Australian audience reactions to the ABC’s broadcast of Tales of the City, as seen in the Green Guide letters

When Tales of the City (1993) was broadcast to Australian audiences on the public service broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 1994, it brought a story that substantially featured representations of gay men to our small screen. That broadcast was followed by a series of eight letters to the Green Guide – a weekly television guide circulated with The Age newspaper based in Victoria, Australia – that debated the value of these stories appearing onscreen. This article examines the Green Guide letters published as reactions to Tales, providing insight into public attitudes towards gay representations at the time. It analyses how the mediated debate that took place was a curated version of public opinions about sexually diverse representations. It argues how this public debate through letters published in the media highlights the significance of such stories appearing onscreen for both gay men and broader communities alike. Further, it argues the role of the ABC as a public service broadcaster in bringing such complex gay stories to Australian viewers, that other commercial networks may have resisted at the time.