I’m old enough to have watched Sex and the City, the series, when it aired. When Big ran off to Paris and married Natasha, people were mad. And then the Aidan Shaw character was introduced and people got REALLY MAD. Like, SATC loyalists – at the time – were pretty mad at how Aidan exposed Carrie Bradshaw for what she really was: a superficial narcissist cheater addicted to melodrama. Instead of being mad at Carrie, the writers or the producers, people got mad at John Corbett and the Aidan character. It was a lot. For what it’s worth, Aidan and Carrie never belonged together. He was too mature for her, too solid, too undramatic, too straight-forward. She sabotaged that relationship a million different ways and then she got mad at him for not trusting her! I’m still not sure if the writers intended to expose Carrie that way. Anyway, John Corbett has confirmed that he’ll be “back” for the ten-episode revival:
And just like that … Aidan is back. “Sex and the City” star John Corbett revealed to Page Six that he will reprise his role of Carrie Bradshaw’s ex-fiancé, Aidan Shaw, in the hotly anticipated show reboot.
“I’m going to do the show,” he told us in a new interview, adding that the news is “very exciting” for him.
As for how many episodes he’ll appear in, Corbett said, “I think I might be in quite a few.”
“I like all those people, they’ve been very nice to me,” he added.
HBO declined to comment.
On the long-running HBO show, Corbett, 59, played hapless furniture designer Aidan, whom Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie not only cheated on with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), but subsequently dumped when he wanted to get married. He appeared in the movie sequel, running into his ex-love in Abu Dhabi, where the two shared a romantic meal and even a kiss.
I mean, do the SATC writers even remember the backstories? Aidan moved out, broke off their engagement, moved on, had a baby, and then I guess the Abu Dhabi stuff happened years later, and now what? He’s a divorced dad who still (improbably) lives in the city? If he’s going to be in quite a few episodes, is it going to be some kind of haphazard romantic arc? Please don’t.
Photos courtesy of Getty, HBO, Backgrid and Avalon Red.
LOL. This must be because Noth is not coming back.
I guess I haven’t been reading up on this because I did NOT know that. Oh God, are they going to kill off Big and have Carrie end up with Aiden??
Aidan was married and had a kid, so he’ll either be divorced or widowed. What a sh*tshow. I refuse to watch it.
Lord above, I am sick of Carrie Bradshaw.
Yeah it was reported on I think two months ago or something. He’s killing it in The Equalizer on CBS and I think due to that wouldn’t be able to shoot.
And yes, I assume Sam and now Big will both die of COVID or something and then she meets Aidan again. LOL. Wow.
WON’T watch it either: can’t stand the sight of that SJP witch in Corbett’s arms, especially after her odiousness to Kim Cattral.
The way SJP clings on to this franchise is so weird. After SATC finished she could have been the next Jennifer Aniston or Reese Witherspoon. Her reps truly failed her ,she cant let go.
But I think that’s the problem – that kind of success post-SATC never happened. There were no big dramatic roles or classics from her. Just not memorable tom-coms that made other people into stars.
I’m still on team Catrall – let it go. It’s done.
Oh_Hey, I agree!! It’s been what, 2 decades and they are dredging this up again? Let sleeping dogs lie as this is stupid and ridiculous. I don’t think anyone will want to watch it as it’s run it’s course, and then some.
As for Catrall, I am with you too!! She is such a fabulous actress with so much going for her and I loved her calling out Parker for that pathetic great girlfriend comment on Catralls IG or FB for being a shitty friend and bullying her during the entire series!
I think she tried that route and failed. She did Did You Hear About the Morgans, I Don’t Know How She Does It, Failure to Launch, among others. So, back to TV.
Nooooooooo not Aidan. GEEZ.
Loved Aidan! Loved them all tbh. Though I think I was in the minority- wasn’t much a a ‘Big’ fan. Looking forward to the revival.
I never understood the obsession with him either, I thought Aiden was so much better.
He was definitely way too good for Carrie, and though I have no intention of watching this reboot, it’s disappointing to hear he’s coming back. Not for the actor, but the character in general should have left her in the dust decades ago.
This is 100% what I’m feeling. He was always the best of Carrie’s boyfriends, from what I remember, but he was too good to go back. Unless they gave her character a major overhaul as if she’s experienced some personal growth in the interim, which I doubt.
Same. I think part of it was my residual love for him in Northern Exposure, lol. But I wasn’t a fan of Big either.
Is it just me or is Corbett virtually unrecognizable in that header shot? I would not have known it was him with out the ID.
oh lord.
Aidan and Carrie NEVER made sense. I never got it. Different personalities can work well together, and I think we saw that ultimately with Steve and Miranda, but Aidan and Carrie were so different, had such different interests – and Carrie was not someone who would show an interest in what someone else liked.
Ugh I can’t even think about the show without getting mad. Carrie was the WORST.
Aiden was way too good for her.
He was! I mean she cheated on him and then was all you have to forgive me. And then acted like such a jerk when they got engaged. She treated him like a place holder until she could be with Big again.
