Just before Christmas, we heard the official industry rumor that HBO and HBO Max wanted to do a limited series revival for Sex and the City. Considering Sarah Jessica Parker was desperate for years to make a third film, the limited series sounded like a good compromise, especially with HBO Max trying to drive more subscriptions. The problem is, of course, that Kim Cattrall has never had any desire to come back to the franchise. So… she won’t be there for the HBO Max series. Which is definitely happening:
“Sex and the City” is getting the revival treatment at HBO Max, Variety has confirmed. The new chapter is titled “And Just Like That…” and will star Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis. Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha Jones in the original series, is not returning. Parker, Nixon and Davis will also executive produce, along with Michael Patrick King.
The revival will follow Carrie Bradshaw (Parker), Charlotte York (Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Nixon) as they navigate love and friendship in their 50s. The series will consist of 10 half-hour episodes and is set to begin production in New York City in late spring.
Parker, Davis and Nixon all shared the long-rumored news on Instagram Sunday with a short teaser. The video cuts between footage of New York City and a computer screen, on which the phrases “And just like that…” and “The story continues…” are typed out along with Parker’s signature voiceover. Parker’s post is captioned, “I couldn’t help but wonder… where are they now?”
I’m including the teaser below. If I had cut the teaser, I would have started out the same way, with the normal sounds of the city, and then at the end, transition the city sounds to the first notes of that iconic Groove Armada opening credit music. But that’s just me. It would have been awesome.
As for Cattrall’s absence, there are already theories and jokes going around about how they’ll explain Samantha’s absence. One person joked that Sam Jones will have died storming the Capitol! God, what if they make Sam a MAGAt? Lord almighty. SJP is just petty enough to do that too. I do think they’ll just kill off Samantha though – my guess is that the first episode of the limited series will be Sam’s funeral, and Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte coming together for that.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
This feels like a terrible idea. Not the part about examining love and relationships for women in their 50’s, I think that part is interesting. I mean, in this case why revisit these characters? Also, doing it without Samantha will really suck, even if her storylines were often bs, the character had a valuable perspective as one of the few characters not always in long term relationships.
Yes, Samantha was the most interesting out of the four of them. The dynamic will be all wrong without her. I loved the original SATC but we didn’t need this for 2021, a show about white privilege in the city with everything that’s going on. All I could think of was how is that going to look during a Pandemic when NYC is so different?
If SATC was going to do an update, they needed more diverse POC viewpoints to really show what NYC is all about.
Memo to SJP: It’s over!
No one asked for this. Ugh!
I came here to say “Who asked for this?” Lol. Thanks!
SJP asked for it, she can’t let that role and the cash go. I refuse to watch it.
I don’t think anyone asked for this….I’m embarrassed for them…
+1
Yep. It’s a no from me..
Kudos to Cattrall for not coming back. #dignity #commonsense
Agreed, also for calling SJP out previously
I have zero interest in this
Hard pass. Kim was right to move on from sex and the city as the characters ceased to develop in the movies.
Yes. And as the series wore on, Samantha was the only decent counterpoint to the other characters who were marrying and having kids. There’s nothing wrong with exploring women of this age group—I’m older than all of them—but not as these characters. But SJP wants the money and being the star of a series where men are throwing themselves at her because she is so irresistible.
Not any more 😣 vapid
They had Samantha literally devolve.
For the love of god, please, no
The series has not aged terribly well. I do not wonder what any of these women are doing, with the possible exception of the one who won’t be there.
THIS! I loved SATC, but when I watch it now, I cringe so often. It has aged pretty poorly, and I’m surprised that it’s not discussed more/there is any interest in reconnecting with these characters.
sigh….a time in history when women thought that being a modern woman meant you should be sleeping around and over spending on frivolous clothes and shoes…
so glad that time is over…we are better than that!
Same!
I decided to re-watch it in the beginning of the pandemic but I only lasted 5-6 episodes before I realized I had outgrown it. They are immature AF and do and say stupid, cringy things all the time. I just could not relate and I’m sad that I used to romanticize it when I was younger.
This is not what is needed. A show about rich white women ( some Karening their way through the UES) will highlight everything that is wrong today. Very little diversity, inclusiveness and lots of self absorption. SJP needs to let this go.
