Thursday, March 28, 2024

And Just Like That, Failure: HBO’s “Sex and the City” Reboot Is a Bust with Critics (61%) and Viewers (32%) Alike

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It’s not just that critics don’t like the new “Sex and the City” series.

“And Just Like That,” on HBO Max, has a lowly 61 on Rotten Tomatoes among critics. So that’s not great. But what about the people? They have also spoken to Rotten Tomatoes. The audience meter is just 32%. Ouch!

This is in contrast to HBO’s “Succession.” Critics 96, Audience 82. That’s what the numbers are supposed to be when a show is a hit. And “Succession” only gets 600,000 viewers in a good week with rave reviews bolstering it.

So imagine what “SATC”‘s audience might be this time around. And all we can do is imagine it, because there are no published ratings for HBO Max. Like all streaming, it’s a mystery wrapped in a shroud.

The responses from viewers then is twice as bad as the one from critics. The fans don’t like it. They didn’t like the killing off of Chris Noth’s Mr. Big. They really don’t like the absence of Kim Cattrall as Samantha. And they don’t like the forced narrative of the Politically Correct.

Wait: they’re really not going to like it when Miranda becomes “fluid” with alcohol problem, which is clearly coming.

Did the producers of the show make some mistakes? Seems like it. Because the show, despite being well written, doesn’t matter any more. It worked in its era. But in pandemic New York, with inflation booming and so many stores and restaurants closed, “Sex and the City” doesn’t work.

One lingering problem: they just killed off Mr. Big with a weird funeral. Soon actor Willie Garson’s death will have to be dealt with. He plays Stanford Blatch, Carrie’s best friend, who tragically died from cancer while they were shooting. So there may be a second funeral before the 10 episodes are over.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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