Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City is coming back from TV death on Netflix.
The streaming giant confirmed Tuesday the 10-episode limited sequel series will see the returns of Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis in the roles as Mary Ann Singleton and Anna Madrigal, respectively.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Barbara Garrick will return as DeDe Halcyon Day. The series will also introduce Ellen Page, who will play Shawna, daughter of Linney’s Mary Ann.
Orange is the New Black‘s Lauren Morelli will serve as writer and showrunner.
Based on the books by Maupin, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City follows Mary Ann (Linney), who returns home to San Francisco and is reunited with her daughter (Page) and ex-husband Bian, 20 years after leaving them behind to pursue her career.
Fleeing the midlife crisis that her picture-perfect Connecticut life created, Mary Ann returns home to her chosen family and will quickly be drawn back into the orbit of Anna Madrigal (Dukakis) and the residents of 28 Barbary Lane.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this brand-new incarnation of Tales. It’s set in present-day San Francisco with all the joys and complications that might suggest for the residents of 28 Barbary Lane,” Maupin said. “Mrs. Madrigal’s tenants, both old and new, will be entangled in delicious new adventures and ever-expanding possibilities for love.”
Maupin wrote nine novels in the Tales of the City series, which led to three Tales of the City limited series starring Linney and Dukakis. Alan Pool serves producer for the first three adaptations (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City), which earned a Peabody Award and multiple Emmy Award nominations.
Maupin and Poul return to executive produce the Netflix adaptation, with the latter also on board to direct. Linney will be credited as an executive producer. The series hails from Working Title Television and NBCUniversal International Studios. Working Title’s Andrew Stearn, Liza Chasin, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner exec produce; Michael Cunningham is set as a consulting producer.
Morelli, who met her now-wife Samira Wiley while working on Orange is the New Black, told The Hollywood Reporter: “The magical, vivid world that Armistead Maupin built in Tales of the City is one that offered so many — particularly the LGBTQ+ community — a home for the first time. For many, Tales was the first time they saw themselves on screen. I am humbled to now find my own home within Tales and to continue telling Armistead’s stories.”
Production on Tales of the City is expected to begin later this year for a 2019 release.
