And just like that, “Sex and the City” sputters to an end tonight.
The HBO comedy premiered on June 6, 1998, and ended on February 22, 2004, with 94 episodes aired over six seasons.
The concept returned in two feature films, in 2008 and 2010, while a third was scuttled because everyone had had enough of it.
But never count “Sex and the City” out. In 2021, it reanimated as “And Just Like That,” minus star Kim Cattrall but with the return of Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis.
But the new show began with a downer: Chris Noth, who’d played “Big” from the beginning, was killed off. (Then Noth had his own problems.) This was followed by the real life death of actor Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch. (The show has never acknowledged that.)
And now, just like that, it’s all over. Tonight’s episode on HBO MAX is the last. It’s not really a series-ender, as I’m told the production had no notice that they were wrapped up. The very last scene could have been added in the last two weeks, but otherwise season 3, episode 12 is just another installment. It feels like they thought they were coming back.
There are many things we’ll never know, with lots of storylines unresolved. But that’s life. At least the last scene doesn’t cut to black.
“And Just Like That,” from the beginning, was for hate watching only. The series went extremely “woke” in its quest to add diverse characters. A few of them didn’t make it to the second or then third season. (The right ones did.) By far, the most polarizing character ever was Chi Diaz, a non binary comedian played by Sara Ramirez from “Grey’s Anatomy.” She/they scared off most of the audience. It was all too much.
Is this is the end? I think so. Everything about “And Just Like That” was about consumption, living very large in a New York fantasy. All the characters had a lot of money, and flaunted it. The add-on series was all about the Upper East Side from the 1980s, albeit without the drugs. It should have been called “The Sweet Smell of Excess.”
Some things I never understood about the series: the main characters didn’t seem to have any family, no parents or siblings or cousins. Even when Big died, Carrie was alone except for her friends. They existed in a vacuum. They lived in New York but didn’t really go to theaters or museums or bodegas or use mass transit, just occasional art shows. I know it was a comedy, but it didn’t plumb the humor of even, say, the ladies getting their senior OMNY cards. And it only got worse in “And Just Like That.”
So say goodbye tonight if you’re still watching. Hang on for a little treat during the closing credits.
