Movies - Tanner '88

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	Movies - Tanner '88

Tanner '88 was a groundbreaking HBO television series. Written by Garry Trudeau and directed by Robert Altman, it went behind the scenes of the fictional campaign of former Michigan Congressman Jack Tanner in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic party's nomination for the U.S. presidential election, 1988.

Congressman Tanner (played by Michael Murphy) is an obscure liberal Democratic politician who struggles to find a voice in the early Democratic primaries until his campaign manager T.J. Cavenaugh (Pamela Reed) masterminds an advertising push highlighting Tanner's authenticity and integrity. Using the slogan 'For real,' Congressman Tanner manages to emerge from a wide field of contenders to battle for the nomination against two high profile and better funded candidates, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and eventual nominee Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.

Along for the ride are Tanner's college student daughter Alex (Cynthia Nixon) and mistress Joanna Buckley (Wendy Crewson, the real-life wife of Michael Murphy), a high level member of the rival Dukakis presidential campaign.

The series lasted for 11 episodes, following Congressman Tanner from the New Hampshire primary to his unsuccessful challenge for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. In 2004 the Sundance Channel revived the series with a four-episode sequel, Tanner on Tanner
. The series was also released on DVD as part of the Criterion Collection in 2004.

The series is notable for cameo appearances from real life political figures of the 1988 primary season, including Jesse Jackson, Bob Dole, Gary Hart, Kitty Dukakis, Bruce Babbitt, and Pat Robertson.

Robert Altman has always contended that this was his most creative work, along with Short Cuts
.

Cabinet

Jack Tanner's proposed cabinet (quotes from their appearances on the show):

Nicholas von Hoffman, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
Barbara Jordan, US representative to the United Nations
Joan Claybrook, Secretary of Transportation
Ralph Nader, Attorney General ("I stand for law and order against corporations.")
Gloria Steinem, Secretary of Health and Human Services ("I've spent most of my time picketing outside those buildings...")
Art Buchwald, ambassador to France ("if they agree to send me American food, I'm willing to be ambassador to France")
Lee Hamilton, Secretary of State ("I think we have the possibility to see a new climate between the two great superpowers in the world")
Studs Terkel, Secretary of Labor ("too much specialization...I'm a generalist")
Robert Redford
, Secretary of the Interior
Lee Iacocca, Secretary of Defense
Jim Hightower, Secretary of Agriculture

Song

The show's theme song, drawn from Altman's 1979 film Health, became a continuing part of the series, appearing in multiple incarnations throughout Congressman Tanner's bid for the presidency.

Partial lyrics:

Exercise your right to vote
Choose the one you like the most
It's your individual right to choose the one you want to fight for you
Vote!

Pick the proper candidate
You can change the course of fate
It's a decision you must make to choose the one you think is great
For you
Vote!

Trivia

Writer Jesse Armstrong acknowledges Tanner 88's influence on the BBC political comedy The Thick of It.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Tanner '88 ]

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