Tales of the City - Season 1 Is On Netflix

You're a bit late?

Old news, Mary. A boring show to boot.

OP is referring to the ORIGINAL, guys. Thanks OP, perfect for a lazy Saturday!

Link:

This is such a great series, the writing...love it. I haven't seen the latest, I'm afraid it will disappoint, though, how stupid of me. I might love it, who knows?

I am watching the scene where Mona, that lost soul who tries to act and sound like she has it so together, tells Mrs. Madrigal how she lost her job. So real...

Sorry, bitches, feeling my age and feeling cozy yet maudlin tonight. Hit ignore, or quietly indulge this 52 year old mess, who never quite got over his romance with The City.

Spoiler: I was "over" SF it in the 90s and since long moved away. Somehow, the memories have become even more poignant, but the rare forays back tell me I did the right thing. OK, have at it, I've grossed myself out enough as it is:

Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary!

Speaking of Mary....

Mary Kay Place ringing the bell to announce..."Today, we are going to rap about rape."

Heaven!

“Are you saying that gay guys don’t have fat asses?” “Not the ones that go to the bar.” Things sure have changed.

The first series was phenomenal. The 2019 series is total shite.

Seasons 2 and 3 that were done for Showtime are on YouTube in full.

I only saw the original in bits and lives. All which I enjoyed. Now I’m catching up on it. Thank you Netflix! But the cast of secondary characters ... Ian mckellan... Karen Black... May Kay Place... Bob Mackie... and was that Maupin himself I saw typing through the window?

"it's organic!"

It’s a gem. Beats SATC hollow. And hollow that was indeed.

You didn't gross me out, [R5]. The orig. TOTC is up there (but not *quite* in the exalted category) as the orig. "Upstairs, Downstairs." It's comfort telly for me.

The sequels are a disappointment. Should I watch the new Netflix?

R14: The 2019 series produced by Netflix is a bigger disappointment that the sequels. It's more luxuriously produced than some but otherwise worse than the sequels. Eight-and-a-half hours of smug reverence for Anna Madrigal and the Ellen Page character, and everyone always teetering on the edge of a sanctimonious comeuppance about misgendering, inclusivity insensitivity, etc. Where the 1993 series seemed too short, this one seems way too long with too many characters who do nothing more than milling about on Twitter and Instagram in a TV series.

Thank you r15

I know this thread is old but thank you OP, after seeing your post I decided to watch it today. I saw it way back in the day when I was in my early 20's, I never realized that was Thomas Gibson play Beauchamp.

Painful to watch - because it brings back memories of old San Francisco - where people could be a gardener or have a low paying job and still survive. Where living life, friends, and hanging out were valued. Such a simpler life - all gone now. I loved that time in SF.

Mrs. Madrigal was supposed to be 56! Olympia Dukakis looked at least 10 years older.

The 2019 one has more hot gay sex than the original seasons.

But Billy Campbell in the 90's though... Sex on legs.

Charlie Barrett and Murray Bartlett, while sexy, aren't in his league.

I rewatched the first series. It was as good as I remembered. Even though I didn't live in San Francisco at the time, it brought me memories of those days, those days of old friends. It brought love of those days back to me. Yes, the 1993 series is top notch been now.

The first series is the best. I missed the first airing, but PBS a week later ran the entire series starting at midnight on Saturday. It was wonderful. That's when you should watch it, Saturday night at midnight.

I remember them running disclaimers at every break about how they were portraying a different period in time that had different social mores. That was stupid. I get it, they didn't want some crank calling and reminding them of AIDS, but they didn't do that with others shows that took place pre-1990.

The one scene I hate was when Mona left and Mrs. Madrigal was questioning Mouse about her. Mouse said, "I'll get a job with a temp agency." Mrs. Madrigal said, "Don't worry about the rent." If Connie Bradshaw were there she'd say, "Mouse, get off your fat ass and stop expecting everyone to pay your way. You lazy poof."

I found the 2nd season on You Tube and just started the first episode and I already see a new Mouse and Mona. bummer. I thought the actor that played Mouse in the first season was very likable and had an expressive face.

I liked the second Mouse better, because he showed cock. Priorities, I know.

I watched the first episode of the second series. Meh, that's as far as I got. I like the new Mona better. But I miss the previous Mouse. He was wonderful! WHET to him eldergays? Anyone had him? Cut or uncut?

The original series had some interesting cameos. DL fav Karen Black was one. Who do you remember? Any favs?

"But I miss the previous Mouse. He was wonderful! WHET to him eldergays? Anyone had him? Cut or uncut?"

