Barnes & Noble
The good news: For roughly the price of a monthly cable bill, you can own the entire 12-episode first season of the much-praised Sex and the City in either a two-DVD or three-tape set. The bad news: Once you start watching, you won't stop. This is easily the most addictive series to hit the small screen since sci-fi fans gobbled up The X-Files' first few enigmatic seasons. The show follows four single, spunky women in Manhattan as they wind their way around sensitive subject matter like threesomes, silent telephones, vibrators, and the effect of Prozac on a partner's libido. At Sex in the City's center is the remarkable Sarah Jessica Parker as sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw. Without her easy grin and comic delivery -- which switches from tomboyish to catty to sisterly without a hitch -- the series would be nothing more than a parade of designer shoes and thirtysomething chatter. Side characters like Carrie's uber-dish Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and her high-strung gay pal Stanford (Willie Garson) boost the show's watchability and add to its unique angle on femininity. There is no "chick flick" feel to Sex; its topics don't stoop to the trite cosmetic level of most sitcoms. Executive producer-writer Darren Star (whose pre-Sex credits include Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210) has broken the mold with his witty scripts. Unlike the cookie-cutter eccentrics of many primetime network shows, these women will surprise and engulf you with each daily trudge to New York City's finest watering holes. Just don't say you weren't warned. Kristy Ojala
Barnes & Noble
After a hit first season, the sexy sirens of Sex and the City return for 18 more episodes of HBO's comic exposé of Manhattan's dating scene. Following the award-winning first season, producer Darren Star (Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place) further mines the writings of sex columnist-turned-novelist Candace Bushnell. Sarah Jessica Parker reprises her role as Carrie Bradshaw, a sex columnist with a fashion sense that's two steps ahead of everyone else's and a love life that's three steps behind. Whether she's striking out with a New York Yankees rookie in the season opener ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game") or enduring a writer with a suffocating family life in "Shortcomings," Carrie delivers more of the romantic ups and downs that have made this series sizzle. After bouncing from relationship to relationship, she eventually sees the ever-secretive Mr. Big (Chris Noth) in a new light during the much-talked-about season finale, "Ex and the City" -- but for how long? Carrie's posse of single gals is once again led by the always outrageous Samantha (Kim Cattrall), who flies through the city like a man-seeking missile. Sweet Charlotte (Kristin Davis) also continues her quest for the love of her life, whether it be wily Wylie (Brian Van Holt), effeminate heterosexual pastry chef Stephen (Dan Futterman) or Ned (Kurt Deutsch), a recent widower she finds crying over his wife's grave. Finally, resident relationship cynic Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) can't even seem to find Mr. OK -- let alone Mr. Right -- until she stumbles upon an easygoing bartender (David Eigenberg) whose charm and wit manage to melt her icy heart, in the acclaimed episode "The Man, the Myth, the Viagra." Ultimately, the hilarious second season Sex and the City gives us the agony and ecstasy of modern romance -- from lessons in Tantric activities to expert hair-care tips. Who says TV isn't educational? Jason Bergenfeld
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Our favorite Cosmopolitan-sipping quartet is back, skewering their respective lovers and each other while offering a passenger’s-seat view of New York City self-absorption. HBO’s creative crew has caught lightning in a bottle with Sex and the City, cultivating a loyal following with continuing tales of Gotham's high-stakes dating game. These 18 episodes offer plenty for both diehard fans and curious newbies to chew on. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) explores the varying virtues of firemen, politicians, and Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Charlotte (Kristin Davis) discovers a yen for domesticity. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) wonders how an island as small as Manhattan "can be big enough to hold all our boyfriends." Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is caught in a bizarre orbit of sexually potent munchkins, egg-tossing transsexuals, and Playboy bunnies. Much like its fellow HBO hit The Sopranos, Sex and the City moved quickly from cult status to full-blown cultural phenomenon, with many among its legion of fans discovering the show's pleasures on disc and tape rather than during its actual TV run. In many circles, it has changed the ground rules for discussions between the sexes. Have women always related to one another the way SatC does, or has the show brought out the dishing diva in all of us? Whatever the case, talking about sex will never be the same again.
Barnes & Noble
When Sex and the City debuted on HBO in 1998, the show's smart-mouthed quartet of New York City single gals sandwiched their superficial serial relationships between serious shopping sprees. But with each passing year, their characters have deepened (as have their ab-fab wardrobes). From the moment Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) confronts the "horror" of turning 35 in the opener, Season 4 has issues with a capital "I": impotence, abortion, cancer, even death. But while a lesser show might have turned such material into soapy sludge, SatC keeps the caustic wit bubbling up. Indeed, after Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) returns from her mother's deathbed, she leavens the blow with this postmortem: "She did open her eyes just long enough to veto my lipstick." Miranda goes full circle from death to life when her "sympathy shag" with Steve (David Eigenberg) results in an unwanted pregnancy -- and a very wanted baby, delivered in the surprisingly tender finale. The fertility gods are less kind to Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Trey (Kyle MacLachlan), who fail to fill the empty nursery in their Park Avenue apartment. Meanwhile, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) mood-swings into a "Sapphic slump" with a gorgeous lesbian artist (Sonia Braga), and Carrie moves in with the hunky Aidan (John Corbett). Neither liaison lasts. We know Carrie and Aidan are doomed when his dog chews her pricey stilettos, part of a $40,000 shoe collection that leaves her flat broke. This provokes a crisis until Charlotte offers a grand gesture of self-sacrifice: her 2.17- karat diamond engagement ring. In the SatC universe, this amounts to a kidney donation. Cree McCree
Barnes & Noble
Hot town, summer in the city, and Carrie Bradshaw's cosmopolitan-sipping clique finds its fifth-season deck reshuffled with such new wildcards as - Miranda's new baby! There are new loves, new choices, and new responsibilities that further complicate the day-to-day travails of Sex and the City.
