An introductory description for the HBO series “Sex and the City.”
Sex and the City is a heartfelt romp that focuses on four single female friends in their thirties, living in late-90’s-through-early-2000’s New York City. They move in rarefied circles; as four white women of means, much of their fun is had in hip bars and restaurants, and the hottest new clubs.
Carrie Bradshaw is the protagonist of the show. A very petite, very thin white woman with curly blonde hair, Carrie has a striking, expressive oval-shaped face with a sharp jawline, a prominent nose, and piercing, somewhat small blue eyes. She works as a columnist for a weekly newspaper, yet still manages to live in a cozy (rent-controlled) apartment on the Upper East Side. It has an odd, mostly-open layout, with a central kitchen that Carrie rarely uses. Carrie’s pride and joy is her walk-through closet, stuffed with designer clothing; she owns dozens and dozens of pairs of expensive, towering high-heels, and makes a lot of daring fashion choices in her day-to-day life. Think lots of sheer items over underwear; a crop top with a belt around her bare, toned waist; and accessories galore (most notably a gold necklace with her name in cursive). Carrie’s voiceover ties the theme of each show (and each of her columns) together, and a recurring visual is typed words appearing on her laptop screen as she speaks them.
Miranda Hobbes is a tall, thin white woman with vivid red hair that starts out in a short, somewhat matronly style, but moves through a pixie cut and other cropped, of-the-moment styles before settling on a bob. She has very pale skin with a rounder face, pale blue-grey eyes, a small nose, and thin lips. She’s a lawyer, so her work uniform tends toward pantsuits; but her casual style is eclectic and often tomboyish, including overalls with a puffer jacket, and bold graphic-print shirts. Miranda likes to be comfy in her leisure time, and tends toward lower heels and flats. Miranda’s dry humor is most often delivered with a deadpan expression. Her living space is decorated tastefully and minimally.
Samantha is a tall, thin white woman with blonde hair (often with bangs), an oval face, and brown eyes. She has a slim, athletic build that she likes to show off, wearing lots of tight clothing with high slits and short skirts to accentuate her long, lean legs. She also knows how to accessorize, frequently wearing large earrings and stacks of bangles. Samantha works in PR, which ties in with her grown-up-party-girl attitude; she’s not into commitment, or judgment, when it comes to sleeping around.
Charlotte is the most buttoned-up and traditional of the four friends - a proud, self-identified WASP. She’s white, thin, of average height, with thick, sleek dark-brown hair that falls past her shoulders, dark brown eyes, a slightly upturned nose, and a wide mouth. Charlotte likes to wear classic looks - A-line dresses and skirts in neutral colors with cinched waists; pencil skirts with sleeveless button-downs and a pastel sweater over her shoulders - preppy crossed with Audrey Hepburn. Her lips are often pressed into a prim line, often whenever Samantha makes a comment she deems too raunchy for public consumption. She moves with little mincing steps, especially when she’s flustered.
The four friends meet regularly at a diner called The Coffee Shop. It’s a beige, no-frills space with stainless-steel chairs, and their regular table is in the middle of the modestly-sized dining room.
An introduction wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Mr. Big - Carrie’s mystery man. He’s quite tall, at about six-foot-one, especially in contrast with the very petite Carrie. He’s a clean-cut white man with a solid build. Big has dark brown hair, prominent eyebrows, and hazel eyes that he widens suddenly whenever he makes a quip. He almost always wears a dark suit over a crisp white shirt, with a little bit of variation in his ties. He lives in an elegant, pristine bachelor pad that feels just a little too clean and a little too large, and somewhat cold - plain white walls, marble and stainless kitchen, no art on the walls. He’s almost always being driven in his signature black towncar.
The world these characters inhabit is fairly carefree, and largely lacking in any kind of real city grit or darkness, or any meaningful diversity of skin tone outside of a few bit parts. Lots of the restaurants and clubs featured in the show are real, like Balthazar, Blue Water Grill, and Cafeteria. The stilettos are sky-high, the cosmos ice-cold, and the friendly banter free-flowing. You can’t help but wonder...what will the four friends get up to in their six seasons together?