Tales of the City 

The stories of several colorful characters living in San Francisco. Based on the book by Armistead Maupin (Is A Man I Dreamt Up).

Stars:

Olympia Dukakis, Donald Moffat, Chloe Webb

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Olympia Dukakis	...	Anna Madrigal 6 episodes, 1993
Donald Moffat	...	Edgar Halcyon 6 episodes, 1993
Chloe Webb	...	Mona Ramsey 6 episodes, 1993
Laura Linney	...	Mary Ann Singleton 6 episodes, 1993
Marcus D'Amico	...	Michael Tolliver 6 episodes, 1993
Billy Campbell	...	Jon Fielding 6 episodes, 1993
Thomas Gibson	...	Beauchamp Day 6 episodes, 1993
Paul Gross	...	Brian Hawkins 6 episodes, 1993
Barbara Garrick	...	DeDe Halcyon Day 6 episodes, 1993
Nina Foch	...	Frannie Halcyon 5 episodes, 1993
Country Joe McDonald	...	Joaquin 4 episodes, 1993
Parker Posey	...	Connie Bradshaw 4 episodes, 1993
Syd Straw	...	Laurel 4 episodes, 1993
Kevin Sessums	...	Peter Cipriani 4 episodes, 1993
Cynda Williams	...	D'orothea Wilson 4 episodes, 1993
Stanley DeSantis	...	Norman Neal Williams 3 episodes, 1993
Paul Dooley	...	Herb Tolliver 3 episodes, 1993
Meagen Fay	...	Binky Gruen 3 episodes, 1993
Michael Jeter	...	Carson Callas 3 episodes, 1993
Belita Moreno	...	Alice Tolliver 3 episodes, 1993
Ian McKellen	...	Archibald Anson Gidde 3 episodes, 1993
Edie Adams	...	Ruby Miller 2 episodes, 1993
Robert Downey Sr.	...	Edgar's Doctor 2 episodes, 1993
Stephanie Faracy	...	Candi Moretti 2 episodes, 1993
Lou Liberatore	...	Chuck 2 episodes, 1993
Mary Kay Place	...	Prue Giroux 2 episodes, 1993
Meadow Sisto	...	Cheryl Moretti 2 episodes, 1993
McLean Stevenson	...	Booter Manigault 2 episodes, 1993
Paul Bartel	...	Charles Hillary Lord 2 episodes, 1993
David Brisbin	...	Lemon Candles 2 episodes, 1993
Vicky Preston Brown	...	Opera Singer 2 episodes, 1993
Lance Loud	...	William Deveraux Hill III 2 episodes, 1993
Lou Cutell	...	Herb Siegel 2 episodes, 1993
Bob Mackie	...	Richard Evan Hampton 2 episodes, 1993
Darin Heames	...	Skate Guy 2 episodes, 1993
Carolyn Lowery	...	Hillary 2 episodes, 1993
Janeane Garofalo	...	Coppola Woman 2 episodes, 1993
Michael McFall	...	Michael's Friend 2 episodes, 1993
Gender	...	Drag Queen 2 episodes, 1993
Philip Moon	...	Lionel Wong 2 episodes, 1993
Mother Love	...	Motherly Waitress 2 episodes, 1993
Tom Alan Robbins	...	Supermarket Creep 2 episodes, 1993
Sam Moore	...	Preacher 2 episodes, 1993
Amy Ryder	...	Frieda 2 episodes, 1993
Don Novello	...	Father Sarducci 2 episodes, 1993
Hank Stratton	...	Robert 2 episodes, 1993
Howard Platt	...	Mr. Wilson 2 episodes, 1993
Kelvin Han Yee	...	Taxi Driver 2 episodes, 1993
Rod Steiger	...	Bookshop Owner 2 episodes, 1993

Storyline

Tales of the City chronicles the adventures of Mary Ann Singleton, a young secretary from Cleveland who takes a vacation to San Francisco and decides to stay. Set in 1976, before the days of AIDS and crack cocaine, the story depicts the city at the height of its boisterous gay, drug and disco cultures through the eyes of the innocent heroine.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | gay interest | male frontal nudity | tv mini series | female nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tales of the City

Filming Locations:

28 Barbary Lane Set, Occidental Studios - 201 N. Occidental Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Playhouse,Channel 4 Television Corporation,KQED

Technical Specs

Runtime:

360 min (6 parts) 320 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edie Adams' final television role.

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Goofs

When Beauchamp and Mary Ann pull up in front of Barbary Lane after their weekend away, the crew is reflected in the side of Beauchamp's car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mary Ann's Mother: Hellooo?
Mary Ann Singleton: Mom, It's me.
Mary Ann's Mother: What's the matter did you miss your plane?
Mary Ann Singleton: No. I didn't
Mary Ann's Mother: You know darling we were just talking about you...
Mary Ann Singleton: Would you call Mr. Lassiter and say I won't be in on Monday?

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Connections

Followed by Further Tales of the City (2001)

User Reviews

Transcendent Impression of a Time and a People

Tales of the City is a film about which one has to impose oneself into a different mindset in order to write. This adaptation of Armistead Maupin's classic novel adopts a lampoon of chronicling story yarns, taking place in a progressive neighborhood in San Francisco where the least accepted felt in the time in which the film takes place was a place wherein they could live freely amongst their own, and the otherwise accepted were the ones who are subject to adjustment. At the same time it involves elements that are larger than life, its structure creates an atmosphere that is so close to life that it is larger than film.

It starts as the sumptuously sexy Laura Linney plays a naïve girl from the Midwest seeking a change in her life, impulsively to San Francisco, soon finding herself living in a neighborhood where things are out of control only because they are the natural way of the world unlike the perception of a reticent, sheltered American woman. Her life knots with her various neighbors and an incidental mass of quaint, intriguing, odd, bizarre, perfectly normal characters. It's an upturned impression of San Francisco in the 1970's, exploring what the rest of the world saw as "alternative lifestyles" and "underground culture," and what they saw of themselves. This includes a host of wonderfully entertaining performances, especially by the endlessly charming Parker Posey.

For anyone willing open their mind to the exploration of gays, casual drug users, free thinkers, different sorts of mysterious, nonconformist people, and the repressed, Tales of the City is a striking portrait with a picturesque environment, and the comings and goings in the lives of the multitude of characters strike a chord with us that love is as unpredictable as everything else, and that there always very well may be fathoms of new discovery and progression in our existence.