cc watch: Tales, More Tales, Further Tales of the City

I was able to read the first book, Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin, decades ago. I couldn't recall the story but I remembered it was fun reading. I knew years after, that they made TV mini-series of the book. But I never got around to remembering to download. Until recently.

The first season had 6 episodes. Set in 70's San Francisco but produced in 1993, the series was fun to watch. And it didn't disappoint with the male nudity factor, though still just behinds. I won't get into the details but it was typical soap opera fare, with twists and turns and with very colorful (rainbow flag-colorful) characters. I was shocked to see my crush from the 90's, "The Rocketeer" William Campbell, playing a hot gay doctor. That certainly made me want to finish the season.








The second season also had 6 episodes. It was produced 5 years after but was supposedly just a year from where season 1 left off. They brought in new actors to play old roles. That was jarring at the start. I had gotten familiar with the Season 1 characters and my brain kept on resisting. Until I realized that the actor, Paul Hopkins, is way sexier as Michael Tolliver than the first season. The way the story unravels was still very credible, pretty much as Armistead wrote it. I noticed though that there were a few more scenes of gratuitous male nudity, frontal at that, in Season 2. But these were from the extras rather than the main characters.






The series ends with Season 3 as one 3-hour episode. This was produced in 2001 though the show itself takes place about 6 years after. By this time, the stories had gotten a bit stale and it needed a different plot twist. So it introduced new characters interplaying with the old ones (and old cast, no new faces this time). And lo behold, even the hot male characters were (finally) in their frontal birthday suits.






So, other than those snippets of nudity, is the series worth watching? I enjoyed it, though not in a delirious kind of way. The third season ranks least among the three. I felt it was just going through the motions. But what the heck, I've always been the type to see things through till the end.

So go watch it. If only to see hot couple William Campbell and Paul Hopkins kiss and naked. LOL


*all images lifted from IMDB.com

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