Last month, Netflix dropped the first images to its much-anticipated revival of Tales of the City. Now, it just shared the first official teaser trailer.
Based on the writings of author Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City follows the lives of a group of friends who live in the same San Francisco apartment complex, as well as the eccentric other San Franciscans that move in and out of their lives.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMizVWA7Rg/
The series gained a massive following thanks to its diverse portrayal of straight and queer characters and became a much praised–and controversial–PBS miniseries back in 1993. Two sequels followed on Showtime.
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Now, Netflix has picked up the torch, reuniting original cast members Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis and Barbara Garrick to catch up with their characters more than 20 years on.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMiIDwgliQ/
Naturally, plot points remain a closely-guarded secret, though Netflix has announced that the new cast will include Ellen Page, Charlie Barnett, Murray Bartlet, Daniela Vega and Molly Ringwald.
We also know that much of the plot will involve a reunion between MaryAnn (played again by Linney), her ex-husband Brian (Gross) and their daughter Shawna (Page) along with Maupin’s usual tapestry of San Francisco residents.
Tales of the City airs on Netflix later this summer. Watch the first official teaser trailer below.
DCguy
Um…..so the plots a secret…….but the books have been out for years sooooooooooo…..there’s that. 😉
Heywood Jablowme
This is a follow-up story set in the present day.
NeilIN72
@Heywood, it’s based on the book Mary Ann In Autumn which was released only a few years ago
Vince
I’m with you there Laura. I still remember you getting off the bus as a young naive girl for the first time. Ha.
I don’t think it has much for the kids today though. Pretty dumb plot points IMO. However, we loved it. I’ll be watching just for nostalgia. Especially if it has 80s icon Molly Ringwald.
graphicjack
The book this is based on has a lot of things that keep this very much in line with what millennials are facing in our community now. The joy of these books is that they capture the spirit of each generation and decade as time has gone on and the movement and community changes. This will not be rooted in the 70s… this will be very much present day SF.
geb1966
It’s based on the last three books which were published in 2007, 2010 and 2014, dear. They are set in modern time, thus have much to appeal to this generation. In addition, when I taught Intro to LGBT studies last year, I chose the original Tales book as one of the classic titles the class would read. Those 18-22 yr olds ate it up and at least 6 students order the next two books before they even finished the original. The announcement of this new series was made toward the end of the class and when I posted it, they were incredibly excited.
oz1967
Today’s kiddies have an ocean of content at their fingertips but in my day it was a desert and a dark secret one at that, but the people of Barboury Lane were much needed refreshment plus William Campbell damn.
sfhairy
I am so excited for this reboot / new take. Tales of the City is one of the reasons I moved to SF in 93. Just like MaryAnne, I came here and decided to stay and make this place my home.
Heywood Jablowme
I was re-reading the stories a few years ago and it struck me that Michael “Mouse” turned 30 in 1977 – i.e. no longer a twink and “crossing the Great Divide” as Mrs. Madrigal put it – which would now make him… 72! (Yikes, same age as Trump!)
Mr-DJ
As long as Olympia Dukakis has been brought back, it is a sure winner…
azjeff17
I wish they’d pick up the previous two mini- series on netflix
graphicjack
there are three min-series based on the first three books in the series (Tales, More Tales, Further Tales). What’s never been filmed are books 4, 5 and 6, and the latest one, Michael Tolliver Lives.
geb1966
Maupin announced on his social media that Netflix has bought the rights to the 1st three miniseries.
Bubbleandsqueal
Looks from the trailer like it’s pretty soppy.
Laura Linney uses “uptalk,” and Olympia sounds pretty infirm.
graphicjack
I think in the book Mrs Madrigal is about 80 or 90… infirm makes a lot of sense, considering.
geb1966
Considering Mrs. M is now nearly 90, that makes complete sense, dear.
Curtispsf
I arrived in SF in 1978 and waited patiently each week to read every chapter of Tales of the City when it was published in the San Francisco Chronicle. TOC accurately captured the vibe of a magical time in the life of San Francisco. However, the San Francisco of the 70s is long gone like an aging drag queen who has smoked a few too many cigarettes and drank a few too many gin and tonics. What’s left are just memories and old faded photographs in a drawer and those, too, will be gone soon. San Francisco will always be a special place, but it has lost its heart and soul thanks in large part to the uber rich techies who have come to inhabit the city. It will be interesting to see how the new series will deal with the march of “progress”. I’ll be watching.
Chrisk
You need to be at least upscale to live there now. The series was about hippies and Bohemians. No way is San Francisco anything but hostile to that now. The new reality is just not interesting though.
Babakazoo
i really wish they had done the other books between the third one and this one to show the evolution of the characters, particularly Mary Ann. She went for the lovable do anything for anyone girl next door to the hard nosed bitch who put her career first and abandoned her family for a job. This one picks up when Mary Ann returns to Barbary Lane many years later & tries to reconnect with her family. I hope they atleast make reference to what has happened in the other characters lives over those years too, as they all had some interesting stories and events in their lives.
sfhally
From what I could see, it’s taking parts of “MaryAnn in Autumn” and adding new characters.
I don’t think Armistead is involved in the writing so I’m afraid it’s not going to have that humanity the original ones had.
Just don’t try too hard.
At the very least it should get Armistead new fans, I hope.
geb1966
Armistead is involved with the series. He is quite excited about it based on his social media posts.
caseymck
Some of my students (18-22) weren’t big fans when I screened the first three episodes of the original. Others LOVED it, felt it was a little cheesy, but refreshing and new and unusual and engaging.