Given that there are 10 real housewives series I think there is an audience for this.
Agreed by today’s standards, these women fall squarely into Karen territory…
What would be interesting is if they made Art imitate life and we saw Miranda running for Mayor of NY…
This exactly. It might have been groundbreaking at the time but a show about 3/4 wealthy, connected, and completely oblivious white women in a cartoon version NYC appeals to a very very very small group of folks. Don’t even get me started on SATC 2!
Kim was so right and lots of folks on the cast (mostly those looking for validation or a check) tried to come for her. She’s right. It’s over. Let it be over.
The series was a little grittier when it started, if you look at the pilot episode it has a different tone and look. But when SJP became the producer it turned into Carrie’s wish fulfillment of clothes and men.
Kim refusing SAVED Satc…this? The revival no one was asking for?
Lord have mercy.
SATC 2 was so un-watchable. It had no meaningful content what so ever. Yawn!
Also became over when all plots and characters orbited solely around SJP and her dramas. One of the few episodes that’s still watchable is the one when Miranda finally confronts Carrie about her selfishness – when Carrie was raving on about one of her many relationship dramas in a phone call, while Miranda was trying to fit back into work and stay awake, post the birth of here baby. The only disappointing part was that Miranda’s anger only lasted a few seconds and then she apologised for being rude. It could’ve been a great story line if the writers allowed the other characters to take central plots more often (and if they were allowed to call Carrie out much more frequently).
I never got into it the first time, though I know plenty who did and that’s fine. But I agree there is no need to bring it back. I watched part of the movie and actually kind of hated it. I also recently saw, for some reason, the episode where Charlotte sleeps with an Orthodox Jewish guy and that was handled in rather a tacky way? But that said, Samantha was never a favorite of mine. Maybe I was just so turned off by her storyline in the movie that I can’t get past it, idk. I do like KC as an actress, just not the character.
As a huge fan of the show, even now with the benefit of hindsight, I think this is a terrible idea. If I hear a ton of buzz saying it’s great, maybe I’ll give it a chance. But right now I have no desire or plan to watch this.
I think it sounds like a terrible decision, why ruin the show. The TV series was great but the films were not and without Samantha, it won’t be the same.
I think looking back at the original show, I don’t think it’s aged well. I loved it so much at the time, and I do think it is a great show, but as I’ve gotten older I realised that I wouldn’t want to be anything like them. I see there flaws so much more now and I can’t stand Big, he’s a wanker. I don’t think he’s even into Carrie, yet she’s obsessed with him.
The show existed at a very specific time in NYC. The city has changed so much since then.
It’s pretty wild when you remember SATC started PRE September 11. Verrryyyy different time.
I was 7 when the series started, and now I am 30 (and single lol). It was fun watching the show when I was a teen imagining this is how adults live with amazing shoes and no roommates HA.
But it hasn’t aged well, but it still (the TV show) has a nostalgic spot. I hope they don’t kill off Kim that would be lame af.
This. The show was fun at the time and I think it would be remembered more fondly if they hadn’t made the movies, which were wretched. I can’t see these characters having anything interesting to say in current times. Kim Cattrall made the right decision.
I have zero interest in watching this. And I loved the series (it was the first series “we” – meaning my college friends – bought on DVD – we each bought a season, LOL – and then we watched the series finale together our senior year while my roommate’s ex boyfriend made us cosmos and I think there was chocolate and champagne and I feel like he carved something edible into flowers. LOL.)
Anyway – so yeah, I loved the series.
The first movie was fun. Not great IMO, but fine.
The second movie was a total disaster and honestly that killed the series for me. I havent really watched an episode of it since then, I have zero desire to do so.
I was proud of Kim Cattrall for standing strong against a third movie.
So yeah, this series? It also sounds like a disaster, and just….not a good idea.
I’ll watch it if it’s free, but I wouldn’t pay for it. It would be nice escape from reality.
Damn SJP cannot let this go, she really has not been able to forge any real career outside of SATC,come to think about it none of these ladies really did past the series. Cynthia Nixon did ok in other series(recently saw her in Ratchet)but SJP who was probably suppose to be on the same level as Julia Roberts,Reese Witherspoon,Jennifer Aniston seemed to go no where,no wonder she holds on for dear life.