Barnes & Noble
Six years of sex, impossibly pricey pumps, and designer cocktails comes to an end as the single women of Sex and the City begin the show's final season. Newspaper sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her glamorous gal pals Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) continue in their distinct if parallel paths to metropolitan happiness. In the season opener, Carrie believes things are on an upswing because of her hot date with new boy toy Jack Berger (Ron Livingston of HBO's Band of Brothers), while Charlotte is upset over Harry's (Evan Handler) disclosure that he would never marry a non-Jew. This leads to her decision to seek out a rabbi and convert to Judaism in "Great Expectations." Also in that episode, Samantha feasts her eyes on the new waiter, Jerry (Jason Lewis), the man with an interesting past who soon becomes her boyfriend. Carrie and Berger's relationship ups and downs come to a head in "The Post-it Always Sticks Twice," while Charlotte hears the words she's been longing for from Harry, with a huge ring to prove it. Charlotte's wedding day in "The Catch" is a comedy of errors, the highlight of which is an unintentionally hilarious ink stain on her wedding announcement in the Sunday New York Times. Miranda continues to emotionally distance herself from Steve (David Eigenberg) in the early episodes and makes a more pronounced break when Dr. Robert Leeds (Blair Underwood) -- the physician who treats her and baby Brady's chickenpox -- moves into her building. The last episode in the Part 1 set includes Mikhail Baryshnikov's introduction as Alexander Petrovsky, an artist who sweeps Carrie off her feet and sets up the romantic tension for the remainder of the season. Other highlights from these first dozen Season 6 episodes include "Boy, Interrupted," which finds David Duchovny (The X-Files) making an appearance as an old high school flame of Carrie's; and "Domino Effect," wherein a visit from Mr. Big (Chris Noth) forces Carrie to think hard about their relationship one last time. Christina Urban
Barnes & Noble
HBO's groundbreaking series came to a close with the eight 2003-4 episodes collected in this three-disc box set, and it definitely went out with a bang rather than a whimper. Sex and the City concluded with its four major characters facing their respective destinies, but not without difficulty. A breast-cancer scare forces Samantha (Kim Cattrall) in "Catch-38" to reevaluate her life, if only temporarily. In "Out of the Frying Pan," and "The Cold War," Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) finds herself growing closer to a Russian artist (Mikhail Baryshnikov): a flippant, arrogant man who's been around the block, he nonetheless manages to captivate the romance-loving writer. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) continues to focus on recovering from the loss of her baby in "Let There Be Light," and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) settles down with Steve (David Eigenberg) in "The Ick Factor," unaware that more changes await her. The final eight episodes of the series nostalgically revisit earlier situations and characters, building to the inevitable finale, "An American Girl in Paris" -- a sensational two-parter that left the show's fans breathless (and more than a little sad the series had ended). The sitcom that changed sitcoms forever, Sex and the City didn't wear out its welcome -- in fact, it went out on something of a creative high. The eight shows included in this box are all top-notch; a more fitting ending to the girls' six-year odyssey could hardly have been imagined. Ed Hulse
All Movie Guide
This comedy drama series, adapted from the book by New York columnist Candace Bushnell, centers around four single women who carve to the core of the Big Apple. Bushnell called the casting of this series "brilliant." Newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) labels herself a "sexual anthropologist." She researches sexual politics for her racy column via info and input from her thirtysomething friends: PR executive Samantha (Kim Cattrall of Creature), art dealer Charlotte (Kristin Davis of Melrose Place), and lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon of Marvin's Room). Carrie both observes and participates in the routines and rituals rampant during Manhattan dating and mating. Women who approach sexual activity in a noncommittal manner are the theme of the pilot episode, directed by Susan Seidelman. Alison Maclean (HBO's Subway Stories) directed the second episode, "Models and Mortals, in which Carrie studies the power possessed by beautiful models and the experiences of both men and women who date only members of the fashion world. Documenting the sex lives of "modelizers," "toxic bachelors," and the like, Bradshaw has various encounters with the wealthy and powerful Mr. Big (Chris Noth of Law & Order), representing the type of man who flirts yet never dates. Other male types delineated here are Artist Guy, Groovy Guy, and Mr. Marvelous. Executive producer and creator Darren Star filmed with locations stretching the Big Apple strata from the chic to the seedy, from halfway habitable hovels to upscale restaurants and glamorous nightclubs. The series premiered June 6, 1998, on HBO and concluded its run after six seasons on February 22, 2004. Bhob Stewart
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