Sex and the City: Dumbest show in syndication?

[Orrex]

Actually, no. The dumbest show in syndication might be "Yes, Dear," which I didn't even know had ever existed in first-run.

But by now I've seen about a dozen episodes of SatC, which is, as far as I can discern, the same as watching any single episode a dozen times over.

Is there anything to recommend this trite show about four empty, materialistic, shoe-obsessed women? If these shallow archetypes were transposed onto male characters (and, admittedly, empty, materialistic male characters abound on television), they would be equally unwatchable.

Would someone explain this show's magic to me? Please?

[Phillycat]

1. If you're watching it on regular TV, they've cut out all the best stuff.

[Flaxbee]

35. exactly as janesez says...

much of the storyline is mangled b/c of the prude police.

I find it unwatchable on TBS or whatever channel its currently on. Almost as bad as Friends or Will and Grace or any of the other shit that passes/passed as a sitcom.

But as it originally aired on HBO, it was a lot of fun.

[ronnykmarshall]

71. I'll second that.

One of the best lines:

Guy In Bar: (To Samantha) Do I know you?

Samantha: Yes, I probably fucked you.

GIB: No, I think I know you from college.

Sam: I probably fucked you in college.

I won't watch the censored version of the show.

[Orrex]

73. Hmm...

How about this hypothetical take on it:

Samantha: (To Guy in Bar) Do I know you?

Guy In Bar: Yes, I probably fucked you.

Sam: No, I think I know you from college.

GiB: I probably fucked you in college.


It seems to me that this framing of the scene would have been perceived as piggish and misogynistic, and the GiB would hardly have been applauded for his in-your-face sexual independence.

Why is the female character praised for doing the same thing that would be scorned in a male?

Or would it be scorned in a male character?

[ronnykmarshall]

77. Jesus H Christ ...

You don't like the show.

We get it!!

I fucking love it!

My god ..... watch something else for Christ sake.

[Orrex]

79. Why watch anything else? I keep hearing that SatC is the best show ever.

You don't like my posts--I get it.

Read something else, for Christ's sake.

[Darth_Kitten]

85. Relax..........they are just giving their opinion.........

n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

2. Well, I personally love the show but all the good stuff had to be cut

out to air it on network TV. That's why I have the DVDs.

[Orrex]

3. Okay, but what's "the good stuff" in that case?

Is it boobies? Is it winkies? Is it the f-word? Is it explicit drug-use?

???

[Phillycat]

4. Explicit sex and swearing.

Plus all plotlines that involve kinky sex.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. Yeah what janesez said.

Basically, to show it on TBS or WB, they actually need to eliminate storylines, plus the nudity and the cursing. There's not really any drug use in the show, at least from the main cast.

Also, it definitely seems to be a show that men just don't "get."

[LynneSin]

8. There was some pot smoking but they showed it

Samatha was a regular user and Carrie used it a few times. They left it in

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. The funny thing is...

that didn't even register as drug use to me. It's on like the same level as drinking in my mind.

[LynneSin]

11. Last night they did show Miranda's vibrator

although it was nothing more than a stick thing that vibrates

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. Yeah, and they showed Samantha's Hitachi Wand, but she bought that

at Sharper Image. Hardly scandalous.

[LynneSin]

13. I can't remember - did they show 'The Rabbit'?

:shrug:

I liked what they did with 'The Fuck Buddy' episode - ending up being the 'The **** Buddy'

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. If they did show it, I didn't see it.

I was personal assistant for awhile for a woman who's company made one of the rabbits knock-offs. Man, she was rich. SatC definitely did wonders for the popularity of that toy.

[catmandu57]

18. I don't think they'll ever show the C episode

When I had hbo I'd watch every now and then, the episode where Miranda? was trying to get an artist to exhibit his work and the only way he would is if he got to paint a picture of her vagina only he used the c word had me rolling on the floor.

[Phillycat]

24. It was Charlotte.

Great episode. :D

[Divameow77]

50. They did show that episode

but they blurred out the artwork.

[ronnykmarshall]

72. Gay men get it.

It's FABULOUS!!

[BlueIris]

6. Yeah. But I may be biased because I HATE SatC.

It just wasn't funny to me.

[bigwillq]

7. Sex and the City ROCKS!

But not on network TV. You need to watch it on DVD! Those girls are crazy!

[LynneSin]

9. You really need to see the unedited versions

and to be honest, I've been enjoying the edited versions (usually trying to pick out what is cut).