SJP and Cynthia Nixon both do Broadway theater. When the pandemic started, SJP was scheduled to open on Broadway for a sold out run of Plaza Suite, which had just completed a sold out pre-Broadway run in Boston. She started in theater. She still does theater. Cynthia Nixon also started in theater and is still working in theater. Theater doesn’t get the attention that other forms of acting do but both women are still in demand on Broadway.
Does SJP ever play anyone but herself? Serious question, as I’ve not seen her on Broadway.
Dilettante – I saw her as the female lead in How to Succeed in Business opposite then-boyfriend (!) Matthew Broderick (replacing Megan Mullally). Right after that she starred in the Once Upon a Mattress revival. She’s great on stage, because she’s funny and kind of chirpy and she can do “big.”
I haven’t seen her on stage since the ’90s, and back then she was getting shunted into those types of lead/ingenue roles, but I’m pretty sure there’s a great character actor in there, too. I’ve always thought of her as, really, the female Matthew Broderick. (Or he’s the male SJP?)
Jenn, thanks for the reply.
Must we?
When I want to watch women in their 50s navigating friendship and love, I watch the Golden Girls.
LMFAO
They spent so much of the late part of the series showing all this growth on Samantha’s part, and then the movies undid that to the point that she became a caricature. I wouldn’t come back either, were I her. And that’s not even to mention all the “stuff” with SJP.
I don’t agree. Kim Cattral’s “Samantha” is the heartbeat of SATC. Definitely not going to watch this atall.
I saw that IG (the picture and top line, I didn’t watch the video) and thought she was making a point about COVID and how NYC is quiet. Where are all the people who make NYC the wonderful place it is? How are they doing?
I prefer my interpretation to the reality.
Do people really want this? I tried watching an episode a couple of years ago, and everything about it bothered me. The world is different…and we have MUCH better shows.
Yes, the show’s very dated; hasn’t aged well. Seinfeld too. Friends has stood up well for the most part but still problematic about trans/gay, etc.
Friends hasn’t really held up well but seems to keep finding an audience. Very anti gay and another nyc show with only white people. But what really gets me about friends having re watched recently on maternity leave, is that Ross is SO toxic as a boyfriend. There’s one episode where he’s literally controlling who Rachel can and can’t see. And it’s supposedly the hilarious punchline of a joke. It’s SO cringe 🙁
I think Seinfeld is more cringe than Friends now, but not for the same reasons. Friends is very dated in terms of diversity but the characters are still funny and likable for the most part. Seinfeld characters were never really likable and that was part of its charm, but now? It just isn’t a feel good show and I want that when I watch something out of nostalgia, I guess. But the whole Ross/Rachel saga was annoying. I far preferred Chandler and Monica which was a more realistic and positive example of how relationships and people evolve. Chandler grew up. Which was nice.
So the show really took a downturn, but the first four seasons were good and deserve to go out better than that last movie.
Any finale has to be better than SATC2, so I’m for it.
I like SJP.
(And envied her for dating JFK Jr😉😉😉 )
And I’ll give this a go.👍👍
Golden Girls go NY!
http://www.carriebradshawistheworst.com is the funniest thing you will read.
Thank you so much 🙂
The ONLY thing good about SATC2 was how HOT Aiden looked when she ran into him. Everything else made me feel nauseous – it was unbelievably tone deaf, Melania-Africa-trip -level white people fantasy about the middle east cosplay and racist IMO. I also lost any passion for it after that.
Horrid idea. Horrid SJP. Kudos to Kim Cattrall.
I have to admit that I think that this is an absolutely great idea. First and foremost, NYC was always the fifth “friend”/character and I can’t think of a more perfect time to highlight it. I actually “found” SATC during the 08-09 Great Recession as a means of escapism and I can’t imgaine a more perfect time for escapism tv (I believe that the Great Recession really ignitied the Golden Age of TV). Something about SATC and the structure of their stortelling really lent itself to 30 min. episodic television as opposed to the movies (shudder). Lastly, just picturing SJP’s facemask wardrobe has me giddy.
Not having Kim will definitely be a blow, but at least she won’t have to deal with the petty games.
