Sex and the City

Sex and the City
File:SexandtheCity.jpg Sex and the City title card
Created by	Darren Star
Starring	Sarah Jessica Parker Kristin Davis Cynthia Nixon Kim Cattrall
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	94
Production
Camera setup	Single camera
Running time	approx. 29 minutes
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	June 6, 1998 – February 22, 2004

Sex and the City is a popular American cable television program. The original broadcast run of the show was on HBO from 1998 until 2004.

Set in New York City, the show's focus is on four female characters. It was considered a sitcom, but had serialized storylines, like a soap opera, as well as dramatic elements. The show tackled socially relevant issues, often specifically dealing with women in society in the late 1990s, and how changing roles and definitions for women impacted the characters.

The show was primarily filmed at New York City's Silvercup Studios and on location in and around Manhattan. Since it ended, the show has been aired in syndication on networks such as TBS, The CW, WGN, and many other local stations.

Premise

The show was based in part on writer Candace Bushnell's book of the same name, compiled from her column with the New York Observer. Bushnell has stated in several interviews that Carrie Bradshaw is her alter ego; when she originally wrote the "Sex and the City" essays, she used her own name initially but for privacy reasons, created the character of Carrie Bradshaw, a woman with the same career (writer) and same initials.

The narrative of the show focuses on Carrie and her three best girlfriends. (Bushnell has indicated that Carrie's friends are composites of her friends.) Together, Carrie and her friends represented a crosssection of contemporary American women. The women discussed their sexual desires and fantasies, as well as their beliefs and opinions. The show often portrayed frank discussions about romance and sexuality, particularly in the context of being a single woman.

The first season of the show was an adaptation of its source material; however, subsequent seasons depart from the book. Each episode in season one featured a short montage of interviews that Carrie supposedly conducted while researching for her column. These continued through season two before being phased out. Another feature that was eventually scrapped was Carrie breaking the fourth wall (for example, looking into the camera and speaking to the audience directly). Bradshaw would question scenarios and ideas, asking the audience for an opinion or insight on different situations. The last such event occurred in episode 3 of the second season, "The Freak Show".

Overview of characters

Main article: Sex and the City characters

File:Sex and the City.jpg

(From left to right) Cynthia Nixon as Miranda, Kristin Davis as Charlotte, Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie, and Kim Cattrall as Samantha

• Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is the narrator of each episode. Each episode is structured around her train of thought while writing her weekly column, "Sex and the City" for the fictitious newspaper, The New York Star. A member of the New York glitterati, she is a club/bar/restaurant staple who is known for her unique fashion sense (particularly footwear). She works on her PowerBook in her apartment, writing newspaper articles focusing on the different aspects of a relationship. In later seasons, her essays are collected as a book and she begins taking assignments from Vogue and New York Magazine. Carrie is house-proud; her one-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment is in an Upper East Side brownstone. Despite several long-term boyfriends, Carrie is entangled with "Mr. Big" in a complicated, multifaceted relationship.

• Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) is an art dealer with an utterly conventional Connecticut upbringing. She is the most conservative and optimistic of the group, the one who places the most emphasis on emotional love as opposed to lust, and yet is a true romantic; always searching for her "knight in shining armor." She scoffs at the lewder, more libertine antics that the show presents (primarily by way of Samantha), but in her own way Charlotte presents a more traditional attitude about relationships, usually based around "the rules" of love and dating. Despite her conservative outlook, she has been known to make concessions (while married) that even surprised her more sexually liberated girlfriends. Charlotte was a "straight A" student who attended Smith College where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma majoring in Art History with a minor in Finance. During the series, it is also revealed that Charlotte was voted homecoming queen, prom queen, "most popular," student body president, track team captain, and was active as a teen model.

• Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) is a career-minded lawyer with extremely cynical views on relationships and men. A Harvard University graduate from Philadelphia with two siblings, she is Carrie's best friend, confidante, and voice of reason. In the early seasons, she is portrayed as masculine and borderline misandric, but this image softens over the years, particularly after she becomes pregnant by her on again-off again boyfriend, Steve Brady, whom she eventually marries. The birth of her son, Brady Hobbes, brings up new issues for her Type A, workaholic personality, but she soon finds a way to balance career, being single and motherhood. Of the four women, she is the first to purchase her own apartment (across the park from Carrie, on the Upper West Side), and later a home in Brooklyn.

• Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) is the oldest of the foursome. Samantha considers Carrie her best friend, and the two encourage each other's free-spirited natures. Samantha is an independent businesswoman, with a career as a publicist. She has a conspicuous sexual appetite, but avoids emotional involvement at all costs while satisfying her physical desires. She believes that she has had "hundreds" of soulmates and requires that her sexual partners leave, "an hour after I climax." During the course of the show it is revealed that Samantha's glamorous, impenetrable facade and dismissive approach to love actually hides a sensitive, caring nature. Samantha has a number of relationships in the show (including one with with a lesbian artist named Maria), albeit far fewer than the number of her casual sex encounters. In Season 3, she moves from her full-service Upper East Side apartment to an expensive loft in the then-transforming Meatpacking District. In Season 6, Samantha's character further develops when she is unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer when visiting a plastic surgeon for a breast implant consultation. An operation and chemotherapy challenge Samantha, but she beats cancer and it becomes clear the experience has renewed her with a new perspective on life.

Viewer response and impact

Sex and the City premiered on HBO, June 6, 1998, and was one of the highest-rated sitcoms of the season, and the last original episode aired on February 22, 2004, was one of the most watched series finales, behind M*A*S*H, Married... with Children, Cheers, Seinfeld,Mad About You, Frasier, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and Will & Grace.

Positive viewer response

The show became well known and lauded for its frank dialogue about women and sex. Fans of the show say that Sex and the City is a realistic portrayal of the sexual behavior and lifestyles of many urban Americans. An unlikely supporter of the show is author and Latter Day Saint Orson Scott Card. Card stated that although the crudity of the series left him numb, the show contained some of the best writing on television.

Negative response and criticism

The characters have been criticized for being shallow and superficial. An issue of FHM magazine listed Carrie Bradshaw as one of the most annoying characters in television history. It asked, "Supposedly she's become a feminist icon. Does that mean that all women should aspire to be materialistic, cocktail-swilling homewreckers?"

Sex and the City has also been criticized for focusing exclusively on wealthy, white characters and ignoring non-whites, the poor, and those living in New York's poorer neighborhoods; the characters themselves have been accused of being elitist. Further, some opined that the show made the four women look shallow by having them talk about nothing but sex.

Pop culture references

MADtv parodied the show as "Sluts in the City". The HBO slogan "It's not TV, it's HBO" became "It's not TV, it's porn (with Emmys)" MADtv's Michael McDonald appears as Carrie in drag with a visible crotch bulge. Jennifer Aniston portrayed Carrie on SNL with a fake nose. Other sketch shows have made fun of Miranda being color blind for her bright hair dye color and the women confusing sex with shoes. On the Family Guy episode You May Now Kiss the...Uh...Guy Who Receives, Brian Griffin, the family dog, represents the show as being about "three hookers and their mom." Also, on The Simpsons, the show was parodied as "Nooky in New York" with Marge's sister saying "It's a show about four straight women who act like gay men".

Possible film version

A film version of the show was originally slated for production near the end of the broadcast series run in 2004. However, the deal for the movie fell through at that time. Multiple press reports at the time indicated a personal dispute between Parker and Cattrall, as well as Cattrall's refusal to sign a contract for the film at a pay scale considerably less than Parker's.

News articles began to surface in November 2006 and suggested that the issues had been resolved and that a movie would go into production. Negotiations with executive producer Michael Patrick King and the cast are underway. The movie appears to be in pre-production stages. A script for the movie is being finalized, and filming could begin later this year in New York City.

Awards and recognition

Over its course of six seasons, "Sex and the City" was nominated for over 50 Emmy Awards, winning seven of them. Among the Emmys the show won were two for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series (Jennifer McNamara), one for its Costumes, a trophy for Outstanding Comedy Series for its third season in 2001, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 2002 for the episode "The Real Me", and for its final season in 2004, Emmys for Sarah Jessica Parker (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the episode "An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux"), and Cynthia Nixon (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the episodes "One" and "Ick Factor"). It has also been nominated for 24 Golden Globe Awards, and won 8. Its wins included Best TV Series — Musical or Comedy, and Best Actress in a TV Series — Musical or Comedy, (Sarah Jessica Parker) for three consecutive years from 2000 – 2002, Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series, or Movie for Kim Cattrall, and another one for Parker.

1999

• CINE Gold Eagle Film and Video Competition

CINE Golden Eagle Award - Episode: "They Shoot Single People Don't They?"

• Columbus International Film & Video Festival - Chris Awards

The Bronze Plaque

• New York Festivals - Television Programming and Promotion Competition

Silver World Medal: Situation Comedy - Episode: "They Shoot Single People, Don't They?"

