Tales of the City (2019)

This update of the all-time classic miniseries mixes nostalgia and the now somewhat awkwardly, but it's sweet, soapy, and inclusive enough to charm, particularly those who loved the original. There's a gorgeous moment in the first episode that's the best kind of fan service: A back-in-town Mary Ann charges up the same staircase filmed for the 1990s version and into Anna's 90th birthday party, gazing about her in wonder to find the house and grounds virtually unchanged. Then Anna emerges from an upstairs room and the two lock eyes: both older, more lined, but still there. It's been 25 years since the first Tales of the City aired to great acclaim (and great controversy) on PBS; viewers who were watching at the time can be forgiven for misting up at seeing these iconic characters share a screen again. 

About that word "iconic," though: Anna comments in a pleasingly meta way about the show's venerable lineage, "I suppose Barbary Lane has become iconic, but people get uncomfortable around old things. When someone grows old, it remind us of the inevitability of death and before you know it, you're using words like 'iconic' instead of 'old.'" Ouch. The very same viewers who caught the original on TV may resemble that remark, even as they fall under Barbary Lane's spell again. New viewers may not appreciate the series as much, particularly in the early episodes, when subplots about a lesbian/transman couple, a set of twins with Instagram ambitions, and others seem a bit shoehorned in. But as lovably written as they are -- by Orange Is the New Black's Lauren Morelli -- and animated by terrific new actors like Ellen Page and Charlie Barnett as well as old friends like Linney and Dukakis, it's easy to sign up for another stretch on Barbary Lane.