Hello, my name is Ethan Alter and I have a confession to make: unlike virtually every other New Yorker living and working in the 212/718 area code, I’ve never seen a full season of HBO’s landmark NYC sex sitcom, Sex and the City. Now I have caught scattered episodes here and there–some on TBS (where the show airs in a PG-13 version) and a few during those brief periods (i.e. whenever The Sopranos was on) where I’ve had HBO. But with the big-screen version of Sex bearing down on us, I figured now would be a good time to get caught up. To do that, I turned to the stunningly comprehensive DVD set Sex and the City: The Complete Series (HBO, $299.98), recently re-released to coincide with the movie. (As an added bonus, certain locations will carry sets that include a Movie Cash certificate you can use towards a free ticket to the film.) Hardcore Sex addicts probably picked this deluxe set up when it was first released, but if you know any fans of the show that still , it’s a natural birthday and/or holiday present. Encased in a red velvet album, the set features all 95 episodes spread across 18 discs, with an additional two discs reserved for an extensive collection of bonus features.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves; I’m going through this behemoth season by season, so let’s start off with where it all began, Season One, which premiered on HBO in the summer of ’98. You can tell it’s the late ’90s because the cell phones are bigger, the fashions are funkier and a few porn shops still dot Times Square. The pilot episode introduces us to one Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), a sex columnist for a ficitonal Manhattan paper, who apparently is able to earn a living without ever going into an office. Carrie often turns to her friends for material and/or research and here’s the funny thing–the roll call of friends in the first episode is far more extensive than during the rest of the series. Sure, the core three are all present–cynical lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), uptight good girl Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and slutty PR chick Samantha (Kim Catrall)–but a bunch of random guys and gals turn up as well, folks who we never see again after this half-hour. The show’s style also improved between its trip from pilot to series; the shaky, documentary-style camerawork goes away and there are fewer “man-and-woman on the street” interjections. The writing is pretty sharp from the get-go, though. While Carrie’s endless voiceover musings grow tiresome after awhile, the actual conversations between the women crackle with energy and wit. I gotta say though, based on his work in the first season, I’m not sure why Chris Noth a.k.a. Mr. Big became a sex symbol. He just comes across as too kooky to take seriously as a love interest for a woman as serious-minded (for the most part) as Carrie. Maybe his appeal becomes clearer in later seasons, because, as I understand it, he’s still around as the movie begins, which means the writers clearly want us to believe these two are a perfect match. I’m not seeing it yet, but let’s revisit this topic after season two.
Season One Rundown
Best Episode: “Bay of the Married Pigs”: An accidental sighting of a penis belonging to the husband of one of her married girlfriends lands Carrie in hot water and gets her thinking about a supposed war between marrieds and singles. This battle is played out again to far more annoying effect in…
Worst Episode: “The Baby Shower”: A really unpleasant, catty half-hour in which Carrie and her single friends are belittled by suburban married types and then turn the tables by belittling a suburban married type at one of their singles-only parties. You can practically feel the contempt dripping off the screen.
Word of the Day: Modelizer–A guy who exclusively dates models.
Most Memorable Sex Scene: Miranda’s halting attempts at dirty talk.
Best NYC Location: Any scene in pre-Toys ‘R Us Times Square. Those were the days…