The original Mouse was Marcus D'Amico. He's a British actor (so probably uncut).

He shows up here and there. Most recently he showed up in an episode of The Alienist. He was a replacement in Mamma Mia in the West End. In the 90s, when An Inspector Calls was on Broadway, he played the son. And if you ever watch the Judi Dench show "As Time Goes By" there's an episode where they go to Hollywood and he plays a movie producer that Lionel meets with.

Bob Mackie made a cameo appearance too.

I like the casual nudity during the Showtime years.

I ended up watching all of the 3 original seasons and they really went off the rails with Jim Jones. LOL and WTF?!

I haven't watched the Netflix new episodes because Ellen Page is a turn off

[quote]I ended up watching all of the 3 original seasons and they really went off the rails with Jim Jones. LOL and WTF?!

I often wondered if Armistead Maupin got bored writing the columns and just threw outlandish stuff in just to see if anyone would push back. I always thought the D'Orothea plot was a bit out there.

Billy Campbell was so handsome, I kept waiting for him to be a bad guy. Were they hinting he had AIDS because Michael noticed a mark on his neck and said it was a hickey.

Question for eldergays:

Did bathhouses exist that catered to both sexes like the one Brian goes to?

In NYC there were sex clubs with women, but they were catered to couples. Men couldn’t get in unless they were accompanied by a woman and at Plato’s Retreat, men couldn’t enter the orgy room without a woman.

R35 Plato's Retreat was one, in New York.

Marcus D'Amico was so much better than any other actor that portrayed Mouse IMO. He never had much of a career. Armistead historically takes issue with closeted gay actors in general (which I do get to some degree, but I also say live and let live as well) and was said to have seen Marcus "getting around town" with guys while filming the first (and best) Tales miniseries in 1993. Marcus claimed to be straight which really miffed Armistead - or so the story goes anyway. That along with the huge gap in time before the second series (due to the homophobic "uproar" of stupid GOP Evangelicals after the release of the original on PBS) likely resulted in Mouse's re-casting. I also preferred Chloe Webb as Mona. Supposedly she was asking too much $ to reprise her role (although her acting career was rather dismal as well). Finally, Cynda Williams as D'orothea was excellent and by far the best casting of the character. 1998's More Tales and 2001's Further Tales paled in comparison sadly.

Read somewhere, was it here, that Marcus rejected Armisteads advances and that was why he wasn't asked to come back

That could be just as likely R38.

D'orthea was the original Rachel Dolezal

"[R35] Plato's Retreat was one, in New York."

No, Plato's Retreat was for couples. Men couldn't enter without a woman. I'm talking about a bath house where single men or women could enter.

Trying to watch the new show on Netflix but they made all the characters annoying.

I have had enough of Laura Linney because I recently watched the new season of Ozark and then this. She is super annoying in the new Tales of the City that came out last year. You start to see her acting tics like that big bright smile she puts on when she is faking it.

Also too much Ellen Page in the new series. I know we all age but the actor playing Brian in the original came back and he looks so different it is distracting.

R44 - his haircut was awful for one - a fusion of uber-effeminate/flaming dandy and terminally ill cancer patient.

That was a poor casting choice to use Ellen Page. We were supposed to find her lovable but she came off the opposite.

Little known fact, a young Uncle Bottom makes a cameo appearance.

At the Restoration Hardware store, waiting for a bus.

That Mother Macca storyline went off the rails......

That actress who played Mother Macca was terrible to behold.

So arnistead had a three some with rock Hudson

Or are we meant simply meant to believe that he did, R51?

He wrote those books over 36 years so maybe it's small wonder he tends to turn on his every character, essentially hating them all for selling out, loving badly, hiding the truth about themselves. The series sets out full of optimism and wonder and a bit of foggy Vertigo mystery and ends up that the Netflix 2019 series is not a "reboot" but a "goodbye already" - and good riddance to guests who stuck around too long and made the mistake if getting old.

Too much of the trans and Ellen Page's character in the reboot

[Quote] Or are we meant simply meant to believe that he did, [R51]?

How is one to believe anything anyone ever says?

R37 - totally agree. The original cast and show were sooo much better. The characters just seemed ....right. Maybe because it’s as also closer to that period in SF when life was free and easy(er) and it still seemed like a gay, hippy city. By the late 90s, tech had started seeping in and taking over and you could feel the end of the old SF.

I loved the 1993 series. I came out after college, and even though I turned 30 in 1993, I think I was still dealing with internalized homophobia. Armistead Maupin's stories and the production helped me get over some much of that shit.

