Sex and the City — Classic or Dud

Well, I think the size and scope of "the City" in question has a lot to do with it. If the series were set in Pataskala, Ohio, they'd probably run out of options rather quickly. Whereas, if you put it in, say, Berlin or Hong Kong (or some other teeming metropolis), you have a bit more chance of some genuinely credible and interesting plot developments. And before you ask, yes, I've been to Pataskala, Ohio.

xpost: Alex, please be assured I'm not really being serious, I'm just wasting time at work by misdirecting my dislike for this show into regional pissyness. I just assumed everyone realized that.

I'm kidding too, n/a. That came out sounding more patronizing and imperious than I meant it to. But, y'know, I'm a boring, ugly and (arguably) skinny New Yorker, so what do you expect?

yeah, it's called "Gilmore Girls".

fewer than 1 in 10 Americans live in the states of West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho or Nevada

I think "Northern Exposure" celebrated Alaska (tho' I think they filmed it somewhere in Washington).

the filming of the town took place in Roslyn, WA, 90 minutes from Seattle

throw in Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Philly, and any one of Cleveland/Pittsburgh/Milwaukee/Detroit and you're up to 1 in 3

fewer than 1 in 10 Americans live in the states of West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho or Nevada

UT was included, but I forgot to mention it. now throw in Oregon, South Carolina, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and you're only at 1 in 6

or so the theme song of his show tells me. Which is basically as far as I get into his show...

I've enjoyed SATC when it has matured into a character-driven series and like the fact that Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte have all had generally well-written story arcs that take them beyond the walking stereotypes they started out as - Slutty, Bossy and Prissy - and give them colours and facets that make themselves be human characters.

Charlotte has a rose-tinted view of life and love, and during the series has the perfect fairytale marriage to Trey - on the surface. In actuality, the relationship is utterly sterile and unfulfilling. It's when she meets someone who doesn't fit her criteria of a "perfect partner" (Harry) and abandons her obsession with (surface-level) perfection that she finds true love and happiness.

Miranda grows from being a rather cold, cynical, hard-edged career woman to embracing the idea of blissful domesticity with Steve and being a mum to little Brady. The scenes where she takes care of Steve's senile mother show her as a woman who now allows the side of her personality that genuinely cares for others to come through, having recognised the value of a rich and rewarding emotional/personal life without loosing any of the intelligence and drive that made her a successful lawyer in the first place.

Samantha shifts from being a genuinely amusing "sexual free spirit" to gradually warming to the idea of being in a loving and caring relationship with Smith. Of course, the idea of Samantha becoming monogamous opens a whole can of worms debate wise, since she was often admirable in her essential honesty about her sex drive. But nevertheless, Samantha is given storylines that expand the character, and afford her a degree of personal growth.

And here's the down side:

Carrie sodding Bradshaw. Try as I might, I cannot see anything of value in this shallow cypher of a character. To laugh at the clothes Carrie is wearing in each episode is a valid excuse for watching, but it's a pity to have and put up with what goes with it. The excruciatingly hackneyed scenes of Carrie sitting at her laptop and musing on "this week's issue" are what kept this show unsatisfyingly formulaic. It also doesn't help that Sarah Jessica Parker looks so smug as she delivers her supposedly witty dialogue, which always seems completely measured and deliberate; and totally unlike anything that a genuine human being would say.

And whereas the other women in the show have problems and difficulties but basically get on with life, Carrie is locked into a permananent naval-gazing (see the laptop scenes above) and whingeing "me me me" demeanour. How can you really have any sympathy with an adult woman who spends $40,000 in shoes and then bemoans the fact that she cannot afford to buy her own apartment, going on to basically emotionally blackmail Charlotte into giving up her wedding ring so she can afford a deposit.

Carrie basically comes across as false, immature and nauseatingly self-absorbed. An utter contrivance of a character, that detracts from the good work that the other actresses put in.

SATC's good intentions to provide a space for women's desires on TV, to show that friendship is very important and that getting older than 35 doesn't mean that you should stop having fun and hoping to meet the partner of your dreams, and the performances of Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis = Classic.

