"Tales of the City" (1993), the first mini-series adaptation
This was so much beloved when it came out, and made a star out of Laura Linney. Yet there was tons of drama backstage, and I never got the full story behind all of it.
Marcus d'Amico was the original Mouse Tolliver, and he brought enormous charm to the part (which the Canadian actor who succeeded him in the sequel did not, although that actor, Paul Hopkins, was objectively better looking). But he pissed off Armistead Maupin for reasons I never fully understood--was d'Amico not forthcoming about his sexuality--and I never understood what went on there.
Also, Chloe Webb was absolutely excellent as Mona Ramsey ("Crotch, crotch, crotch, crotch!") but she was also replaced for the sequel by the uncharismastic Nina Siemaszko. Why?
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 30, 2024 9:00 PM
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I remember checking this VHS from the library during summer vacation…. So maybe 7th or 8th grade? Really opened my eyes to the gay lifestyle! I agree, the later actors were not as good but I don’t know any behind the scenes drama.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 30, 2024 8:09 PM
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I've been watching a lot of gay stuff lately, and Tales of the City is still my favorite. There's a romantic and nostalgic feel to it, since it takes place before AIDS. I've always wondered what San Francisco was like in the 1970s and this show probably comes closest to capturing it, or at least I hope it does.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | April 30, 2024 8:17 PM
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WHY DIDN'T MARCUS D'AMICO, PAUL GROSS AND CHLOE WEBB RETURN FOR "MORE TALES?
Paul Gross was committed to his own TV series, "Due South." Chloe Webb had expressed enthusiasm about playing Mona again, but she backed out when the show's producers declined her request to be paid more than the rest of the cast. (The show was operating under a "favored nations agreement" that required leading cast members to be paid equally.) While everyone felt Chloe was important to "Tales," she was not more important than Laura Linney, Thomas Gibson, Billy Campbell or Barbara Garrick. Despite the rumors, it is not true that Marcus D'Amico wasn't invited back because of issues surrounding his sexuality. The production team met with Marcus and he expressed "ambivalence" about returning to the role of Mouse. The director felt it was important to find someone who would enthusiastically embrace the role.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 30, 2024 8:18 PM
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[quote] On 16 December 2020, D'Amico died of pneumonia at his home in Oxfordshire, England, aged 55.[5] He was survived by his mother, two sisters, a half-brother, and a son and daughter.
I was Today Years Old when I learned he was British, straight and dead
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | April 30, 2024 8:35 PM
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I found the sound design distractingly sleep-inducing, like an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | April 30, 2024 8:58 PM
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I saw Marcus d'Amico on the West End in "An Inspector Calls" in the mid-1990s. Judy Parfitt played his mother and Sylvestra LeTouzel (a wonderful character actress from the isle of Jersey who played Dorothy Macmillan in "The Crown") was his sister.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 30, 2024 8:59 PM
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[quote] I found the sound design distractingly sleep-inducing, like an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I could have you EJECTED into SPACE! Is that CLEAR, Subcommander?
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 30, 2024 9:00 PM
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