I agree with this. As a midwest gal, SATC made New York seem like magic. Pretty much everything I knew about it came from that show. And however much the characters sucked, the writers clearly loved NYC. If they can recapture THAT magic, in a time when the city has been through so much, I’m all for it.
Cool let’s watch the magical city as it deals with Black activists getting beaten and roughed up for BLM. Let’s see how COVID shut down restaurants and millions of people lost their jobs, etc. There is zero way to do this which is going to see NYC as magical.
Some of us live here, and are black, and still love our city and think of it as magical, just FYI.
I am in favor of any show that will employ New York artists and artisans.
And I know this isn’t particularly popular here, but SJP has been a New Yorker for longer than I’ve been alive, and I’ve never heard a bad thing about her as a person. Eventually, if someone sucks, you hear things.
That’s not a knock on Kim, she’s not one of us, but I haven’t heard bad things about her, either. It’s possible two people can be mostly okay as individuals and still despise each other.
They can always do a pre-covid New York era like 2018.
And just like that… Nobody will care.
I asked for it….
I want it…
Can’t wait to see it…
Me, too. I was extremely disappointed in that train wreck of a second movie but I’m hopeful that this will make up for that. I’m sad that KC won’t be a part of it, but I respect her decision to want to move on.
I don’t think they will kill of Samantha though – they will want to have the option of her coming back as she was the most popular character (unless SJP wants to be really petty – which I think she likely is). I think the one wanting this the most SJP – she has not topped that role – but honestly, I think she likes to be the baby-talker fashionista and “girl that everyone wants”. But she’s older now and it seems silly at 50 to play that role. Plus – hate saying this but SJP’s face has not aged well. .
I couldn’t help but wonder… would I even bother watching if Samantha isn’t in it?
Nah.
I was too young really to watch Sex and the City when it was originally on TV, I think I was in my freshman or sophomore year of high school when it first aired. Plus my family didn’t have cable growing up. I got into it when the WB (now CW) started airing the rated PG version on late night TV starting around 11 PM at night. It was entertaining and I watched it for the light, frothy dramedy it was. But I NEVER liked Carrie. She drove me crazy and I hated that she was the narrator of the show. The movies were pretty bad (SATC 2 being way worse than SATC 1) too. I feel like Carrie Bradshaw should be left in the early 2000s where we left her. It was before social media and smartphones took off and there was way less of a focus on diversity on TV. If they wanted to bring the show back to TV, it should be a reboot with younger actresses focusing on more diverse casting, not a continuation of the old series. Like they did for Charmed for example (I’ve never watched the Charmed reboot as I feel I’ve out grown CW programming). SJP really can’t let this franchise go and after hearing everything she did to give Kim Cattrall bad story lines, I will not be watching.
Hard pass for me, SJ Pee-pee.
W-was… was that a Perez Hilton reference??
Samantha was the worst anyways, all she did was cosplay Mae West. I am actually excited for this!
I would like it if it’s revealed that Samantha never existed – she was a construct of Carrie’s imagination to make her column more popular. When the new series starts, Carrie is coming off of a huge James Frey style literary scandal.
In my opinion, Samantha was the least interesting character. She was one-dimensional and over the top. Carrie was often terrible but at least she seemed real. I wouldn’t be her friend but she had depth. I think people judge SATC mostly based on the last season and two horrendous movies. This show has been a lifesaver for women after breakups and has a lot of relatable moments you can pick and choose from throughout the show. I hope what they focus on is that relatability. The small moments. Not the over the top glamour from the end of the show/movies.
As for how they will explain Samantha, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a falling out within the show and we only see the aftermath. I should also add I like Kim Cattrall and SJP both. Anyway I’m curious to watch.
Disagree. Carrie was AWFUL. She was by far the worst character. the way she treated Aidan was just beyond the pale. she was so self-centered it was disturbing. carrie guilt-tripped Charlotte until she gave her the money for her apartment. that was such a shitty move I STILL am not over it. Your friends dont owe you money for your apartment because you buy Manolos like there’s no tomorrow!!!!
Samantha was the one who had the strongest sense of self, who was self-confident and interesting and who came through for her friends when it mattered. I admit at initial viewing I didnt like Samantha, but when I look back on the show almost 20 years after it ended = my character list is Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte, and then Carrie way way way down at the bottom.
carrie did have the best shoes out of all of them though.
