Sex in the City Reboot Gets the Green Light But Without Samantha

By Lori Perkins

It’s been 22 years since Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha entered our collective consciousness as 30-something NYers in the straight, white, privileged dating scene. While innovative at the time for exposing mainstream America, albeit on cable, to grown women with sexual appetites and curiosity in a humorous and nonjudgmental way, the show has aged. The two movie-length sequels that followed since were not as well received as the producers and actresses may have hoped, but the lingering rumor of a third movie, or even a reboot, has occupied a small region of TV gossip for years, and now, it seems, it is going to happen.

HBOMax, the new incarnation of HBO, announced last week that the show will return starring Sarah Jessica Parker who played Carrie, Cynthia Nixon who played Miranda, and Kristin Davis who played Charlotte, but that Kim Cattrell, who played Samantha, the most wild and free character in the cast, will not be joining them. Cattrell has stated repeatedly that she was not open to a third movie and that she did not want to resume her roll, even if she was now portraying a NYer in her late 50s/60s, as the rest of the cast will do.

What will that mean for the show? Well, a recent Washington Post article pointed out that the 10-episode sequel will be titled “And Just Like That…”, a catch-phrase from the voice over that the Carrie character often used, and that the word “sex” is noticeably absent from the new show title. I suppose they may be thinking that menopausal women may not have a lot to say about sex and the city, but I can assure them they are dead wrong. What an amazing opportunity this could be for grown-up women’s sexuality!

I am wondering what, if anything, they will do with the Samantha storyline and/or character? Samantha had breast cancer in the last episodes of the show, so perhaps they will explain her absence with her death, which would be very sad and not uplifting. Critics have often remarked on how white and straight the show was, so here’s an opportunity to bring in either a WOC character or even have Carrie’s gay friend, Stanford Blatch, join the brunch fold? TV commentators have wondered if all three of the characters will be married or divorced, some with children. On thing is for certain – “ And Just Like That…” will certainly be a different world, especially if we add in life post-pandemic!