AllMovie

Armistead Maupin calls the three-story wooden house at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco "my homestead, my Tara." He began his portrait of Barbary Lane life during the '70s in a daily newspaper serial, expanding the material into a series of six novels. PBS aired the original TV miniseries in 1994, but threats and pressures prompted PBS to drop their plans for a follow-up, leaving an unresolved cliffhanger for four years. Several members of the original PBS cast were reunited for this six-part Showtime sequel (adapted from Maupin's second novel in the series), set in San Francisco of 1977. It picks up the threads of the story six weeks after the point where the PBS miniseries ended. When Mary Ann Singleton (Laura Linney), hoping for romance, and her cynical gay friend Michael (Paul Hopkins) take a Mexican cruise, Mary Ann meets amnesia victim Burke Andrew (Colin Ferguson) and Michael runs into his former lover, Dr. Jon Fielding (William Campbell). Michael's roommate Mona Ramsey (Nina Siemaszko), in a purple haze of pot and angel dust, answers phones at a Reno brothel owned by Mother Mucca (Jackie Burroughs). Mona learns about her lineage and also about Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis), the former Mr. Madrigal. Rich widow Frannie (Diana LeBlanc) finds a cure for her depression at the rural resort Pinus, where society ladies celebrate their 60th birthdays with youthful houseboys. Beauchamp Day (Thomas Gibson) is married to Frannie's pregnant daughter DeDe (Barbara Garrick), but Beauchamp isn't the father. Locations include San Francisco, Montreal (substituting for some areas of San Francisco), and Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Premiered June 7, 1998 on Showtime.