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Amos Lassen wrote on 02/14/2011:

“Further Tales of the City”
The Third Installment
Amos Lassen
Here we go again. “Further Tales of the City” is the third mini series based on the books of Armistad Maupin. It s a bit shorter than the two prior series but doesn’t mean it is not as good. None will be as the first but the third is wonderful on its own. It has a great storyline and it is lots of fun. There is a lot of mystery and a lot of romance (and more frontal male nudity). Maupin was one of the first authors to integrate gay and straight characters into a novel and then we watched them mature and grow throughout six books. If you have lived in the real world, you know that Maupin has recreated the story of our lives and has done so beautifully. He writes about normal, everyday people who become our extended family and the mini series do for us on the screen what Maupin did on the printed page.
This series strays a bit from the books but the added storyline—that of Mother Mucca is great. I knew I did not have to worry about being disappointed in the screen adaptations of Maupin’s books from the moment I started watching. Every nuance of every character is caught.
“Further Tales” begins some four years later than “More Tales of the City”. The “ME” decade of the 80’s is beginning and this is obvious throughout.
Maupin has stated that the main influence upon him when he writes is Alfred Hitchcock and as you watch the series you will see that. The stories and the characters overlap one another and the participants do not seem to notice this at all, Like Hitchcock, Maupin appears in a cameo.
Mary Ann has begun to notice love in her neighborhood. He has also landed a very hot news story and is waiting to spring it on her boss. As she and DeDe Halcyon-Day go through some great twists and turns, there is a wonderful comedy of errors. But have no fear. Anna Madrigal and Michael have their own subplots and their own twists and turns but it is Mary Ann that has the spotlight this time.
I have heard complaints that the ending is too happy. I think those that feel that way have forgotten just how many stories and subplots we have and how long all of this has been going on. The series is meant to entertain and we have all kids of entertainment here—a chase to Alaska, a kidnapping, a born again Christian wielding a gun and blowing someone away.
The third installment is darker than the others but that makes it even more fun. We must also remember that the 80’s marked the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and one of the characters has signs that he has the disease. There is also the Jim Jones storyline which gives the conspiracy theorists something to consider.
Laura Linney as Mary Ann knows her character and is great Dukakis is always wonderful. The new storyline, as far-fetched as it is, works and the entire series is a wonderful look at the way we live. I can’t say enough good things about the entire series.

Green Giant wrote on 09/23/2002:

This new production which first aired on ShowTime last
May 2001 is like the first 2
mini-series well written,well
directed and well acted. in
fact every actor is the living
embodiment of their character
as originally concieved by
Maupin. and the big selling
selling point is the fact that
William Campbell has a full frontal nude scene that will knock your socks off. unfortunately like the first 2 mini-series this one is not
letter faithfull to Maupin's
novel. one prime example- toward the end of the novel there is a very dramatic scene
where Michael is gay bashed and
only thru Brian's quick thinking does he survive before help arrives. this
scene showed how close a friend Brian considered Michael and i'm sure i wasn't
the only one disappointed that
is was left out.

Green Giant wrote on 07/05/2002:

While FURTHER TALES OF THE CITY is as enjoyable as the
first 2 mini-series i have the
nagging suspicion that a certain amount of Maupin's original novel was cut out. one of the things that made the first two mini-series such
a treat was that they were dramatically gripping and entertaining while letter faithful to Maupin's novels.
the first two mini-series were
5 hours in length this one is
only 3. all six of the novels in the TALES series are the same length so something had to have been left out. aside from that
a well acted and frank depiction of the lovers and
friends at 28 Barbary Lane. one thing that makes the vhs or the dvd worth the purchase
price is William Campbell's
in your face full frontal nude
scene that will knock your socks off.