Perhaps I'm not a swinging gal living in a great apartment in NYC with an amazing shoe collection; however, I have been through so many of those problems with dating. I could relate to them. Without a doubt - I'm a Miranda.

And there is a show on TV with the male equivelent of SatC - it's called Entourage. And I love that show too.

[Missy Vixen]

15. The shoes!

>Would someone explain this show's magic to me? Please?<

It's the shoes. It's porn for shoeaholics. Just imagining all of those wonderful shoes...

Actually, I'm trying to think of how to write this. The best I can come up with is that "SATC" was the first program to present women as sexually adventurous. I don't agree with calling them "shallow". Yeah, they sleep around and have fabulous clothes (and the shoes!). At the same time, in the later seasons, the friends have to deal with the choices they've made and their own mortality.

IMHO, YMMV.
Julie

[Orrex]

19. About the "shallow" descriptor

I suppose I have to admit that my impression comes from the abundant shoe-worship. I mean, in every episode I've seen, footwear has been front and center for at least part of the show, and the raw, fetishy materialism of it gives the impression of a lack of depth. The characters may have greater complexity than that, but the repeated foregrounding of Prada-inspired salivation comes across as inescapably shallow to me.

Again, that's not to say that vapid male tv characters are in short supply, but SatC shouldn't IMO win any prizes for plumbing the depths of shallowness, either.

[Karenca]

21. Carrie had the shoe fetish.

nt

[Orrex]

22. Really?

The one that aired last night had Kristin Davis practically orgasming over a series of expensive sandals, the ill-considered purchase of which might have had a negative impact on her efforts to save up for the costs of a rent-share in the Hamptons!

How dire!

edited to add a touch of snarkiness

[Karenca]

28. OK, so you hate the show.

I guess if you can't relate, so it's just dumb.


I totally get your point........I think Star Trek is really stupid.

[Orrex]

32. Not quite

I can't relate, and it seems dumb.

I'm not suggesting that one causes the other, though I grant that maybe, just maybe, the show would seem more appealing if I saw its unedited form. But I confess that I'm still dubious.

SatC speaks to something to which I simply can't relate, and it entails characters wholly unlike anyone I know, in situations wholly unlike anything experienced by anyone I know, set against the backdrop of ubertrendy New York lifestyle.

[Neoma]

86. "I think Star Trek is really stupid."

How dare you! :P

[MrCoffee]

16. There's no magic. It's crap.

[mac56]

17. Said it before, saying it again:

"Sex And The City" is just "The Golden Girls" with less clothes.

Sarah Jessica Parker = Bea Arthur
Kristin Davis = Betty White
Cynthia Nixon = Estelle Getty
Kim Cattrell = Rue McClanahan

[Karenca]

20. Sex and the City was a great show. When it went off the air, I closed my

HBO subscription.

What you're seeing is SATC with the best parts cut out.

What you've got now is the same as any other dumb situation comedy.

You can't put it down, 'cause you've never "REALY" seen it.

[kwassa]

23. "Sex in the City" was the worst original series on HBO by far.

The only thing worse than following four vapid airheads around the city was listening to Sarah Jessica Parker philosophize about it at some point during the show. I am using "philosophize" in the most generous sense of the word, as it can barely be called that.

One of the most inexplicable hits of all time.

As several different women said to me over the years (and no intended offense is meant) it is the imaginary lives of single women in New York as imagined by gay male writers. It bears little to no connection to reality.

[Karenca]

25. No.......

Actually, it was right on point.

According to my single girl (women) friends
that live in NYC.

Of course, some of it was exaggerated....poetic license, why not?

It was a comedy, and it was so funny.

[kwassa]

26. On point about what?

Shoes? Fashion? Hair?

[Phillycat]

27. Basically how men are dumb and women are crazy.

:D

[Karenca]

29. Men.

Men in Manhattan.


Really.

[Karenca]

30. Except for him......(yum)

http://www.hbo.com/city/cast/character/smith_jerrod.shtml

[kwassa]

31. Women like that attract men like that.... that crazy/dumb thing

[GirlinContempt]

34. It was written by a straight woman.

Based loosely on her life in NYC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Bushnell

[kwassa]

36. Darren Star?

He wrote most of the episodes. Writer and producer, based on Bushnell's columns.

I'm talking about the writers of the individual episodes.

[GirlinContempt]

39. Oh, ok. Sort of like Deborah Moggach wrote Pride & Prejudice.

[Karenca]

37. Candace Bushnell

Candace lived in my building until about a year ago
when she moved down the block.

