Suddenly Sexless

Don’t phone me Sunday night. I’ll be busy. If you haven’t heard–and how could you not–Sex and the City will air its final episode after six seasons. The program has become infectious among viewers with each passing year.

Like millions of other Americans, I’ll be glued to the television to find out if Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) bids us adieu in Paris with Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov), or hops on the first bird flapping for the Big Apple with Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Either way, it’s likely to be a sad farewell.

TV shows that get to end on their own terms instead of being canceled are rare, so there is the unique opportunity to wrap up loose ends. We’ll watch the final transformation of our “friends” Carrie, Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) before they disappear back into the make believe world from which they came. And what a world that was.

It is interesting to try to understand why this show developed such a wide appeal. Four single White thirty-something heterosexual affluent females living in New York City struck a chord with a broad range of viewers who were none of the above. When it debuted, like any tv show with sex in its title, it faced criticism from the always over-judgemental Right, who had never even seen the show. Such frank discussion of sexual desires, by women of all people, was unheard of. Depictions of each characters’ bed hopping drew the most criticism, and conversely the most fan admiration. These were the ultimate liberated women, the inevitable evolution from That Girl to The Mary Tyler Moore Show to now, professionally and personally confident and in control.

But upon closer examination and with each passing season, there was a greater depth to the characters that showed them as more than sex objects or sexual objectifiers. They were single people looking for meaning to their lives and someone to share it with. Not unlike a lot of us, male or female, that can be a desperate and frustrating search. Viewers of all demographics could identify with that.

Personally, I always connected with Miranda. The levelheaded, plain looking one with more than a hint of self-doubt, professionally accomplished but most likely to spend an evening in front of the tv alone. She represented that character who finds a city the size of New York both exciting and daunting as a place where you can actually meet someone and settle down. That she, a lawyer, has been able to create a family with Steve (David Eigenberg), a mere bartender, their baby and a dog, in the far off land of Brooklyn, gives us all hope.

Charlotte, the hopeful romantic and quintessential WASP, has always dreamed of the traditional family with children. When the rest of them talked of “fucking” over lunch at some trendy restaurant, she always squirmed, her delicate ears singed just a tad. First to marry, then divorce, and discovered to be unable to conceive, who would have guessed she would find ultimate happiness with Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) and become a Jewish American Princess? Life works in mysterious ways.

Even Samantha’s life has taken a sudden dramatic turn. She always seemed the most afraid of growing old, as if like a comparable male counterpart, it would signal the end of her virility. But if you believe in May-December romances of the reverse persuasion, then a younger man like Smith (Jason Lewis) can come into her life and be there for her, in sickness and in health.

Which brings us back to Carrie. For my money, the best man for her was Aidan (John Corbett). Mr. Big has always been a good friend/fuck buddy, but neither he nor Carrie are really “in love” with each other. Aidan loved her and she couldn’t see it or appreciate what he had to offer, too afraid to settle into a life that was just ordinary. Aleksandr has asked her what kind of a future she wants, and she hasn’t given a satisfactory answer. I doubt she knows. But Sunday night, the party ends and she will have to decide.

In addition to the fun story lines this show has given us, I will always appreciate the acting and casting decisions made. Producers always seemed to find just the right person for each role. Supporting actors Willie Garson as Stanford Blatch, Mario Cantone, Anne Meara as Steve’s boozy mother, Kyle MacLachlan as Trey MacDougal and Frances Sternhagen as his mother, James Remar as Samantha’s millionaire ex Richard Wright, and Candice Bergen as Enid Frick the Vogue editor are all memorable.

The show also helped to perpetuate the image of New York as a beautiful and romantic city, shooting on location all across town. You could literally walk anywhere in Chelsea, the East and West Village, the Upper West Side, and midtown and stumble upon the cast and crew shooting scenes. It was a boon to New York film and television production that will not be easily replaced. I appreciate the paychecks I made as a background performer in four episodes during seasons 2 and 3.