Director Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Garry Trudeau will create a sequel to “Tanner ’88,” their television series satirizing the U.S. presidential campaign, to run before the November election, the Sundance Channel said on Monday.
The yet-to-be-named series of three episodes will reunite original cast members Michael Murphy, Pamela Reed, Cynthia Nixon and Matt Malloy, the cable channel said.
Shot in a satirical faux-documentary style, “Tanner ’88” followed fictional Democratic presidential candidate Jack Tanner, played by Murphy, against the backdrop of the actual 1988 presidential race.
The show played up the seedy side of politics and the media, touching on such scandals as damaging sexual dalliances, political backstabbing and back-room deal-making.
The new series, which is set to run in October, centers on Tanner’s daughter Alex (Nixon), a documentary filmmaker seeking funding for a film about running for the White House and the toll it takes on those who lose.
It promises to blur the line between factual and dramatic and will feature Tanner interacting with real candidates from the present day, the cable network said.
Like the first series, the new shows will be written by Trudeau, who won the 1975 Pulitzer for his satiric comic strip “Doonesbury,” and directed by Altman, a five-time Oscar nominee for best director.