Sex And The City - A Tv Phenomenon

I guess most people will know that Sex And The City was one of the TV phenomena of recent decades, spanning 6 years and 94 episodes on American cable television channel HBO.

Perhaps the main reason that this TV show was so successful, and so popular, was that it touched upon the emotions, both positive and negative, that all of us have to face as we go through life and enter into relationships with sexual partners.

In case you don't remember, the show was set in New York City, and focused on four white American women, three of whom were in their mid-30s, one of whom was in her 40s. There were multiple continuing storylines that covered all social issues, including things that are usually taboo on TV such as STD's, how to stay safe in relationships, promiscuity, impotence, and same gender relationships.

Was there any factual basis for the show? Well, some: the show was partly based on a column by Candace Bushnell, who wrote some dark and somewhat cynical columns about relationship issues in a modern big city, but when the series was transferred to television, the creator decided to produce a lighter version of the issues that all of us face in our relationships. The main character, Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, takes the role of a columnist recording the adventures of herself and her friends in the big city.

This group of sassy and sexy women frequently get together and discuss the intimate issues of their relationships: together, Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York, Samantha Jones, and Miranda Hobbes give us plenty of opportunity to identify with the ups and downs of relationships, drawing us into their characters, and making us feel for them as though they were our real friends. This was the power of the show, since the scripts reflected our own experiences, experiences we might have wanted to talk about with good friends in the way that these women were able to do.

The narrator of each episode is Carrie Bradshaw, who we see working on her computer in her apartment as she writes her newspaper column about relationships in the city. While she's an open-minded woman, she definitely wants to have fun and find the right man, but unfortunately for her she's entangled with Mr. Big (played by Chris Noth) in an "on again" "off again" relationship which interweaves its way through all her other relationships.

Samantha Jones is one of the most interesting characters in the show, loyal to her friends, devoted to exploration of relationships in every way, and yet at the same time fearful of commitment to the extent that she requires her lovers to leave her apartment one hour after they've been to bed together. Only when she develops breast cancer and faces the possibility of her own mortality does she change: becoming more emotionally mature and capable of entering into a long-term relationship with the handsome actor Smith Jerrod.

Charlotte York faces a different kind of dilemma, in that her relationships have to be based on a set of rules that seem very conventional, perhaps almost prim. Nonetheless, she's capable of breaking these rules when she wants to. And perhaps that's just as well, because when she marries her second husband she discovers that pregnancy is not going to come easily to her, and in the end they adopt a little girl from China.

For many women, Miranda Hobbes was one of the most interesting characters in the show, because she had to battle with an issue that faces almost all women -- the desire to work and the reality of being a mother. Initially cynical, Miranda moves from independence and emotional isolation to a place where she softens and grows through the birth of her son Brady, and the series ends with her finding a degree of contentment and happiness - as well as a husband.

The power of the show lies in the fact that every single one of us has faced some of these issues, if not all of them. These 4 sassy women wisecracking their way through New York City in the trials and tribulations of life have something to teach every single one of us.

So for those of you who are now want to establish a complete collection of the classic episodes in seasons 1 to 6, there's a whole collected edition called Sex And The City Complete Series now available. But why might you want to buy this? Well, one of the reviews on Amazon.com expressed it quite nicely: he suggested that most of us look back on the high points in our lives and find them challenging or scary, and it's only in retrospect that we see how fulfilling, eye opening, and often unforgettable these events have been. In a way, Sex And The City allows us to experience some of these moments vicariously by offering us the adventures and experiences of a group of women and their lovers with whom we can identify in some way.