Some of the most explicit scenes had been edited for American audiences, but opposition was powerful. In a Corporation for Public Broadcasting balance hearing for interest groups with a stake in the show , conservative groups came down hard on the show. Robert Knight, then the director of cultural studies for the Family Research Council, referred to the show as “a slick piece of gay propaganda,” joining the American Family Association in a push to cut public funding for PBS.

Maupin, among others, has said that he believed PBS caved to homophobic pressure over the show’s same-sex story lines and characters. A PBS representative said at the time that the assessment was “unfair,” arguing, “We don’t follow the commercial television model, where a ratings success immediately spawns sequels and spinoffs.”

Showtime later picked up two of Maupin’s sequels — “More Tales of the City” and “Further Tales of the City” — as limited series, the second ending in 2001. Other incarnations include a BBC radio play and two musical stage shows. For the new Netflix episodes, the showrunner, Lauren Morelli, relied heavily on L.G.B.T. cast members among the many newcomers.

28 Barbary Lane

“Tales of the City” focuses primarily on the people who live in a boardinghouse turned apartment complex owned by Anna Madrigal (Dukakis) at 28 Barbary Lane, all of whom quickly become part of what Maupin coined a “logical family.” Characters like Mary Ann Singleton (Linney) in the original series, and now Shawna (Page), are deeply invested in Anna. Their neighbors are, too, some of whom have lived there for decades despite San Francisco’s rising rents and real estate costs.

Mary Ann Left Her Heart in San Francisco

By the end of “Further Tales of the City,” Mary Ann was marrying the reformed lothario Brian Hawkins (Paul Gross). But in the Netflix premiere, she returns to Barbary Lane for the first time in 20 years for Anna’s 90th birthday party, with a new husband in tow.