Did You Ever Notice That ‘Sex and the City’ Had No Holiday-Themed Episodes?
If you need to get into the Thanksgiving spirit this year, there are plenty of TV show episodes that can help. If you are a fan of Sex and the City, you are out of luck, though. The iconic series followed Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, Samantha Jones, and Charlotte York through the trials and tribulations of living in Manhattan. Still, it never featured them celebrating a single holiday. In 94 episodes, there is not a single holiday-themed episode. While it is a bit peculiar, there might be a reason for it.
Sex and the City never acknowledged a holiday
During Sex and the City’s six seasons, a holiday was never mentioned. While it’s not uncommon for shows to avoid having holiday-themed episodes, it’s a bit abnormal to have absolutely no mention of the holidays.
The television show’s big-screen counterpart was a bit different. In Sex and the City: The Movie, three separate holidays were acknowledged. Halloween was featured when Miranda and Carrie searched for Miranda’s costume. A scene featuring New Year’s Eve revelers was particularly heart-wrenching, and Valentine’s day was celebrated.
The show also rarely seemed to take place in the winter months
The winter months in New York can be harsh and painfully cold. They also are not particularly hospitable for women who enjoy wearing high heels. That might be why episodes of Sex and the City appeared to rarely occur during the winter months. Christmas and Thanksgiving were never acknowledged, and Miranda, Charlotte, Carrie, and Samantha rarely mentioned the cold.
The fall and summer were heavily featured on the series, though. During the show’s six-season run, Spring was acknowledged, too. Carrie mentions that autumn was setting in in New York in season 4 when Mr. Big moved away from New York. In almost every season, summer is acknowledged, and Spring is mentioned during the show’s Fleet Week episode. New York’s Fleet Week practically always takes place in May. Winter, however, got almost no love. In fact, only one episode appeared to acknowledge the coldest season. It came in the show’s final season.
Did the show’s creator avoid pinpointing holidays for a reason?
If you think about it, Sex and the City made it a point never to point out what month pretty much anything took place. Sure, there were moments where time is mentioned, but never in a definitive way. For example, Carrie never said that it’s April or May or June. The characters loosely acknowledge seasons, and that’s about it. Hello Giggles argues that the quirk is entirely intentional. The publication suggests that the show’s creators wanted the series to take place without cluing fans in on the passage of time. It’s a viable theory.
If that’s the case, then why did the movie acknowledge holidays? There is likely a good reason for that, too. The first movie was heavily focused on Carrie’s big heartbreak. In order to show how long Mr. Big and Carrie’s breakup lasted, they had to mark the passage of time. The best way to do that is to provide viewers with easily identifiable moments. Holidays are particularly good markers for that.