EXACTLY. It’s a poor creative choice when a supporting character makes you wonder why they think the protagonist is soooo great. I was a young 20-something when this show was on and I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that someone as great as Aiden would put up with Carrie’s BS. She’s the worst, and he can do SO much better. But since everybody’s gotta eat, I’m glad John Corbett is getting booked for the reboot (which I will not watch.)
LMAO this made me chuckle there is an actual blog called https://carriebradshawistheworst.com/
I’ll have to rely on others for theAiden storyline. I didn’t ever realize people were mad at Aiden when Carrie did him dirty. That’s when I lost interest in the series. Big going up to the cabin was jumping the shark for me. Smith and Samantha’s love story was the most memorable.
I love how much Smith loved Samantha and went through the sh*t with her. And Charlotte and Harry were so sweet and genuine. I either didn’t care for or don’t remember the rest of the relationships.
Was there a huge demand for a re-boot of SATC? I mean I watched when it was on at the time but the show is of a different era. Are they all of sudden going to have a black girl friend and not play on old gay stereotypes?
There was no huge demand. They shopped around a 3rd movie, but with the last 2 movies being so awful and 2 main cast members wanting nothing more to do with the show they created the series reboot because $$$.
No there wasn’t. SJP probably wants more Manhattan real estate, and that doesn’t come cheap.
I’m so intrigued by how they handle it. It could be interesting if they come back and everyone has moved on and lives in the modern world, but I’m sure it will all be a gleeful rehash complete with early oughts fashion, and the whole thing will feel tone-deaf and miss the mark completely.
How about hiring good writers and coming up with new characters?
Come on now that is not how this show operates and we all know it. What half baked storyline are we gonna get, Carrie decides Aidan is “the one” murders his wife with the spikiest stiletto she has and becomes the perfect stepmother to his three sons, teaching them that Vogue will provide more nourishment than a dinner in the evening after school. One of the son’s in an act of loyalty to his new mommy with infect Samantha with covid over zoom, or blow her house up so Sam Jones will go out with one last bang (he,he) all this will happen with Sam off screen as she had bad Botox and couldn’t show her face in society again, Charlotte will have another baby, hire a nanny with an accent and then make puns about the nanny’s name, Carrie makes passive aggressive comments about the fact the nanny wears comfortable shoes rather than Manolo’s to run around after the kids, Miranda seeing all this decides she is not running for president and hides out in another country. Steve exists. Call me HBO!
“Steve exists.” 😂 This comment is fabulous.
Hopefully the show is all about Aidan, then it would actually be good. What if SJP wasn’t even part of it. Ha.
Never cared for Aidan or Big, but Carrie treated Aidan so poorly, especially after begging him back.
She really was an unlikeable character. It made no sense that everyone was clamoring to be her bestie, be their children’s godparent, etc.
I agree wholeheartedly with this, “ She sabotaged that relationship a million different ways and then she got mad at him for not trusting her!” She pursued him and pushed for their reconciliation. Then, after getting him to commit, she did all she could to f-ck that relationship up. After their breakup, she had the audacity to be mad that Nina Katz was gossiping about how terrible Carrie was and how hurt Aidan was afterward.
I like SATC and do plan on watching the reboot. I’m curious how they’ll work Aidan in and hope it’s not to reunite him with Carrie.
I want to see Aiden because….good gravy he’s hot (and getting better every year). I don’t want to see Aiden get jerked around by Carrie.
Good to see I’m not the only one who dislike Carrie. She was my least favorite character
So, Carrie was manipulative towards Aiden. She lied. She cheated. She begged him back and did it all again. He left for a healthy relationship with a woman who appreciates his furniture building skills and didn’t mock or belittle them. Got married, had a baby. And in the show if I remember correctly, Carrie isn’t happy Aiden moved on. She wanted him permanently on her back burner options.
And now Aiden will return as a divorced dad who forgot how toxic his ex was?
SATC is a show from the POV of a narcissistic abuser, justifying their behavior and playing the victim.
He will always be Chris in the Morning to me. Nothing can change that. *shrugs*
👆🏼This. Although ending up with Maggie just didn’t work for me.
Yeah. As Chris in the Morning he was perfection.
I was admittedly a huge SATC fan when it was on, but I was in my late teens – early 20s when it aired, and now I’m 41 and while I’ll watch episodes if I catch them on E! or wherever, I can now clearly see how problematic Carrie’s character was. Also agree that it was from a completely different time and won’t translate as well today….at least not without some major changes and we all know that Carrie will still be running around in cropped, outlandish fashion ensembles at nearly 60 years old, still sabotaging relationships. It’ll be really interesting to see how they play this out without Samantha and Big. I don’t even have HBO anymore and it’s not worth the money to pay for it just for this…I’ll get online recaps instead, lol.
As a non-SATC viewer who does know a thing or two about the story, the main characters and its dynamics, I didn’t really know about John until I saw him as Doctor Covey in the To All The Boys movies, in which he plays a very Aidan-esque type of character. Is it weird that now I kinda wanna watch SATC just to see the whole Carrie-being-exposed thing develop? Or am I just wasting my time? Lol.
