Distributed by
Warner Vision International

Cert:

Cat. No: 8573-87263-3

Running time: 296 minutes

Year: 1998

Pressing: 2000

Format: VHS Video, 4 tapes

Sound: Hi-Fi Stereo

Fullscreen: 4:3

Price: £19.99

Creator/Producer:

Darren Star

Cast:

Carrie Bradshaw: Sarah Jessica Parker
Samantha Jones: Kim Catrall
Charlotte York: Kristin Davis
Miranda Hobbes: Cynthia Nixon
Mr. Big: Chris Noth
Stanford Blatch: Willie Garson
Skipper Johnson: Ben Weber

Carrie Bradshaw is a New York journalist who writes "Sex And The City", a column focusing on the nature of relationships between the sexes in the late 1990s. In the name of research, she tests out various theories on Manhattan's unsuspecting male population with the aid of her three best friends - Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, while becoming invloved herself with the enigmatic Mr. Big

Sex And The City - the show - offers some witty and incisive commentaries on the plight of single 30-something women in a ruthless town like the Big Apple. Contrary to some of the hype upon its launch in 1998, the characters are not quite cold, calculated man-eaters. There is a self-awareness and smart intelligence to them (which manifests itself differently in each of the four women) - as well as a basic femininity - that sets them apart from the caricatured harpies they might have been.

It's talky, in a Woody Allen-esque way, with Parker's streams of consciousness often spilling over into the dialogue through asides to the camera mid-conversation. It's a device which maintains an air of cool detachment, while jazz muzak plays continually in the background at all times.

The first series consisted of a dozen 25-minute episodes :

1. Sex And The City 2. Models And Mortals 3. Bay Of Married Pigs 4. Valley Of The Twenty-Somethings 5. The Power Of Female Sex 6. Secret Sex

7. The Monogamists 8. Three's A Crowd 9. The Turtle & The Hare 10. The Baby Shower 11. The Drought 12. Oh Come All Ye Faithful

As the titles suggest, it's often a rather juicy and explicit programme, although the razor-sharp wit and intelligence keeps it on the right side of good taste at all times.

For a mainstream US sitcom (which it is, and it doesn't ever take itself too seriously), Sex & The City is a far cry from the likes of Friends or Dharma & Greg. There's a cinematic quality to the execution, as well as the actual cast.

Besides Sarah Jessica Parker (complete with flowing locks that bring to mind the Ray Of Light-era Madonna - "Parker's muscular physique puts me right off" - DVDfever Ed), Kim Cattrall starred in a fair few 80s movies - Porky's, Police Academy, Mannequin and Bonfire Of The Vanities... erm, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to list them. Cattrall's Samantha is the most flirtatious and vacuous of the quartet, and she plays it for laughs wonderfully well. ("And she still looks damn good, despite filling out a little!" - DVDfever Ed)

Kristin Davis, like a grown-up Katie Holmes might be, and her sweet-natured Charlotte is the most romantically inclined, never quite able to shake off her slightly old-fashioned tendencies. She offers some relief from the more strident outlooks of the others. ("What can I say but 'Billy, I'm ovulating!' - DVDfever Ed)

Completing this circle of friends, Cynthia Nixon brings a wry humour to her complex Miranda. An outwardly dismissive demeanour masks a softer nature that occasionally comes to the surface, such as the time hopelessly sensitive romantic (and utterly smitten) Skipper Johnson disarms her with his compliments at an all-night convenience store. So unimpressed is she with the male species in general, however, Miranda's single to the point of being thought of as a lesbian by her bosses...an assumption which her appearance hardly discourages.

Each episode keeps it concise and fast-moving, with the result that Sex & The City never strays from its stylish, irony-laced missive.

This box-set of 4 videos, also available separately, contain 3 episodes per tape, so in terms of length they don't offer quite as much value as, say, Buffy The Vampire Slayer or The X-Files. A better comparison would be Warner's other main franchise in this genre, Friends.

Picture and sound are high, but of a TV standard.. no Dolby Surround or Widescreen print here. There are brief, 1-minute teasers before each epiosde, presented by Sarah Jessica Parker and featuring snippets from the upcoming installment.

Overall, these 12 episodes are of such high quality that to pick up the whole series for 20 quid feels like a bargain.

CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY
OVERALL

Review copyright © Jason Maloney, 2001.