I tried watching the updated series, but I think it may speak to a new generation that calls itself "queer." That is still an ugly word to me.

Which members of the original cast are gay/not straight?

I guess it goes without saying the reboot will not get anymore seasons.

When you watch movies and tv from the past there was a lot of diversity. Now if it shows 4 friends walking down the street one must be white, black, Asian or Hispanic and trans gender ( the color doesn’t matter). It was so much better when it wasn’t forced.

The 2019 sucked with butchy Ellen Page looking like a block of ice.

I agree R59 . The first three series I have watched multiple times, especially the original. But that 2019 series I just can't bring myself to watch again, no matter my intention to do so.

Growing up gay in Indiana (hell being gay in Indiana) isn't easy. I knew I "didn't like girls" at five years old, but it wasn't until I was fourteen I realized I'm gay. It's aggravating to find out some of the same people who bullied me for not fitting in, not having a girlfriend, have now come out of the closet and are considered "wonderful examples of being true to yourself" and "unique individuals" when they worked so tirelessly to stamp out the very same soul spark inside me, convince me it was something to hide. (MARY! I know.) They did probably irreparable damage to me, but they can go on and live fulfilling lives with happiness and love. My life will probably never get better than it is right now because I'm so broken.

Anyway, at the time I was made to feel as if I were the only gay man on Earth, secretly lusting after men who struck my fancy. I got my peeks into the gay community anyway I could. Yes, the "Dorothy's friend is a lesbian" episode of The Golden Girls was a revelation to me. Then TV Guide ran a special article about "Tales of the City" and my interest was piqued. Bill Campbell appearing in it was icing on the cake.

Granted it was twenty years in the past, and I would have been four years old at the time it was happening, but it brought back memories of being a child in the era, the music, the sights, the sounds. The cozy, safe feeling of childhood. But we're adults here and the nudity and sex were liberating and jawdropping to a rural boy who had seen very little of either one. I wanted to be friends with the gang at 28 Barbary Lane and live there. That first series, even though it was just television, brought me a sense of belonging and acceptance I have still never found in real life. There are other men out there who are sexually attracted to other men just like me. I still don't feel accepted into the gay community here in Indiana, but I know there are more of us elsewhere.

I feel emotionally attached to the characters in the first three series; I want to spend time with them. This last series, the old characters take a back seat to the new ones and what little screentime they do have, they come off as silly caricatures of themselves. It made me sad honestly. I just don't care about any of the new characters or the story. The media influencer twins- blech! Ellen "I can only play myself" Page. Even Dee Dee wore thin and I love her! It's a lot like the Star Wars sequels.

I really wish Maupin had found a way to combine the best plots from the last three novels. Williams being still alive. Maryann's cancer. If he wanted to show a flashback into Anna's past so badly, why not stick with Andy's adolescence in Winamucca and the orin of the Madrigal name? I was dying to see the visit to the remains of the town and the poignant visit to the ruined cemetery. That last novel was the first time I finished reading a book, closed it, then reopened it to begin again. Sorry for being so long winded! 😊

Sorry about the pity party in the above post! Just having a mood.

That was very heartfelt r60,r61. Very brave to share all that. Many of us went through similar things to what you so eloquently described.

Many people had some version of R60, R61's fond reaction to the books or the 1993 series, varying according to generation and circumstance but there was a lot of goodwill toward Maupin's work.

Whether from boredom of returning to the same thing again and again or maybe as a result of some cruel lesson of age, Maupin seems actively to turn on his creations, his family of characters one by one, and to make his readers do the same. Where once readers and viewers came to like these characters, whether despite or because of their shortcomings, he set about methodically taking them all down quite a few pegs. By the Netflix 2019 mashup kill them all off in a trainwreck, he has succeeded too well and it's not so much a farewell as a "Yeah, yeah, goodbye already and be gone, and don't let the screendoor hit you in the ass on the way out."

Wait a minute I didn’t make it till the end. He killed all the characters in a trainwreck?

Haha, R64. Something like it.

What episode has Beauchamp going to the bathhouse?

That was the sexiest thing I saw as a kid. I’m getting that excited, sexy feeling of being in a bathhouse right now, just lying down and thinking about it.

Loved the way the original series was filmed with a slight nod to Hitchcock in its style of weaving in the mysteries and some Hitchcockian camera angles. I recently re-watched with 33 yo friend who totally got into it. We were both shocked when we googled Marcus D'Amico and saw that he passed away in Dec! (Somehow I missed that thread on DL). Learning of his passing made me sad