Tales of the City

One is always concerned when a great work of written fiction is dressed up for the screen, but you can have no worries about the integrity of this production. We all paint pictures of characters when reading a book, and these images remain locked in our minds.

More often than not, when these characters appear in the flesh on the TV, we are a little disappointed. Not in this case! Maupin's wonderfully colourful feast about San Francisco in the seventies transfers vividly to the screen. The emotion and pace of the written original is dutifully kept in this production, with sterling performances all round. Dukakis exudes mystery, D'Amico portrays the endearing 'Mouse' with style, and Linney is sublime.

Expect to be experiencing all the human emotions in this delightful mini series. Perfect.

In my quest to see every thing Parker Posey has ever done, I put this miniseries (and it's successors) on the back-burner. I finally got around to it and was very impressed! What a fascinating and engrossing show. It has this magical atmosphere that really made me wish I was living in SF in the 70s. Parker is only in it a bit, but she's got some great dialogue. Olympia Dukakis is lovely and Laura Linney (who I find somewhat overrated these days) shines in the lead as a naïve Midwestern girl moving to the big city for the first time. It's probably the best work I've seen from her. My only complaint about this (and I suppose the fault lies with the source material) is that so many of the story lines take such an abruptly dark and twisted turn in the final episode. Even though I typically go for dark themes in my entertainment, it seems to come out of left field here. Still, it's great overall, and even features a cameo from the notorious Karen Black, playing herself as a candy bar craving fat farm attendant!

This 1993 mini-series is a delightful translation of Armistead Maupin's book. A window into a more carefree time and place - 1976 San Francisco, when love was free and life was much simpler.

The cast is appropriately attractive, especially the deliciously sleazy Beauchamp Day (Thomas Gibson, pre-"Dharma & Greg") and the charming Dr. Jon Fielden (Billy Campbell, pre-"Once and Again"). The then-unknown Laura Linney is perfect as the innocent MaryAnn Singleton, and Chloe Webb is outstanding as the spacy ad exec, Mona Ramsey. And, of course, Olympia Dukakis is marvelous as the "mother of us all", Anna Madrigal.

This is must-see television. The sequel was made in 1998, and the third book is filming now in Vancouver for a 2001 release.

I have had a copy of this series since it originally was broadcast on my local PBS station. Watch it many a time since.

I found the entire series to be a wonderful unflinching look at the times/situations relative to the mid to late 1970's San Francisco. I've heard and read of what went on during that decade, and found what was portrayed to be accurate, but deftly done to not offend in any major way. Yes, there was nudity, sex and what not, but like I said, it was deftly dealt with.

The characters were believable and had obviously been well fleshed out in their back histories. You understand, as the series moves along, the main character's histories, rare in productions of this type.

I find I like watching this series, partly because I was old enough to remember some aspects of the late 70's. (I was in junior high at the time) but because of the stories that are woven throughout the piece. A well cast and thought out production. It's rare to see a mini series, or film for that matter, be this accurate in portraying the late 70's.

These actors were so well cast. I had read the book long before the mini-series came along. But this cast was almost exactly what I had imagined as I read the chapters. What an amazingly interesting and fun story of life. Not just life in San Fran in the '70's, but of human emotions and interaction anywhere and anytime. Very well acted and directed. If you like this, then by all means, pick up all of Armistad's books - you'll love them!