The original stage play premiered in Los Angeles on May 11, 1996 and ultimately won 14 Drama-Logue Awards. The film met with mixed reviews from mainstream audiences but became a cult classic with LGBT fans, particularly in the South. The movie tells the story of a Texas family coming together in the aftermath of the matriarch's death. To keep the stories going, Viacom's new station Logo produced twelve episodes of Sordid Lives: The Series. The television version begins at a point before that covered in the film, with Rue McClanahan as the mother, Peggy Ingram. Much of the film cast returned, including Leslie Jordan and Olivia Newton-John. Delta Burke was replaced with Caroline Rhea, while the part of Ty Williamson, formerly played by Kirk Geiger, was now portrayed by Jason Dottley. Kirk Geiger reprised his role as Ty Williamson in the Sordid Lives sequel, A Very Sordid Wedding, in 2017, along with Bonnie Bedelia, Caroline Rhea, Dale Dickey, Leslie Jordan, Ann Walker, Emerson Collins, Whoopi Goldberg and Katherine Bailess.