In a nutshell:
Sex and the City’s Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte return, sans Samantha, to take on Manhattan in their 50s.
Is there a trailer for the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot?
The official trailer for And Just Like That dropped on 30 November, sending fans into a tailspin. The biggest talking point? Mr Big on a Peloton, of course. We also get to see more of the new additions to the cast: Nicole Ari Parker’s character, Lisa Todd Wexley, seemingly having Charlotte and Harry over for dinner; Carrie having a cocktail with Sarita Choudhury’s Seema Patel; Sara Ramírez’s Che hosting the podcast X, Y, and Me with Carrie; and Karen Pittman’s Dr Nya Wallace having a heart to heart with Miranda.
It follows the first trailer HBO released on 12 November. In addition to offering a first glimpse at the reboot’s newest cast members, it also confirmed that the series will premiere on 9 December in both the US and UK.
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What will the plot of the ‘Sex and the City’ revival be?
Most of the details revealed so far have come via paparazzi shots on the streets of Manhattan, although viewers should bear in mind that the SATC crowd has filmed “decoy” scenes in the past (and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on 8 December, Davis and Nixon appeared to confirm that this was the case for And Just Like That, too). The first surprise appearance: Bridget Moynahan, who played Big’s second wife, Natasha, during the series’s original run. In the drama’s third season, Carrie and Big begin an affair behind the 26-year-old Ralph Lauren executive’s back – with predictably horrible consequences all-round. Further suggesting that there’s been a bump in the road for the Prestons? Images of the New York Star columnist outside her former Upper East Side apartment, kissing American actor Jon Tenney on set. And what about the tragic passing of Willie Garson, the actor best known for playing Stanford Blatch in the series, who worked on the reboot up until his death this September? In an interview with The New York Times on 3 December, showrunner Michael Patrick King explained that his death wasn’t written into the show “because it wasn’t charming and I knew that the audience would know.”
Who is writing and producing the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot?
Emmy-winning director Michael Patrick King, who wrote and directed the original series and films, will return to executive produce alongside Parker, Nixon, and Davis. Happily, King is also collaborating with an all-female writing team on the scripts – with Nixon giving a sneak peak of the crew on Instagram. “So excited for this amazing writers’ room, hard at work creating our new show!” she wrote, with a level of enthusiasm that Miranda Hobbes would surely not tolerate. “Wish I was a fly on that virtual wall!” Among those pictured: genius essayist and comedian Samantha Irby; Parks and Recreation alumna Rachna Fruchbom; critically acclaimed documentarian and playwright Keli Goff; and original Sex and the City writers Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky, who recently collaborated with SJP on Divorce.
Where does the name of the ‘Sex and the City’ revival come from?
Carrie Bradshaw had a number of sayings that she repeated while narrating Sex and the City. “And just like that…” is one such catchphrase, which she used in situations ranging from Charlotte’s “white knight” of a date casually assaulting someone at lunch to Samantha cruising a Catholic priest – as one does. The first trailer, above, suggests that Carrie’s voiceovers will continue in And Just Like That, too. “They say some things never change,” her voice declares as the clip opens. “But the truth is, life is full of surprises. And as your story unfolds, the city reinvents itself. And just like that, a new chapter begins.”
Which cast members are returning for the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot?
After a lot of back and forth, the majority of Carrie’s Chanel-clad coterie agreed to return for And Just Like That, including, of course, Nixon and Davis. In terms of second-tier friends, Mario Cantone will return as Anthony Marentino (he memorably wed Stanford Blatch in the second film). Julie Halston will make an additional cameo as the memorable Bitsy Von Muffling, whose Hamptons wedding to piano bar legend Bobby Fine (Nathan Lane) raised the girls’ eyebrows in the fifth series.
Right, and what about Chris Noth? Will Big be in the ‘Sex and the City’ revival?
Yes. “How could we ever do a new chapter of the Sex and the City story without our Mr Big?” Michael Patrick King said in a statement about the casting news, to which the only possible reply is: “With great ease?” On 2 August, the first pap shots of SJP and Noth together on set landed, with the two appearing to fight with each other outside a car (déjà vu) while Carrie, again, wears a bird on her head.
Okay, and Aidan? Is John Corbett really coming back for the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot, too?
He is indeed. In a move that appears to confirm postmodernist scholars’ belief that time is cyclical rather than linear, John Corbett will reprise the character of Aidan Shaw for “quite a few” episodes, in spite of the fact that Aidan dated Carrie for less than a year decades ago and is basically an extra from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers who somehow wound up in Manhattan circa the ’90s. I can already hear Carrie’s voiceover: “I couldn’t help but wonder… Should I revive this centuries-old love triangle and leave yet more emotional devastation in my wake in the name of sexual anthropology?”