• Women In Film

Lucy Award

• WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival

Gold Award in the Television & Cable Production: TV Series: Comedy Division - Episode: "Secret Sex"

2000

• Gracie Allen Awards: American Women in Radio and Television

Gracie Allen Award - Episode: "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women"

• CINE Golden Eagle Awards

Golden Eagle Award - Episode: "Ex and the City"

• Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Honorable Mention

• Golden Globe® Awards

Best Television Series: Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Sarah Jessica Parker

• Media Project SHINE Awards

Scene Stealer

2001

• Gracie Allen Award

American Women in Radio and Television - Episode: "Attack of the 5'10" Woman"

• Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Honorable Mention - Costume Designers Guild

Excellence in Costume Design Contemporary for Television - Patricia Field

• Primetime Emmy® Awards

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Entertainment Industries Council Prism Awards

Prism Award for Television, Series Comedy Storyline - Episode: "Quitting Smoking"

Commendation - Sex and the City: "What Goes Around Comes Around"

• Golden Globes®

Best Television Series: Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series- Musical or Comedy - Sarah Jessica Parker

• Golden Satellite Awards

Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical

• Makeup Artist & Hairstylist Guild Awards

Best Contemporary Makeup for Television (for a single episode of a Regular Series, Sitcom, Drama or Daytime) - Judy Chin; Episode: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Best Contemporary Hair Styling - Television (for a single episode of a Regular Series, Sitcom, Drama or Daytime) - Michelle Johnson; Episode: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

• National Council on Family Relations Media Awards

First Place, STD/AIDS - Episode: "Running with Scissors"

• Producers Guild Golden Laurel Awards (PGA)

Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award - Episodic TV Comedy

• Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG)

Outstanding Performance By An Actress in a Comedy Series - Sarah Jessica Parker

• TV Cares

Ribbon of Hope Award

• Women's Image Network WIN Femme Film Festival

WIN Award - TV Series Actress - Cynthia Nixon; Episode: "My Motherboard, My Self"

2002

• ACE Eddie Awards

Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television - Michael Berenbaum, "The Real Me"

• CINE Golden Eagle Film and Video Competition

CINE Golden Eagle Award - Episode: "Easy Come, Easy Go"

• Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Honorable Mention

• Primetime Emmy® Awards

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series - Episode: The Real Me; Michael Patrick King

Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series - Jennifer McNamara

Outstanding Costumes for a Comedy Series - Episode: "Defining Moments" (Patricia Field, Rebecca Weinberg)

• Golden Globes®

Best Television Series: Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy - Sarah Jessica Parker

Golden Satellite Awards

Best Television Series: Comedy or Musical

Gracie Allen Award: American Women in Radio and Television

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Monte Carlo Television Festival

Golden Nymph Award: Outstanding Producer of the Year, Comedy

Outstanding Actress of the Year - Sarah Jessica Parker

• New York Festivals

Gold WorldMedal: Situation Comedy - Episode: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

• Producers Guild Golden Laurel Awards (PGA)

Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television, Comedy - Michael Patrick King, Cindy Chupack, John P. Melfi & Sarah Jessica Parker

• Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble In a Comedy Series - Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker

• Shine Awards

Comedy Episode - Episode "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda"

• WIN Awards

TV Comedy Series Actress - Cynthia Nixon, Episode: "My Motherboard, My Self"

2003

• American Cinema Editors ACE Eddie Awards

Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television - Episode: "Luck Be An Old Lady"; Wendey Stanzler, A.C.E.

• American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT)

Gracie Allen Award

National/Network/Syndication Award Winners Entertainment Program/Comedy

• Emmy® Awards

Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series - Casting: Jennifer McNamara

• Golden Globe® Awards

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television - Kim Cattrall

• Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards

Best Contemporary Hairstyling for a Television Series - Wayne Herndon, Donna Fischetto, Suzana Neziri

• Utku TV Awards

Best Performance by an Actress-Sarah Jessica Parker

2004

• Emmy® Awards

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Sarah Jessica Parker

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Cynthia Nixon

• Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble In a Comedy Series - Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker

Broadcast and distribution

Season one of Sex and the City aired on HBO from June to August 1998. Season two was broadcast from June until October,1999. Season three aired from June until October 2000. Season four was broadcast in two parts: from June until August 2001, and then in January and February 2002. Season five, truncated due to Parker's pregnancy, aired on HBO during the summer of 2002. The twenty episodes of the final season, season six, aired in two parts: from June until September 2003 and during January and February 2004.

Sex and the City is currently syndicated in the United States by HBO corporate sibling (under Time Warner) Warner Bros. Television Distribution. The international rights to the series currently rest with CBS Paramount Television, the successor-in-interest to Paramount's television unit (through its acquisition of original international distributor Rysher Entertainment) now owned by CBS Corporation.