Lol, that’s how I feel! I like his character Aiden better after seeing him in the TATB movies. You should totally give SATC a watch, it’s a very comforting show.
Looking back on it now that I’m older, I think the writers did mean to portray Carrie that way. Carrie was human – she had great qualities like how much she loved her friends and she was also selfish and bratty and time and again ended up choosing a guy who consistently treated her badly. I wish she had ended up with Aidan but that’s not what she wanted. And now that I’ve read some of the above comments, I’m reminded of how badly she treated a good man like Aidan.
I won’t even go into how cheap it was of the writers to have Baryshnikov’s character slap Carrie in order to make Big look like the better choice. Just leave it at – he was married to his work and she felt lonely and neglected. Nope, they had to go for the slap.
But in conclusion, and it’s been said many times, nobody asked for this reboot. Leave Aidan alone – he got married and had a baby and he was happy last time we saw him. Let him be happy. The show ended on a happy note but then the movie reminded us that Big was still going to treat Carrie terribly. Because he was never going to change.
Corbett and his partner Bo Derek are huge conservatives and Trump supporters. I think I am going to pass.
Ew….I did not know this. Welp, that ruins the character for me.
Tried to google about this and found nothing. Sources?
Oh gosh…how many times are they going to beat us over the head with this storyline? Carrie didn’t deserve Aiden. She was AWFUL to him and then would claim she’d “never do anything to hurt him.” Except…ya know…cheating on him multiple times with her ex, deceiving him, agreeing to marry him when she didn’t want to, agreeing to move in when she didn’t want to, forcing him to accept that the guy she cheated on him with will remain in her life, shamelessly flirting with him in the 2nd movie, etc. I don’t even like Aiden or John Corbett, but that story was wrapped up nicely in season 5. I’m left to assume that they are going to kill off Big and put Carrie back with Aiden. Ugh.
I am so over this. He’s too good for that show in real life and in TV
This reboot is weird; SATC was of a long gone era in which we were all much more naive. That naivety ended with the twin towers falling and the subsequent war(s). Trying to remake this show or reimagine it completely breaks the initial premise. Just create a new show with entirely different characters. They can wear expensive things while they complain about having to do home learning.
Who is this revival for?
I loved SATC so I’m here for it!
They are just absolutely determined to destroy whatever microscopic shreds of positive memories of SATC remain.
Based on those two awful SATC movies, my expectations for the reboot that no one asked for are very, very low.
I couldn’t stand the Aidan character. I can make myself cringe thinking of the “TWOSIES!” jacks-playing scene. And the “Let’s get you a doughnut!” one. He had zero idea who she was. I grew to dislike the Carrie character intensely, but she and Big fit together. Or at least deserved each other.
I loved the Sam/Smith and Charlotte/Harry love stories. Charlotte ended up being one of my favorites, to my great surprise. But I preferred all to Carrie.
I half-assed watched the first movie, but didn’t like it and didn’t watch the second… was there a third? IMHO, the series ended when it should have and that should have been it, so anyone interested can imagine their preferred outcome.
Agree to all. Aiden was awful. Carrie was a horrible person straight up & a crappy friend. Charlotte/Harry & Sam/Smith were the love stories. & I like Stanford
I didn’t like Aidan either, remember how he slapped the nicotine patch on her arm…? No… And even the sanding of the floors, taking over her place, at least Big let her be who she was and didn’t try to control her… And yes, my fav guy was Smith, v under-appreciated I think, young and handsome yes, but also the sweetest, most generous of them all — remember when he shaved his head, and also took Sam away from the Richard Wright scene? Loved him… And yes, Stanford was v sweet too.
What about her ” Russian Lover” Mikhail Barishnykov? He was can asshole in the series but oh so delicious!
He was an ass but your use is the word delicious is exceptional & spot on!!
I hate this. I loved the Aidan character & would like one o’ those in my own life (please & thanks, Universe!) & have always adored that actor when he pops up in other roles- as an aside, my mom met him at an art show once & he took a picture & was really adorable with her – but gawwww this reboot gets my goat something awful, the mere existence of it, the idea of MORE SJP/Carrie but without the balancing loveliness of Catrall/Samantha, the beating of this dead horse to an absolute pulp over the years, sucking every last cent out of something we all used to love…
Maybe the writing will be outstanding? I truly wonder how they could bring back the Aidan character in any way that would be tolerable to peeps who actually used to love the show. If it’s to fawn over Carrie some more, so help me Gaw….
I watched the show when it was on tv. Let it go. The thoughts of a reboot makes my skin crawl.
If they’re down with bringing back the original Dadbod, they may as well have a special Nina Katz cameo where she bumps into them and she gives both Carrie and Aiden … that eye.
Or maybe Aiden has left his bitchy demanding wife and bratty kid and taken up with Nina and then Carries steals him away or something?
If they’re seriously dragging Aiden into it, they gotta get Miss Serving Unbebothered Face 2003 involved somehow, too.