So, presumably Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) and Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) will return for the ‘Sex and the City’ revival as well?
Correct, and based on the teaser, it seems as though Charlotte and Harry are still happily married – with a shot of them tearfully watching their now-teenage daughter Lily at a ballet performance, with their other daughter Rose by their side. There’s also a shot of Steve and Miranda hugging, with the high-powered Manhattan lawyer appearing to be on a date with another female character – leading many fans to speculate that she might have a queer plot line in the revival.
More importantly, what about Kim Cattrall? Why is Samantha Jones not in the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot?
Devastatingly, it seems that Kim Cattrall has officially hung up her pearl thong – declining to return as the fiery PR executive whose voracious libido and pun mania single-handedly made Sex and the City so compelling. HBO executive Casey Bloys seemingly confirmed how Samantha would be written out of the storyline. “Just as in real life, people come into our life, people leave,” he said in an interview with TVLine. “Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life… They’re trying to tell an honest story about being a woman in her 50s in New York. So it should all feel somewhat organic, and the friends that you have when you’re 30, you may not have when you’re 50.”
However, on 24 November, reports emerged that Samantha Jones may in fact have relocated to London. An anonymous source from the set added that: “Sending her to Los Angeles wasn’t an option as we’d done that in the first movie, so having her character based in London really was the perfect way to keep her alive and explain her absence. Viewers will learn that she is thriving in England even though she has fallen out with Carrie. Carrie is the one who has the tough time without Samantha and by the end of And Just Like That you’ll see Carrie extend the olive branch and try and rekindle the friendship. We have high hopes that by the time we begin filming the second season, Kim will have joined the show and Samantha Jones can make a triumphant return.”
Are there any new characters in the ‘Sex and the City’ revival?
A number of fresh characters will be introduced in And Just Like That. First up, Grey’s Anatomy’s Sara Ramírez will star as Che, a non-binary stand-up comedian who regularly hosts Carrie on their wildly successful podcast, with Ivan Hernandez appearing as Franklyn, their sound engineer. Also joining Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte’s circle: Sarita Choudhury as a formidably wealthy real estate broker named Seema Patel; Nicole Ari Parker as Lisa Todd Wexley, a Park Avenue-based mother who makes documentaries; and Karen Pittman as the high-powered lawyer and Columbia professor Dr Nya Wallace. Of the new cast members, Michael Patrick King told The New York Times, “Each of the episodes… they’re all around 43 minutes. Because there’s seven fully realised people in it.”
In a stroke of genius casting, Emmy-winner Brenda Vaccaro will also be introduced as Mr Big’s long-time secretary Gloria Marquette – God love her. In terms of the younger SATC generation, Niall Cunningham is the grown-up Brady Hobbes, with Cathy Ang and Alexa Swinton as Lily and Rose Goldenblatt, respectively. Dear Evan Hansen’s Isaac Powell will also play George, a Fashion Institute of Technology student, while Cree Cicchino will make her debut as Brady Hobbes’s girlfriend Luisa.
What will the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot costumes be like?
The million dollar question. With Sex and the City’s costume designer Patricia Field hard at work on Emily in Paris, the Emmy winner has passed the keys to Carrie’s wardrobe to two of her protégés: Molly Rogers and Danny Santiago. Reactions to their selections for Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte so far have been mixed, with some of their more outré choices roasted on social media. (See SJP’s gingham Batsheva dress, worn with what appears to be… fuchsia washing-up gloves?) Other outfits, though, have sent the internet into a nostalgic frenzy, like the 2021 answer to the naked dress: a powder-blue Norma Kamali design.
How should I entertain myself before the ‘Sex and the City’ revival premieres?
Diehard fans of Sex and the City can start by entering the fray of people trying to AirBnB Carrie’s Manhattan apartment for the night. If that sounds like too much hard work, revisit Candace Bushnell’s clever source material for the original drama, followed by her 2019 sequel, Is There Still Sex in the City?, which she actually wrote while single again in her 50s. More of a fashion person? Visit Manolo Blahnik’s first virtual museum from 18 November, tracing the history of the brand over the last 50 years, or take in Silvia Venturini Fendi’s luxurious artisanal takes on the classic Baguette as part of an exhibition at the brand’s Roman headquarters.
What’s the release date for the ‘Sex and the City’ reboot?
As confirmed in the trailer, the first two episodes of And Just Like That will drop on HBO Max in the US and Sky Comedy and NOW on 9 December, with a further episode dropping every Thursday for the next eight weeks.
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