[GirlinContempt]

40. Neato

[kwassa]

41. How many episodes did Candace write?

[Karenca]

42. Why so angry?

You don't like the show.

I don't like the Sopranos.....i CAN'T RELATE, but obviously people most do!......so what?

[kwassa]

43. Not angry at all, I just disagree with you.

Most of the single women I have known, living in a very big city, don't relate to this show at all.

That is what they tell me!

Like I said, the comment about gay male writers came from them, not me. Among all the single women friends I have had over many years, I have not known anyone like the women in this show in regards to either their lifestyles or approach to relationships.

I personally find little attractive about the women in this show, but that is my taste. Miranda is the only one somewhat close to a real human being.

[RedStateShame]

49. Apparently, you've never heard of "Arli$$" or "Entourage."

[kwassa]

54. Arli$$ is far superior (the incredible Sandra Oh), never seen Entourage

Entourage looked so bad I couldn't even give it a try.

So, it might possibly be worse than SATC ..... but I doubt it.

[underpants]

64. Ha!

This poster doesn't know TV very well.

Entourage is a funny show and a good one. Not a great one not a classic but a good TV show. Loosely based on the career of Mark Wahlberg.

I never really got Arli$$ but it was a manageable show.

[Radical Activist]

33. Speaking of shallow characters

Every male character in the show is a trite stereotype of a certain "type" of guy. Although maybe that reflects how many women view men they meet at first, by categorizing them into easily digested stereotypes.

And even the female characters outside of Carrie are transparently shallow, each one representing a different path women are faced with taking in life. Do they play the field like Sam, become a career woman, or give into the pressure to get married like Charlotte. Its a legitimate device for storytellers. It was used in the Seven Samurai. But Carrie is the only complete character that doesn't represent merely a slice of a real person.

I enjoy the show but after watching on late night TV for a while as an alternative to Leno (I don't get Letterman dammit!) I find it increases my cynicism. It makes me paranoid when I try to start dating someone. I don't want someone who is going to lie to me, cheat on me, and be generally as crazy as the women on the show. Is it too much to hope that I can find a woman who isn't that completely fucking nuts?

On the other hand, it is instructive in a way. They go through the mental process that might go on for days, weeks or months that turns something trivial into a monumentally significant act that justifies a huge freak out. Now I see what leads up to the completely perplexing blow ups from girlfriends who flipped out about something small and stupid because she decided it had symbolic significance about the relationship. But Carrie is in fact nuts.

[peekaloo]

38. lol....veering off topic but when I read the "dumbest show in syndication"

I immediately thought of 'Yes, Dear'.

But hang on, 'According to Jim' starts this fall in syndication....:banghead:

[applegrove]

44. It is like the After School Specials... only for women. Plus the character

s subtlely evolved. Like people do. Not in dramatic ways as in movies.. but over time. Little things. Carrie gets over Big finally..cause he is selfish. Miranda realizes she has all she needs & ever wanted in Steve & baby and is filled with love and her old wounds..that made her so defensive... go away. Charlotte stops judging men on their looks & money (which mirror her) and falls for a brilliant sprite who walks with joy on the earth (which is more in keeping with her polyannaishness - it is that side of her that she finally lets out - her personality & goodness). And Samantha actually has a relationship.

I especially liked the part where Carrie is going through crisis and calls someone and says - "can we meet at our special place". You think she is calling her boyfriend.. but it ends up being a Chinese Restaurant with Miranda sitting at their table.

And the women were so beautiful & those clothes. Especially Carrie. That was pure art..what they did with her & the wardrobe. Every single show was the height of artistic talent. What other show does that? Miami Vice used to pay particular attention to style (architecture). Cannot think of another TV show that actually did so much with art.

Pleasing in many ways. And superficial and entertainment.

[Karenca]

46. What you wrote was very interesting

You summed it up!

But, Carrie and Big do hook up in the end after all.........

[applegrove]

47. Oh I know. And they didn't let him play the hero either.. interesting that

he ends up "just a normal guy" at the end "John".. instead of this big beautiful mythic man.

As to what I wrote it is very true. And also what the actors and producers said themselves about the show. Not me at all. Except for the art part & comparison to Miami Vice.

[Missy Vixen]

55. I loved "Charlotte"'s husband

>falls for a brilliant sprite who walks with joy on the earth<

You're right. He did walk with joy on the earth, and his character taught hers to embrace that joy as well.

The other story arc I found surprisingly touching was the evolution of "Samantha" and "Smith"'s relationship after she learned she had cancer.