We don’t fully disagree about Carrie. She sucked but I don’t expect all protagonists to be perfect. I think we tend to let male leads be the anti-hero more often than women. I’m just saying she had depth and sometimes even charm (though that’s all SJP). She seemed like a real and shitty person. Samantha always felt written to me, if that makes sense. Like they took a self-confident woman and dialed it up to 11 for shock value or something. They rarely gave her real and vulnerable moments. She had some but not nearly as much as the others. I’d go Miranda, Charlotte, Carrie, Samantha in terms of favorites.
I actually think Miranda and Charlotte had some of the best lines and funniest moments. I always think about the scene of the four of them eating while Miranda tells them about “Marathon Man” and the butt licking. That scene is one of the funniest moments ever on that show!!
HI Sarah!
I would absolutely support a remake of SATC with four women of color, or three WOC and one white woman. Samantha should be trans and Miranda should be gay. And Carrie and Charlotte should be poor or at least struggling financially — a columnist/freelance journalist and an art gallerina do not make that much money and the vast difference between their incomes and Miranda’s and Samantha’s should be at least occasionally a plot point! THAT would be a really interesting “reboot” and I think it would be refreshing to see NYC again, post-pandemic (hopefully), through a friends group like that.
The women being white was never an issue with me. What I loved about the show is that each woman was different and represented different types of women. Samantha represented a career woman who didn’t want to get married or have kids. Miranda was a career woman that wanted both the career and the family. Charlotte just wanted marriage and family. Carrie wanted marriage without kids. There’s a lot woman out there regardless of race that can relate.
I would watch if Mr. BIG was replaced by Alexander Baldwin.
That way, we could focus on his fascination with lying to, using and secretly serial dating Latinas, ie: all kinds of real Latina women from Puerto Rico ultimately ganging up against Big and his fat ass white privilege resulting in Big’s sudden disappearance.
I’ve actually been rewatching the series and a few of the episodes haven’t aged well, but most are still relatable. It’s interesting watching it at the age I am now (40) vs. when I was in my 20’s. Carrie was a horrible, horrible girlfriend. She treated Aiden so badly and I wasn’t even a big fan of him (mostly the actor). I even see Samantha with new eyes…she’s still a great character, but her addiction to no-strings attached sex is concerning. That said, I don’t think this reboot is a good idea without Kim, but I can’t lie…I will watch it. I just hope they don’t screw things up. I liked the first movie because that would have been like the 7th season if there were one, but the 2nd movie was awful.
Carrie was a horrible girlfriend to Aidan and a horrible wife to Big. In the first movie she wouldn’t even let him relax and watch tv after a hard day at work.
I KNOW BIG was the WORST…but young Chris Noth took my breath away 🤪
There, I had to say it, and I said it (runs & hides).
I mean, I liked it at the time, but it was ridiculous:
https://www.thespinoff.co.nz/tv/28-12-2020/a-definitive-list-of-every-ridiculous-thing-that-happened-on-sex-and-the-city-2/
I think a lot of people will watch the remake though. I wouldn’t be surprised if they introduce a token non-white character either.
I watched a few episodes of the show in “real time,” when it was still filming, so got a sense of it but never followed the story lines closely. I will say however that Kim Cattrall had every right to demand better pay, even parity with SJP as it was clearly an ensemble thing.
So for the numbers:
For each episode, SJP got 3.2m starting from 2nd or 3rd season. The real shocker is the other three got around 10% of that, 350K!!!
For the movies, SJP got 15 and 20m contrasted with 3 and 4m for Kristen and Cynthia and 6 or 7 and 10m for Kim.
Really appalling inequality in pay. It’s going to be interesting if they can manage to make it watchable without Sam/Kim. SJP has always been a very grating presence on screen and the Carrie character is selfish, entitled, and annoying and quite rude towards her friends. Saw the trailer for the 2nd movie and SJP looked horrible, almost like the nun in the Nun horror films. She has lost all of that youthful perkiness that softened her unusual looks.
Nooooooooooooooo. Just no. No, no, no. They’ll kill Samantha off, cancer. Fake tears from SJP. Nobody wants to see any of them naked. SJP needs to let it go. She’s like a dog with a bone.