How ‘And Just Like That…’ Decisions ‘Startled’ ‘Sex and the City’ Author Candace Bushnell
Sex and the City was appointment TV in the 1990s. Every Sunday night audiences sat down to see what was going on in the lives of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristen Davis), and Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon).
The series was based on the book of the same name by Candace Bushnell.
When the 6th and final season came to a close, Carrie ended up with her true love Mr. Big (Chris Noth), and we finally learned his real name.
The Sex & the City movie came out a few years later, and we saw Big leave Carrie at the altar, but the two finally tied the knot at the end.
We don’t need to go into the second movie…
What happened in ‘And Just Like That’ season 1?
A reboot of the beloved show premiered in 2021. Fans waited anxiously to see what was going on in the lives of their favorite foursome in And Just Like That.
Well, Samantha is no longer with them. She’s not dead, but she moved to London after a falling out with Carrie. We do see her words via text messages though.
Charlotte is still happily married to Harry Goldenblatt, played by Evan Handler, but struggles with issues with her children.
Miranda changed the most since her Sex & the City days. She leaves her husband Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) for non-binary comedian Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) and follows them to Cleveland.
Then there is our heroine Carrie. Big, the love of her life, suffered a heart attack and died in the very first episode. For the rest of the season, Carrie is getting her life back together.
What did Candace Bushnell think of the show?
Bushnell pretty much based Carrie on herself. She spoke with The New Yorker in February 2022 about her life and career, and her thoughts on And Just Like That… .
She talked about how she was very involved with the first two seasons of the show but then Carrie stopped feeling like her.
When asked when that happened, she responded, “I’ve said this, but when the character of Carrie sleeps with Mr. Big after he’s married to somebody else, that’s when I felt like the character’s becoming something other.”
She also said that she doesn’t see herself in Carrie whatsoever in the reboot, “Not at all. I mean, Carrie Bradshaw ended up being a quirky woman who married a really rich guy. And that’s not my story or any of my friends’ stories. But TV has its own logic.”
She had other thoughts about And Just Like That…, “I’m really startled by a lot of the decisions made in the reboot,” Bushnell explained. “You know, it’s a television product, done with Michael Patrick King and Sarah Jessica Parker, who have both worked with HBO a lot in the past. HBO decided to put this franchise back into their hands for a variety of reasons, and this is what they came up with.”
When will we see ‘And Just Like That…’ season 2?
New Yorkers have spotted And Just Like That… filming all over the city, and rumors suggest that HBO could be eyeing a summer 2023 premiere.
We already know that Carrie and Samantha will continue their texting, as it is their way of keeping Samantha in the show without Cattrall.
The biggest news is the addition of John Corbett as Aidan Shaw, who was a boyfriend of Carrie’s in the original series. According to Deadline, Tony Danza will also be joining the cast as the father of Che Diaz.
