Here’s a follow-up to the review of “And Just Like That” which I had to write at 5am since there were no press previews from HBO.

How much did “Sex and the City” telegraph from the first two episodes of this new season now that (SPOILER ALERT) Mr. Big is dead and Chris Noth has left the show?

The answer is, a lot. But one thing didn’t happen. Carrie and Big didn’t get a divorce. Back on July 15th the NY Post’s Page Six got hold of a page of a script and blasted an exclusive to that effect. That story didn’t age very well.

So what will happen? Just looking at the two episodes and pictures from the premiere party, we can surmise this: Big’s first wife, played by Bridget Moynihan, comes looking for money. Moynihan was a guest at the party, so it makes sense.

The odds are Big’s will and his shaky finances are a problem for Carrie, who will have to leave the 9 zillion dollar penthouse and return to her Greenwich Village apartment to start over. It was mentioned that she kept that apartment. She’s going to lose most of what she got. She’ll also reconnect with her old boyfriend, Aiden, played by John Corbett.

Miranda, played by Cynthia Nixon, is drinking. Is she headed to AA? She’s also headed to something with Chi, played by Sara Ramirez. As in real life, Nixon entered into a relationship with a female partner. So, too, I think, will Miranda. And that will be the end of Steve, played by David Eigenberg, who’s a regular on “Chicago PD” or “MD” or one of them. I was shocked Miranda and Sfeve were still together. She never really even liked him. And their kid, a 17 year old played by a 27 year old, he’s an issue, too. They let him have sleepovers with loud sex? It’s a new world, isn’t it?

So all that should take “Sex and the City” through 8 more episodes. Samantha is gone, and not coming back. She sent flowers to the funeral, but she’s not coming back to see how everyone is. She’s smart.

PS Let me know in a couple of weeks if any of this came true…

“Sex and the City” returns with “And Just Like That” without missing a beat, except, well someone is missing a beat. There’s a death, although I’ll let you figure that one out.

Let’s get to the elephant in the room, because these people do right away. Samantha, aka Kim Cattrall, is gone, and the explanation is that she’s moved to London. And consequently, Miranda tells Carrie, “it’s like she’s dead.” She is not, but it’s hammered home that Samantha is older than the rest of them– mid 60s– and that she has dumped Carrie as friend.

“She fired me as a friend,” Carrie says, explaining that since Samantha has moved to London Carrie stopped using her as a publicist. The result is that Samantha isn’t taking her calls and hasn’t spoken to Charlotte or Miranda, either. You see it’s her fault she’s not on the show. Got that?

Anyway, on to other things. Carrie and Mr. Big are very happy and live in a spectacular apartment. Can that last? There are 10 episodes. Charlotte and Miranda are still married to their husbands. Steve, Miranda’s husband, has hearing loss, and Miranda has a burgeoning problem as well. Charlotte is dealing with teen girls. Miranda has a carrot topped son who’s sex-crazy. (The actor they hired looks like he could be the real life son of Cynthia Nixon’s partner, Christine Marinoni. He’s not. But the casting is spot on.)

And then, just like that, the girls seem to know Black people. A few of them are introduced, all very stylish and well off, just like them. One of them is played by Christopher Wallace of “Hamilton” fame. Another is played by Sara Ramirez of “Grey’s Anatomy,” a fluid “they” who has a podcast about sex for which Carrie works and is paid. (People are paid to do podcasts?) And this is interesting because the podcast is far more explicit and graphic than anything Carrie has written about and she’s uncomfortable with it. You’ll see why. Later she brings this dilemma home to Mr. Big and we get to see Chris Noth do something we should not. Ahem.

“And Just Like That” will upset some fans but in the end it’s very well written by Michael Patrick King who knows his subjects and characters well. In the old days when HBO invited me to these premieres they’d show two episodes and I never really saw the rest of any season. So I might watch next week to see the fallout from this premiere, but then I think that’s enough for me of this Really Big Shoe. After six seasons and two movies I wasn’t actually curious what happened to all these people. And now that I’ve seen it, I know I was right. I was happy to leave them where they were. Since there are no ratings on HBO Max we’ll never know how the fans really felt except on social media where I expect their voices will be heard for better or worse.

“And Just Like That” is playing on HBO Max, which you have if you also have HBO.

Did anyone care the People’s Choice Awards were on NBC last night? No. The ridiculous, low level competition for D celebrities and below fetched just 3.22 million viewers, about what a soap opera gets during the day. (I didn’t even remember it was on.) It’s a stupid show, and it’s time to get rid of it.

The People’s Choice was beaten handily by “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” which featured A list actors recreating “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes.” The live presentation was clever, smart, and fun — all the things The People Choice isn’t.

Still NBC won the night because “The Voice,” which preceded the awards show, scored around 6.6 million. And counterbalanced, the ABC sitcom that followed “Live,” called “Abbott Elementary,” about teachers in an elementary school, dropped to 2.79 million. Why in the world would you put a show about teachers in a K-6 school on at 9:30pm? Huh? Aren’t kids all asleep at that hour? Wasn’t that the time for something sophisticated? I mean, in network terms?

Crazy.

Jimmy Kimmel had this idea to reboot Norman Lear’s old shows a few years ago, and they did it brilliantly with “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” (Marisa Tomei as Edith Bunker was brilliant.) They called it “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” and it was just that, live.

They came back  tonight, live again, with “Facts of Life,” and “Diff’rent Strokes,” lesser shows certainly but like those others, tied together like adjoining rooms. Someone had the bright idea to cast adults as the kids in both shows and it worked.

The headline is that Ann Dowd, who found success a little late, just killed as Mrs. Garrett aka the actress Charlotte Rae. She was note perfect, as was the biggest star of the evening, John Lithgow, as Mr. Drummond. Lithgow actually shared a scene with Snoop Dogg. Now our lives are complete. John Lithgow is a national treasure. Dowd’s wig should win a prize. She wore it proudly, like a crown.

In “Facts” we had Jennifer Aniston, Gabrielle Union, Allison Tolman, and the impeccable Kathryn Hahn as Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Jo. Special appearances by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and the much missed-as-an-actor Jon Stewart, who should die his hair dark again immediately. The script isn’t sophisticated but it fell together because of all these talented people. Jennifer Aniston, my hat is off to you. When she said “I’ll be there for you,” at the end it was a lovely Easter egg.

“Diff’rent Strokes” worked almost as well, hindered by a creaky script and no one playing the late Dana Plato. Snoop Dogg was the surprise, with Damon Wayans and Kevin Hart playing the kids. (Kevin Hart is really small as it turns out, shorter than Ann Dowd.) Everyone was fine, but it was Lithgow and Dowd who really made this part. And the last line, from Hart, about Snoop’s character smelling like weed, was another happy Easter egg.

In between the producers of this thing gave us very clever commercials, sort of meta parodies and new promos for ABC shows made to look like they were from 1982. Jennifer Beals and Alfonso Ribiero deserve a lot of credit. I loved the Kraft singles.

But where was Nancy McKeon of “Facts of Life”? She was the only living original cast member who didn’t show up. Even worse, no one mentioned her. But Kimmel and crew get mucho kudos, and Norman Lear, almost 100 years old, should be on Mount Rushmore. Norman, we’ve got to have “Maude” next. I’m starting to think Cate Blanchett is the way to go.

Nicely done. Grade: A

PS No one really missed any lines, either. There were a couple of funky moments, but pretty good for people who don’t perform live regularly.