Tanner on Tanner is a 2004 four-part comedy miniseries. It is the sequel to the 1988 Robert Altman-directed and Garry Trudeau-written miniseries about a failed presidential candidate, Tanner '88. The sequel focuses mostly on Alex Tanner (Cynthia Nixon), a struggling filmmaker and the daughter of onetime presidential candidate Jack Tanner (Michael Murphy).
Contents
Episodes
"Dinner at Elaine's" (October 5, 2004)
"Boston or Bust" (October 12, 2004)
"Alex in Wonderland" (October 19, 2004)
"The Awful Truth" (October 26, 2004)
Plot
Alex Tanner is working on a documentary about her father's run for president in 1988. After her documentary, My Candidate, is met with an underwhelming response at an independent film festival, Robert Redford advises her that her film is lacking and that she should do follow-ups with all the people from the 1988 campaign to see what they are doing now, and get their reflections on their past roles.
Alex does just this, interviewing most of the old campaign staffers and her father before going to the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston with her film crew to compare and contrast it with the 1988 Democratic National Convention where her father lost the nomination. Along the way, one of her crew members, Salim (Aasif Mandvi), is repeatedly stopped and frisked by police because of his Arab ethnicity. There she meets up with TJ, her father's old campaign manager, who is now advising John Kerry. While TJ provides assistance to Alex, she also advises Jack that he is being considered for a position in the administration, should Kerry win the election. She says he would need to make sure footage from Alex's documentary of him attacking the Iraq War is removed and destroyed, so as not to potentially embarrass Kerry. Jack asks Alex to remove and destroy the footage, which she considers the best part of her documentary. Alex becomes very upset and disillusioned with her father. (It is also implied that she has had a falling out with him.) She eventually destroys her whole film, looking to move on with her life.
Cast
Michael Murphy as Fmr. Michigan U.S. Congressman Jack Tanner
Cynthia Nixon as Alexandra "Alex" Tanner
Pamela Reed as T.J. Cavanaugh
Matt Malloy as Deke Conners
Ilana Levine as Andrea Spinelli
Jim Fyfe as Emile Berkoff
Luke Macfarlane as Stuart DeBarge
Aasif Mandvi as Salim Barik
Greg Procaccino as Barney Kittman
Cameo appearances
Martin Scorsese as Self
Steve Buscemi as Self
Dina Merrill as Self
Ted Hartley as Self
Harry Belafonte as Self
Elaine Kaufman as Self
Robert Redford as Self
Al Franken as Self
Janeane Garofalo as Self
Michael Moore as Self
Tom Brokaw as Self
Chris Matthews as Self
Charlie Rose as Self
Carl Bernstein as Self
Ron Reagan as Self
Alexandra Kerry as Self
Dee Dee Myers as Self
John Podesta as Self
Massachusetts U.S. Senator John Kerry as Self
North Carolina U.S. Senator John Edwards as Self
Connecticut U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman as Self
Florida U.S. Senator Bob Graham as Self
Delaware U.S. Senator Joe Biden as Self
Georgia U.S. Senator Max Cleland as Self
Production
As with the first film, this film features many cameos by politicians, mainstream media figures, and celebrities including: Robert Redford, Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Lieberman, Tom Brokaw, Ron Reagan Jr., John Kerry, Alexandra Kerry, Michael Dukakis, Chris Matthews, Dee Dee Myers, Dick Gephardt, Barack Obama, Michael Moore, Steve Buscemi, Bill Clinton, Charlie Rose, Stacey Ferguson (with The Black Eyed Peas), Dina Merrill, Mario Cuomo and Martin Scorsese.