Tanner ’88

1 9 8 8 (USA)
1 x 60 minute episode
10 x 30 minute episodes

Garry Trudeau, creator of the Doonesbury comic strip, teamed up with director Robert Altman (M*A*S*H, Nashville) on this satirical look at an American presidential campaign for HBO.

Michael Murphy starred as hopeful Democratic nominee Jack Quinton Tanner, and episodes followed his (fictional) 1988 presidential campaign. Jack – a handsome divorcee – has a young daughter, Alex (Cynthia Nixon) and is carrying on a hidden romance with Joanna Buckley (Wendy Crewson), a female staffer from the Dukakis campaign.

Also featured is Pamela Reed as his steely-voiced campaign manager, TJ Cavanaugh.

Episodes were filmed on location in New Hampshire, Nashville, Washington, California and Detroit and set against the real world of the Democratic primaries.

This allowed for some cameo appearances from real-world political figures, including Bruce Babbitt, Bob Dole, Gary Hart and Kitty Dukakis, with much of the dialogue improvised.

A 2004 spin-off (Tanner on Tanner) followed Alex Tanner (now a filmmaker) as she produced a documentary about her father at the time of the Bush-Kerry campaigns. Celebrity cameos included Harry Belafonte, Robert Redford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and John Kerry.

Jack Quinton Tanner
Michael Murphy
TJ Cavanaugh
Pamela Reed
Stringer Kincaid
Daniel Jenkins
Deke Connors
Matt Malloy
Andrea Spinelli
Ilana Levine
Alex Tanner
Cynthia Nixon
Emile Berkoff
Jim Fyfe
Molly Hark
Veronica Cartwright
Frank Gatling
Frank Barhydt
Stevie Chevalier
Sandra Bowie
Joanna Buckley
Wendy Crewson
Hayes Taggerty
Kevin J O’Connor
David Seidelman
Richard Cox
Barney Kittman
Greg Procaccino

Episodes

The Dark Horse | For Real | The Night of the Twinkies | Moonwalker and Bookbag | Bagels with Bruce | Child’s Play | The Great Escape | The Girlfriend Factor | Something Borrowed, Something New | The Boiler Room | The Reality Check