AN OSCAR-CELEBRATED CAST SPARKLES IN THE NEW “TALES OF THE CITY” Mary Ann is immediately established in “Tales of the City” as the character through which TV viewers can vicariously take in all she sees, which includes the antics, loves, lives and losses, experienced by her close circle of gay friends and eccentrics. Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis) – an eclectic old woman with a secret of her own. This location becomes the epicenter of the series a charming apartment complex owned by Mrs. She was a transplant from Cleveland to the city of San Francisco, and now a new resident of 28 Barbary Lane. ‘Tales of the City’ promotional image -Netflix AdvertisementĪt the heart of the series was Mary Ann Singleton (Laura Linney), the wholesome, blond, “girl next door” with impossible dimples and wide-eyed wonder. The bigger context was about how those misfits found each other and formed lifetime bonds and alliances. However, there was far more than that to Maupin’s story. Each night I waited to see the “controversial gay kisses, bathhouse hookups, and even tender scenes of two men, just lying in bed together. In some ways, the show felt like a guilty pleasure. Just as promised, it was apologetically real in its portrayal of gay life in San Francisco during the late 70s.

Needless to say, it delivered.īased on a series of columns by Maupin in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Tales of the City” made its debut on PBS in 1994. I didn’t know exactly what it was going to be about, but from all I had read, it was going to be groundbreaking and authentic in its depiction of gay characters. The buzz surrounding the show ignited the LGB (before the TQI + were added) community. At that time, gay characters on TV were still few and far between. I was in my early 20s when the original “Tales of the City” miniseries first hit the airwaves. The reboot of Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City” airs Friday, June 7 on Netflix. Luckily, I’ll at least be able to revisit Barbary Lane soon. These are three fictional characters who all “lived” at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco – an address so intriguing, I wished it were real, so I could actually move there. Madrigal, Mary Anne Singleton, and Mouse.

28 barbary lane