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No sex please, we're Canadian >> Despite critical acclaim, More Tales of the City has been rejected by PBS and the CBC by JOHN CUSTODIO
More Tales of the City garnered five Emmy nominations this year, most notably for outstanding miniseries--not bad, especially considering it almost didn't get made at all. (The other nominations were for lead actress Olympia Dukakis, writing, art direction and costume design.) Despite the resounding critical and commercial success of Tales of the City, PBS (the broadcasters of the original series) declined to participate in the production of, or even air, More Tales. "They said they don't do sequels," Maupin told the Mirror. "I find that interesting given the number of sequels they've aired of Prime Suspect. "It was maddening. The executives at PBS never fessed up to their real motives. Everyone knew that it was basically an act of cowardice: PBS was under fire from the Christian right and Newt Gingrich and their very existence was being threatened. They were afraid of losing government subsidies, so they gave in to the neanderthals." Tales of woe At the centre of the controversy was the matter-of-fact representation of life in San Francisco circa 1977, focusing on the lives of the residents of 28 Barbary Lane, the now-legendary address of the sexually diverse characters in Maupin's series of popular books. "The most radical thing about what I did," Maupin said, "the thing people get most upset about, was the fact that I dared to not make homosexuality an issue in the way television normally does. It's just there, with no warning labels, as part of the landscape--the way the heterosexual plot lines are." The sequel did eventually get produced, though--by Montreal's own La Fête Productions. "I was a big fan of the first series," said More Tales producer Kevin Tierney, "and I wasn't a bit wary of offending anyone. It's intelligent adult drama and I knew it would get picked up eventually. In fact, I was sure the CBC would pick it up." The CBC, however, declined. Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of network programming, said that "there was no place for it on our schedule, but it's possible we will reconsider our decision." Earlier, however, Michelle Bailey of CBC's international co-productions, sales and acquisitions department said, "There was too much content that wasn't suitable for the CBC. We would have had to edit too much crucial stuff." "I don't get it," Maupin responded. "What's the problem? There's no violence and it's not sexually explicit either. The values represented in both miniseries are basically tolerance and compassion." "We even shot a 'free' version," director Pierre Gang pointed out. "One without any nudity or strong language." It remains to be seen whether More Tales will air on Canadian television--it has already been shown on cable in the U.S. and on Channel 4 in Britain. But Tierney is optimistic: "We're entertaining a few offers at the moment. Showcase has shown some interest, for example." More Tales of the City premieres in Canada on Sept. 26 and Tales of the City screens on Oct. 3, at the De Sève (Concordia), as part of Montreal's Image&Nation Festival of Lesbian and Gay Film and Video
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Armistead Maupin is feeling vindicated. In his battle against the Christian right's family-values lobby, he's also getting the last laugh--in more ways than one.