Armistead Maupin, who will co-produce the new series, said in a statement: “I couldn’t be more excited about this new brand-new incarnation of Tales. It’s set in present-day San Francisco with all the joys and complications that might suggest for the residents of 28 Barbary Lane.”
Related: Amistead Maupin reveals which deeply closeted movie star he had awkward sex with
“Mrs. Madrigal’s tenants, both old and new, will be entangled in delicious new adventures and ever-expanding possibilities for love.”
As if this wasn’t enough queer Netflix news, the site also announced this week that the much-anticipated finale of Sense8 will air June 8:
UPDATE: The article was updated to correct the spelling of the character Anna Madrigal
ignacioj
I have been looking forward to this. I was concerned when the article originally named Olympia Dukakis’ character as “Ann.” But I was happy to see the corrected name in a later paragraph. The famous (among the fans) anagram doesn’t work without the final ‘a.’
Kieran
Netflix? Why not on logo aka “the gay channel”? They can’t bump re-runs of ‘Mamas Family’ to air some gay content?
djmcgamester
Maybe so more people get a chance to watch it? I have Netflix but not Logo.
DrewD
Don’t forget Golden Girls, Three’s Company, Green Acres, etc. Sometimes I have to check to see if I’m watching TV Land.
chris_clb614
Facts of Life, Roseanne, anything that probably never had a gay subplot.
scotshot
Logo is too busy screening reruns of “Roseanne”. /s
Terrycloth
This is a lesbian drama ? Netflix under all
Lgbtq titles are pretty old..and alot aren’t very good..i got Netflix hoping for better movies I had on here tv.which hardly ever rotated their titles.so I dropped here tv..i watch other things on Netflix besides gay movies but they really need to update their choices…ive enjoyed many movies and hope to enjoy more…also please in the movie description please let us know if it has subtitles or not..
djmcgamester
It’s not a lesbian drama. It’s LGBT without question. Covers all of those letters.
Luvstoread
If you have a Smart TV, Roku, or Amazon Fire Stick, I highly recommend Dekkoo. It’s a much better gay movie subscription service than Here TV.
djmcgamester
This was a wonderful mini series. I hope they have it all on Netflix.
NateOcean
I lived in the Bay Area at the time Maupin’s “Tales” were serialized in the Chronicle (and later the books) and enjoyed them immensely. When news that a TV series was to be made first broke, I was excited as well, and spoke with Maupin about that. There were some delays, but eventually the thing got on the air, and I was delighted.
My only complaint was on some of the casting (and apparently I wasn’t the only one). Laure Linney, Olympia Dukakis (now 85!), Donald Moffat, and Thomas Gibson were exactly how I picture them from the books.
Somehow two other key characters I never warmed up to. The actress for the “Mona Ramsay” character never worked (and was replaced in the second series)… an improvement.
Likewise Michael “Mouse” Tolliver was badly mis-cast in the first series, with only a minor improvement when re-cast in the second series. From the books I had a perfect vision of who Michael was. I didn’t want to _be_ Michael, I just wanted to _date_ him. Both times around the casting for this character was just broken and flat.
Regardless I can’t wait for this follow up!
Mick406
Olympia Dukakis is dead, isn’t she?
Kangol
@Mick406, Olympia Dukakis is very much alive. Are you thinking of Kitty Dukakis?
Rich
Best news I’ve heard all day!
Rio
never mind, i found it
gothvixen
There were squeals of delight when Armistead announced this at his book signing in Liverpool, I can’t wait. He made me feel special when I spoke to him, I think he did for everyone that evening. The world is a better place for his presence.
BGinBigD
YASS!!! Can’t wait.
jasentylar
I’m here for Sense8. Cmon SOMEONE! Please bring the sexiest show on television back!
Chuck Macklin
So psyched for this! Loved the first 3 TV miniseries! I am so happy that we already have Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis signed on, wouldn’t be the same without them. I’ve also read that Barbara Garrick has committed to reviving her role as DeDe Halcyon Day. Fabulous! I’ve always enjoyed Ellen Page’s work. So I’m sure she’ll be great and fit right into 28 Barbary Lane’s eccentricities. From that first page of the new script we’re given above and the premise I’ve read of the new miniseries, it almost seems like they might be taking the storyline from Maupin’s 8th book in the series, “Mary Ann in Autumn”. Wiki it and see what you think. Can’t wait to here more about this and who else they’ll get to come aboard this wacky lovable place!
Chuck Macklin
“Can’t wait to *HEAR…” Ugh! (Just learned that there’s no edit HERE!)
Anyway, I wonder if they can get the rights to stream the first three miniseries? — Tales From, More Tales From, and Further Tales From The City. It’d be great catching up on the stories and characters while we wait for the new series to begin!
BTW, I signed up on that Gravatar site as instructed in my profile here so I could get a pic of me up. So now there’s a pic of me on Gravatar, that I’ll probably never go back to, but still no pic of me here. Lol! Hmm??
Yoshito
Wow Netflix is just getting gayer and gayer!
Mr-DJ
And if they are smart, hopefully they’ll re-run that old mini-series again between now and then.
Mr-DJ
BTW Queerty – Love the updated comment policy!!
Cylest Brooks
Yay! Glad to hear it, MrDJ.
barkomatic
The original Tales was interesting partially because San Francisco itself was still magical. It will be interesting to see if they are able to rekindle that in their depiction of the present day. At least one of the characters will have to be working in the tech industry.
cdizz
I also wish that the lgbtq+ content on Netflix were better, but let’s face the fact that there is a disproportionately large amount of funds available for heteronormative content. So I’m happy for the few, quirky, sweet romantic comedies that exist on Netflix.
I just wish Netflix would make it easier to find that content on devices other than computers. The category used to exist for a time, and then they removed it for whatever reason. Even if the content exists on the servers, if the user can’t access it, then what’s the point?