Carrie Bradshaw/Sarah Jessica Parker = Dud.

if she is these things, why are they false? you know no one with these qualities? why sympathy is a necessary quality in a character, as you suggest, is beyond me. are we supposed to sympathize with the sopranos? and if we do, the corollary would be that they are better people than Carrie Bradshaw. i think the real problem here is not to an inability to sympathize but a revulsion against such sympathy.

i love this show a lot

oh i so knew you had revived this!

ha!

maybe my favorite character is carrie but that's a tough decision. samantha can really crack me up like no one else. and miranda's just so good.

please delete sex and the city

Karen's post from 6 years ago is so OTM it deserves another airing:

It's lame WITH all that URST and RST. How tedious would it be without it...we'd be comparing it with the absolute death-throes of Murphy Brown or 90210. The fact that this time the plastic yuppies are female and 30-something and rich as a Murdoch fails to make them any more interesting or make me identify with them any better than Dallas or Dynasty, or Home and Away or Neighbours for that matter. Noisy mediocrity is a still a sure fire winner. Just call it 'cutting edge' or 'confrontational' and it's instantly critically bulletproof. The sex angle is just another layer of armor, making it easy to put any criticism in the PC or 'moral police' bin.

Overpublicised, over-rated DUD.

charlotte = way hott

Yeah, I once watched a biopic of John Denver just because she was in it.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy :'(

Back to the roots:

I hate all characters, SJP's character dresses like a Chess King employee, but I keep watching. Is it cause the Sopranos are off till next March? WHat keeps you coming back for more / avoiding show at all costs? And was Aidan's attitude towards SJP this week a perfect snapshot of post-heartbreak ex-boyfriend coldness or what? Do you wax your bikini line? Pube-trimming for guys - dud or just creepy?

1. Me too. I especially hate Sarah Jessica Horseface.
2. I come back for more because I'm gay and sometimes that means being subjected to some seriously awful culture.
3.Pube-trimming for guys is ESSENTIAL. Period. Full Stop. Exclamation point.

It's lame WITH all that URST and RST. How tedious would it be without it...we'd be comparing it with the absolute death-throes of Murphy Brown or 90210. The fact that this time the plastic yuppies are female and 30-something and rich as a Murdoch fails to make them any more interesting or make me identify with them any better than Dallas or Dynasty, or Home and Away or Neighbours for that matter. Noisy mediocrity is a still a sure fire winner. Just call it 'cutting edge' or 'confrontational' and it's instantly critically bulletproof. The sex angle is just another layer of armor, making it easy to put any criticism in the PC or 'moral police' bin.
Overpublicised, over-rated DUD.

the thing is i never looked at the show as something for me to identify with, or to take comfort in or be challenged by. i always knew it was just about humor, sex and image.

it's certainly possible for a show wherein all the characters are rich and unbelievable to be funny - i think it really just boils down to what you find funny, or sexy, or interesting. certain people need to be able to relate to something to find it interesting, i think.

actually tho, i do think SATC has instilled a lot of really positive messages about friendship, and that is definitely something i can relate to. though to a lesser extent than other shows of the four-friends-in-it-together variety, it did speak to the idea of alternative family units. until all of them shacked up in the last season of course!

It's hard for me to put my finger on why I hate this show so much, but I think one reason is that the things that the characters are really unlikeable, and not in the way that J. Ignatius Reilly or the characters Arrested Development are unlikeable--as in other Candice Bushnell stuff, these women are portrayed as living a special kind of life (sexy, racy, rich, New Yorky) and one that the viewer is meant to admire and ooh and ahh over instead of seeing the folly in it. It seems written for Midwesterners who want a peek into another life.

I blame this show for corrupting high school girls everywhere, and portraying their vapid lives as somehow being worth aspiring to. I hung out with three other girls in my first year of college and one of them insisted on assigning us as either one of the four satc identities. I wanted to shoot her.

to be completely fair though, Ben upthread is quite right about how the show can be quite good sometimes. Miranda especially went from being completely unlikeable to perhaps the most human person on the show - her struggle with weight, having a baby, her relationship with Steve and Steve's mom, and balancing all that with her career and ambition all ring completely real and true. And it's sometimes quite funny but gah, I've known too many girls who basically worship this show for all the wrong reasons - essentially using it as an excuse to be completely slutty and shallow.

And it's strangely insular which bugs the hell out of me - apparently, hell is everywhere but New York.

NY-centricity is a fact of life.

I would not say that the show is devoid of a single redeeming feature, but I agree that a lot of girls (and gay men) love it b/c of its celebratory portrayal of these women's lives.

Another thing that bugs me is the pat format of each episode with its excruciatingly overly-clever word play, analogies, and little morals.

If this show were reworked into an American AbFab, THEN we'd be onto something!