Broadcasters

• The United States cable channel HBO was the original broadcaster. TBS, Fox and CW show edited reruns of the series.
• In Canada, the show airs on Bravo! Canada and Citytv Toronto.
• In Germany, it is shown on Pro7.
• In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, it was shown uncut on Network Television station Channel 4 and its digital sister channel E4 broadcast episodes of Sex and the City, while older episodes are rerun on Paramount Comedy 1.
• In Poland the show and its several reruns were aired by the public TV service TVP 2.
• In France the show is shown on M6.
• In Quebec the show airs on Séries+.
• In the Netherlands it is aired by NET 5.
• In Sweden it is aired by TV3 and ZTV.
• In Italy the show airs on La7 and on the cable channel Paramount Comedy.
• In Belgium, the show used to run on VT4, later on Vitaya and Vijf TV.
• In Greece, it was aired by Star Channel and the cable channel Filmnet1.
• In Croatia the show aired on HRT1
• In Spain, it was aired by Canal+ España, Antena 3 and Cosmopolitan TV.
• In Switzerland, it was aired by TSR1.
• In Finland it was broadcast on MTV3.
• In Portugal, it was aired on free-to-air SIC TV, with reruns on cable channel SIC Mulher.
• In Norway it was broadcast on TV3 and ZTV Norway.
• In the Czech Republic it is shown uncut on CT1, the Czech Republic's public broadcaster.
• In South Africa, Sex and the City was aired uncensored on SABC3, a channel of the government-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation.
• In Israel it was broadcast on Channel 2 by Reshet.
• In Russia, the show was aired by NTV Russia.
• In Romania, the show was aired by Pro TV and later by the sister channels Acasa TV and Pro Cinema. HBO Romania also aired all seasons.
• In Bulgaria, Sex and the City is aired by Nova Television. HBO Bulgaria also aired the show.
• In Turkey it is broadcasted by ComedyMax channel.
• In Australia it was broadcast on the Nine Network, late at night. Rerun rights were sold to Network Ten. Australian subscription channel W airs two episodes each weeknight.
• In New Zealand, the show aired on TV3.
• In Indonesia it was broadcast on Trans TV; it now airs on antv.
• In Serbia it was broadcast on B92.
• In Mexico, the show was aired firstly in Spanish on CNI Canal 40, and later on TV Azteca.
• In Chile, it is aired subtitled at first by HBO Latin America, but later it was moved to Cinecanal and The Film Zone, and in Latin American dub by RED TV.
• In Brazil, it was aired by Multishow and FOX channels. Multishow exhibits two versions of the series, the standard and the light versions. The light versions have some dialogs and scenes removed or replaced by "more polite" versions. Multishow also replaces the original subtitles with their own translated subtitles, usually in a lower quality than the originals.
• In Japan, the show is aired by Lala.tv.
• In Korea, networks Catch On, OCN and On Style all played the series over the Korean cable network.
• In Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, and Pakistan the show airs on HBO Asia (season 1-6). Hong Kong's TVB Pearl also aired the show at midnight before, while later, TVB Drama, the pay TV channel of the same company, rerun the show on Sunday night. Sex and the City was banned in Singapore until July 2004, when the government allowed the television series to be aired on cable after being censored.
• In the Philippines, the show airs on HBO Asia while its reruns are being aired by free TV RPN-9.
• In Taiwan the show airs on Videoland MAX-TV and also airs on HBO Asia.
• In Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Denmark the series can be seen on TV3.
• In Hungary, where the show aired on HBO and Viasat 3, the latter only showing episodes up to the fifth season. After a number of reruns, Viasat has moved the show to an earlier time and, as per the rules and standards of broadcasting in Hungary, has recut the episodes (removing, among others, almost all references to genitals, a number of sexual conversations and non-heterosexual kisses) to be able to fit its rating to an equivalent of PG-13, resulting in many deleted scenes and indecipherable storylines.

DVD releases

File:SATC Region1 Boxset.jpg

Region 1 Edition of Complete Set

All six seasons of Sex and the City have been released commercially on DVD. They have been released officially on region 1 (Americas), region 2 (Europe & Middle East), region 3 (Korea) and region 4 (Oceania) formats, but illegal bootleg editions have also surfaced for region 3 (Thailand) as well as region 0 (Universal) and can even be found on eBay. In addition to their region encoding, releases vary depending on which region they were released in. Region 2 DVD's of Sex and the City have been criticized by some fans for having little or no special features, but region 1 editions have included director commentary, cast interviews and more.