Julie

[applegrove]

57. I always fall for the brilliant sprite who walk with joy on the earth. Not

seen too many in the last 10 years.. rare before then. But, yeah, her husband was the best new character at the end of the show. Geeks are some of the most joyous people around. Cause they have passion for stuff that totally involves them.. and are joyous for that reason.

[leftyladyfrommo]

45. I've Never Seen It - guess that should make me proud?

Never even wanted to see it.

[azmouse]

51. I thought I was the only one who felt that way about that show!

Thank you! I don't feel so alone now! :hug:

[RedStateShame]

48. "Sex and the City" - shoes + cheesecake = "Golden Girls"

[JVS]

61. "Sex and the City" - shoes + cheesecake -smuttiness = "Golden Girls"

[Divameow77]

52. SATC will probably always be my favorite show

I loved the character development over the shows 6 years.

Carrie was flawed but definitely relatable
Miranda was so cynical but when she became a mother and how she took care of Steve's mother at the end showed such a different side to her
Charlotte represented the girlfriend alot of us have, living her own little WASP world
Samantha was the man, she did what she wanted, when she wanted with who she wanted and she didn't care. I think she's the one we wish we could all be a little more like. I thought her and Smith were perfect!

My boyfriend had only seen the show on TBS and didn't like it until I convinced him to watch my DVD's then he really liked it.

[distantearlywarning]

53. That's exactly what I thought about Sex and the City

I thought the first few episodes I saw were moderately interesting. Then after that I started thinking, "hey, haven't I seen this one before?" And the shoe/fashion thing is totallly annoying. Get a *real* life already, girls!

[KamaAina]

56. Not by a long shot.

Even the cut versions have some witty (and often racy) you won't find on any generic Brand X broadcast network sitcom.

And even if it were the dumbest, it'd still be worth it to me, just to look at the fine ladies... :loveya:

[Blue_Tires]

58. Yes, Dear is pretty bad, but

Liza Snyder makes watching it ALL worthwhile!:P

[hfojvt]

60. I much prefer Jean Kelly

just found out she was the teenage girl in Uncle Buck.

[Orrex]

63. He was great in Singin' in the Rain

And to think that he played a teenage girl in a John Candy vehicle?

Now that's gravitas!

[ForrestGump]

59. I watched it (on HBO) when I stayed with someone who was a fan

It did absolutely nothing for me.

And I found Sarah Jessica annoying beyond belief.

But I'm not female, I'm not especially an urban person (even though I've lived in cities), and I am most definitey not a New Yorker or anyone who understands the whole New York thing (I know how southern and western cities work...the rest is a mystery to me, NYC most of all).

But I don't think any less of anyone who does like it (or any more of them, for that matter) and I can't say I hated the show...just found it utterly irrelevant to me and not at all engaging.

I always liked Kim Cattrall, though, so there was, at least, that...

She is always engaging. :D

[last_texas_dem]

62. Probably

Perhaps it's just one of the many shows I "don't get" but I'm honestly quite content to keep things that way!

[underpants]

65. I tried to watch it a couple of times and found it to be a time filler

"Oh you just don't understand that it is about women and..." I usually cut off the speaker at that point and remind them of how much TV I watch and how much TV comedy history I know and tell them that they are welcome to enjoy it for themselves but it barely meets the mark of being worth remembering.

[Liberal Dose]

66. They're shallow materialistic whores so I don't have to be?

Just guessing. I never watched the show, but 2 of my daughters did. Usually when I'd ask, "How can you watch this shit," I wouldn't get a straight answer. :hi:

[Lisa0825]

67. I like some parts of the show, but not others.

First of all, I do not get why so many people LOVED the show. I think it is just OK. I do not find much redeeming value in most of the characters. The shoe stuff is something I can't relate to at all.

Carrie bitches because she can't afford to buy her condo, yet she spends $500 fucking dollars on a pair of shoes??? She shops at Prada??? I could buy a damned mansion if I could afford to shop like her! So, she's obsessive about fashion, she's wasteful with money, she cheats on her boyfriend, and I am supposed to CARE about her?

I could do a similar spiel on each of them. The only one I remotely like is Miranda, because she doesn't seem to be so materialistic, and yet she is the bitchiest one of them all.

The only reason I can come up with that I like the show at all is because it DOES portray women as having healthy sexuality and being unashamed of it (well, other that uptight Charlotte). And I can relate to SOME of the dating and lifetsyle issues... such as always having to buy wedding and baby gifts, and never being in a posiiton to get them myself.

