Kerry Parnell: New Sex And The City is exactly what we need right now

Kerry ParnellThe Sunday Telegraph

Sex And The City is back and even without one of its central characters, it’s just what we need in this COVID climate, Kerry Parnell writes.

A glimmer of light in the pandemic has been this week’s news that Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte are returning to the small screen. Sadly, Samantha will be missing, thanks to the real-life fallout between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker.

I suppose it’s fair enough. When you message, “Let me make this very clear … You are not my family. You are not my friend,” to your castmate, you can’t expect to get $1.3 million per episode for the upcoming 10-part HBO re-boot.

It’s a shame though, as Kim, 64, had all the best lines.

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“If I worried what every bitch in New York was saying about me, I’d never leave the house,” indeed.

Original Sex And The City cast (from left) Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon.
Camera IconOriginal Sex And The City cast (from left) Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon. Credit: News Limited

SJP said this week, “Samantha will always be part of us, no matter where we are or what we do,” which seems nice until you realise she means whatever they do except the new series.

Still, friends fall out or drift apart, so it’s plausible Samantha could have moved on or, in her sixties, even retired: although I have to say, Ms Jones was never the retiring type.

On Wednesday, SJP insisted only the Empire State Building could replace Samantha.

“We’re not looking to create a fourth character, we have New York City as a fourth character,” she said.

“Nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style,” Carrie famously said, which is a bit awks now, seeing as she binned off Samantha faster than last-season’s sunnies. Mon Dior.

No matter – the rest of us are ready to party like it’s 1998; SJP’s Instagram announcement got more than seven million views in a few days.

It’s just what we need in this COVID climate. The show – even with the parts that have dated – was utterly glorious.

It was all about women behaving badly, looking stylish and celebrating female friendships (and feuds).

It tackled taboos in an ironic way, but most of all, made us laugh.

But Samantha (Kim Cattrall, far right) did not make it back into the reboot.
Camera IconBut Samantha (Kim Cattrall, far right) did not make it back into the reboot. Credit: Supplied

And it’s not like they’re stuck for subject matter – produced with a post-pandemic filter where the only thing anyone is designing right now is vaccinations; where MeToo showed what women actually put up with two decades ago (remember the early episode when Carrie discovered Barkley, aka Suits’ Harvey Specter, made secret sex tapes with models) and how Carrie would undoubtedly now be a social media influencer because the magazines she wrote for have folded. I can’t wait.

I’m all for seeing women on screen fabulous in their fifties, menopause jokes and all.

Get it right and this could do what the original did for TV in the 1990s. Much followed SATC, but nothing came close. If they can crack the “over-50s woman is alive and funny” genre, then we’re really living, ladies. This could be ground-breaking, or bomb: one of the two, anyway.

At least there’s a travel ban, which puts paid to any more comedy capers in Abu Dhabi.

“Oh, how we laughed,” said no one in any cinema in 2010.

However it turns out, one thing’s for sure, it will be the only thing worth getting dressed up for in our living rooms.

twitter.com/kerryparnell