In addition to standard single season DVD Boxsets of the show, limited edition collectors' editions have also been released that include all 6 seasons in one complete set. Even these vary between region 1 2 and 4. While Europe got a complete set that came with special 'shoe box' packaging (a reference to Sarah Jessica Parker's character's love for shoes in the show), the USA and Canada version came packaged in a more traditional fold-out suede case and with an additional bonus DVD including many special features. Oceania's edition came packaged in a beauty case.

As well as missing out on some special features, many fans in Europe had trouble with the region 2 edition of the season 1 DVD. Unfortunately, the show was not converted into a PAL video signal, and remained in its original American NTSC format. This caused some compatibility problems with some European television sets and DVD players. All subsequent Region 2 DVD releases of the programme were appropriately transferred to PAL video and season 1 has since been re-released in PAL format. Outside the US, Sex and the City boxed sets were released through Paramount Pictures (whose parent Viacom interestingly once owned HBO's rival Showtime, before the CBS Corporation split at the end of 2005) - who owned at once, certain rights to the programme's broadcast as well -- it was probably because of Paramount's "no-extras" policy that the region 2 DVDs were criticized. American and Canadian DVDs were released through the programme's original broadcasters, HBO. In Australia, single editions have been released, where each disc is sold separately. In Korea, due to the popularity of the show, a complete, six-season, special DVD shoebox set was released--600 limited edition sets in 2005; 850 limited edition sets in 2006--at suggested retail price of $300 (US). All of them sold out immediately.

Selected episodes are also available as part of the Sex and the City Essentials DVD collection. These are four separately-packaged discs containing three selected episodes that fit a common theme.

• The Best of Lust: Contains the episodes "The Fuck Buddy", "Running with Scissors", and "The Turtle and the Hare".

• The Best of Mr Big - Contains the episodes "Sex and the City", "Ex and the City", and "I Heart NY".

• The Best of Romance: Contains the episodes "Baby, Talk is Cheap", "Hop, Skip and a Week ", and "An American Girl in Paris (Part Deux)".

• The Best of Breakups - Contains the episodes "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", "I Love a Charade", and "The Post-it Always Sticks Twice".

Soundtrack releases

There have been several CD Albums released to accompany the series Sex and the City. These releases span various record labels and some are even unofficial. The two albums from Irma Records are seen to be the best because they contain tracks used in the show's actual soundtrack that are difficult to find elsewhere. The other two releases have little or no tracks that appear on the programme's actual soundtrack.

The title theme song was written by Douglas J. Cuomo.

• Sex and the City - Soundtrack [Import]

2000/2001/2002

Sire Records

13 Chart Hits - Including the Main Theme from the Show

• Sex and the City - Official Soundtrack

March 1, 2004

Sony TV

2 Disc Set - 36 Hits.

• Irma at Sex and the City - Part 1 - Daylight Session

April 19, 2004

Irma Records

2 Disc Set - Part of a 2 Part Collection. Ambient and Chilled Sounds from the Show's Soundtrack

• Irma at Sex and the City - Part 2 - Nightlife Session

April 19, 2004

Irma Records

2 Disc Set - Part of a 2 Part Collection. House and Electronica Sounds from the Show's Soundtrack

Episodes

Main article: List of Sex and the City episodes

Quotations

The following are quotations from the TV special, Sex And The City: A Farewell, that aired introducing the final episode: "An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux"

• Michael Patrick King, Executive Producer::"People thought, oh it's just about sex or it's just about fashion. And then slowly over the years people start to see it's really about love ... and relationships ... and sex ... and basically the battlefield of trying to be in love—whether it be with another person or with yourself."
• Sarah Jessica Parker::"What the show has to have, and has had to have in order to survive six years, is a soul."
• Kim Cattrall::"The show is a valentine to being single."
• Cynthia Nixon::"These women would never wear the same outfit twice."
• David Eigenberg::"They were honest about sex, they were honest about the humor of sex."
• Kim Cattrall::"Being single used to mean that nobody wanted you; now it means you're pretty sexy and you're taking your time deciding how you want your life to be...and who you want to spend it with."

References

• Amy Sohn (2004). Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, Updated Edition. ISBN 0-7434-5730-7

External links

• Home of HBO's Sex and the City
• TBS.com Sex and the City
• WGNTV.com Sex and the City
• "Sex and the City on Savvymiss.com"
• SirensMag.com's "The Ruinous Legacy of 'Sex and the City'"
• Sex and the City at IMDb
• Template:Tvtome show