[Lisa0825]

68. Question about the fashions.... please clue me in!

I do NOT understand how Carrie was supposedly some sort of fashion icon. Is that REALLY what is called beautiful???

Backless blouses and dresses with black bra straps showing half the time? I mean, formal looking dresses with a big black strap across the back. BLECH! Whats up with that? In most of the shows, at least half her outfits look hideous to me.

And what's up with her wearing boy-style tightie whities? That just looks freaky!

[hunter]

69. I don't get HBO in general.

I'll look at HBO in a hotel or motel where it happens to be on television, and I always think "huh?"

But then again, real life is that way for me too. Drop me in a room full of people and I'm lost.

I've watched only one episode of Sex in the City from start to finish. (Usually I'd rather read, and I guess I must not have had anything to read.) It was the episode where some house sitter guy was pretending Carrie Fisher's house was his.

Can anyone tell me what that was about?

[Orrex]

70. I saw that one!

Carrie Fisher thought that SJP was a hooker, if memory serves.

That was the episode in which SJP complained about shoes and the paucity of "good" men in town.

Oh, wait. That's every episode.

[ronnykmarshall]

75. For someone that doesn't like the show

and devotes post after post trashing it, you sure have seen a lot of episodes?

:shrug:

[Orrex]

76. Well, it's my thread, so it's only polite that I participate in it

And I did mention that I've seen about a dozen episodes (which I described as equivalent to watching one episode 12 times).

If I'm going to criticize a show for its shallowness, the least I can do is watch a chunk of episodes from which I can derive an opinion.

[ronnykmarshall]

78. You do that sweetie.

Ta.

[Orrex]

80. See? Was that so difficult?

[Karenca]

d/d nt

[Karenca]

81. You have the patience of a saint!

To sit through 12 episodes of a program that you absolutely detest.

The only reason I would do that is if I were being PAID for it, as in "TV critic"

[Orrex]

82. Well, locally it's on during a timeslot between other shows

I believe the network buzzword is "hammocking," when a show gains an audience because it's on between two more popular programs.

Also, when you're flipping around during commercials, you can pick up a lot of other plots. Especially when they're all about shoes.

And what does "d/d" mean? I'm drawing a blank.

[Karenca]

87. d/d = dupe, delete. . nt

[idgiehkt]

88. I think it made a statement for women who need a third gender.

It seems like that was the running theme of the show...straight women who wanted to date gay men. It was so lame how they tied up the loose ends at the end. I felt really sad for 'em because I know alot of women like that, who really want a man who is just like a gay man but is really heterosexual. I really don't think the Carrie Bradshaw character was very authentic...the stuff I've read from Candace Bushnell, makes her seem more like a Samantha type person than Carrie Bradshaw. I think Carrie would have married the first guy with money who made her a decent offer so she could have had her lifelong shoe orgy, or she would have really enjoyed going to Aidan's cabin and hanging out...I don't see someone like her really trying to hack it being single for as long as she did and dating guys like Aidan. That doesn't make any sense. There were times I really idenitified with her and times I wanted to throttle her. I totally identified with the relationship angst with Big, though, and going back even though the person is completely emotionally disabled.

[Elidor]

74. The very first episode was interesting

I watched it on one of those nights when there was nothing else remotely appealing on the tube and found it to be significantly better than the bits and pieces I've seen of subsequent episodes. And I say this as someone who is utterly uninterested in that kind of show. Later episodes lead me to believe they had enough good material for maybe one season, and milked it shamelessly thereafter.

One revelation for me: the only thing more annoying than four shallow twits fucking their way around Manhattan is Chris Noth. What a wanker.

[Jamastiene]

83. Well, you got that half the same as I feel about it.

Sex in the City really did not do it for me. I much preferred Queer as Folk. All those cool people on Queer as Folk and the relationships. I loved the blonde guy and thought Brian treated him like dirt. I hated they way he treated everyone on that show. Plus Sharon Gless was great on that show. I miss having good cable. *sigh*

As far as Yes, Dear, I did like that show and sometimes watch reruns. Jimmy and Christine may have been made to look like buffons to many people on that show, but they showed just how tightly the corn cob was up Greg and Kim's asses on a regular basis. That is what I liked about Yes, Dear. Snobs versus regular people and sometimes the regular people pointed out the snobbishness in the funniest of ways.

I highly recommend what I consider to be the best episode for nonfans of Yes, Dear. The trip to the Grand Canyon episode was hilarious and my personal favorite.

[Darth_Kitten]

84. I never cared for it..........

not the worst thing I've seen, but I find the writing rather boring and the acting atrocious.

:(