Sex and the City

This is decidedly one of the best written and acted comedies I've seen in a very long time. The trials and tribulations of Carrie Bradshaw and her three friends is as riveting as it is true. As a straight male viewer of this show, I think that it gave me a lot of insight into the female aspect of a relationship and the world as a whole. This show also changed the way the public views women. Carrie and company are strong, self-sufficient women who even dislike serious relationships and the prospect of marriage. This is far from the housewife days of "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best".

Particularly stunning about this show is the acting. Although much has been said about the relationships between the stars of the show, the characters they portray have such a sense of reality and conviction that they seem like ordinary people trying to get by. Why this show was not awarded more is beyond me.

For anyone who wonders about human relationships and interaction, this funny yet sometimes surreal show is the perfect addition to your viewing pleasure.

I would never have imagined that Sex and the City would cause such a negative reaction. It is particularly surprising that anyone from London would dare be self-righteous enough as to spew a lengthy harangue of moral rights and wrongs. Since when is London high on morality? The show is something to be taken with a grain of salt. For those that think that it send the wrong message about sex, it's not an after school special and there is no reason to remind a thirty-something year old to practice safe sex. The show is on HBO late at night for a reason. I do not understand the point of watching the show if one does not like it. It's the TV show executives and cast that end up laughing all the way to the bank - while those sitting on their couches, complaining, are simultaneously boosting the shows ratings. Why bother contributing awareness and popularity to something that one so avidly disagrees with?

I am only a recent viewer of the show, now running on TBS - so I get the watered-down version, which is still quite enjoyable. I somewhat relate to both the women and the situations presented. I appreciate the fact that the show touches on some major issues of singles in the dating world while, at the same time, not having an overly dramatic or depressing tone. It's fun and light hearted - it celebrates the shallowness in each one of us while also recognizing the basic faults that make us human. In a sense it is hyperbole, but what good TV show isn't? Everything in the world does not have to be serious - in reality no one is politically correct all of the time. The show should not be viewed as representative of men, women, and New York - this is not the way the show is meant to be observed. Take as a spoof on dating life for singles in New York - and on men and women's idiosyncrasies - but by no means take it as reality. It's not - It's just a TV show. If you want reality then get your hiney off the couch and go live your life and stop complaining about how trivial and unrealistic TV shows are!!!!

Well, to be honest, I never thought I would be writing a review on Sex and the City as a teenage guy. I do not see myself as someone who is into the New York scene of style, glamour, or fashion but the show helps me understand where men and women go wrong in relationships.

Like I said, I am a teenager, so I am entirely new to relationships, but I feel so confused at times by what women are thinking and why they do certain things. Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha, and Carrie openly discuss their relationships with men and I find it helpful to look into the female psyche. There are a lot of cautionary tales about men during the show about what not to do during a relationship. The way men are portrayed is not much different from reality because men hide secrets, have strange desires in bed, have commitment problems, bad hygiene, etc.

The interesting thing I notice from all four of the main leads is the tendency to overthink a man's exact words. A small piece of advice for any woman that I have, is that men (including me) are dumb and are very simplistic when we mean something. In my experience, it is very rare when a man has the ability to be very manipulative towards others, especially women.

Lastly, the show is very educational for me. I do not necessarily agree with plot lines at times, but the show is reality in a way it feels others cannot achieve. I suggest that everyone watch the show, for me, it has been very helpful.

I first caught SATC in the late nineties, and thought it was great. At the time the show really captured a certain nineties sensibility - it was cynical, tongue-in-cheek, adult. Though not your average SATC fan - heterosexual, thirty-something male working in IT - I became obsessed, and was sure to see each new episode the first time it aired. However, over time I became disillusioned with the series.

First, I eventually read the book. Despite the author's reluctance to say anything, the show never was much like the book, and has - over the years - strayed far far away. The book is, like most of Candace Bushnell's work, insightful and witty, with its humor derived from a certain urbane severity; it shares more with the works of Carrie Fischer and Tama Janowitz than any of the stuff now labeled Chick Lit.

Bushnell's characters may fall in love, even marry. They may have Manolos and Birkin bags, but this is all background noise of sorts. Bushnell is an under-rated pop-anthropologist, depicting the tribes that inhabit the big city. We may no longer be hunting our food, or struggling to keep the fire going, but it is still all about survival. Bushnell is great at depicting the primal hunger that, while it once made man fight to the death over territory or a fresh kill, now makes women deck themselves out in top gear and hunt down that Banker or Fortune 500 Executive, or fight tooth-and-nail to break through the glass ceiling.

Second, somewhere midlife, SATC, the show, got lost. All that incidental stuff - the shoes and bags, and places-to-be-seen - moved from the background to the foreground. The show became one long glossy luxury goods advertisement, the kind found in Vanity Fair. The movie underlines this - while there are great story lines, etc, the theatrical release is one obscene orgy of consumerism and decadence.

Too bad. The last years of SATC is an insult to both the book and the early years of the show. It is certainly an insult to the public, but - considering SATC was most popular in its later years - maybe the insult is much deserved.

There are some series that really take you back to a certain era. Series that have characters that stick with you as you move through your own life. Sex and the City does that, and it is always wonderful to re-watch it.