Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That was roundly derided by critics, and even one of its cast members, but showrunner Michael Patrick King can’t help but wonder… What if the series ages well after all?
The much-hyped SATC follow-up arrived to great fanfare in 2021 and famously made a splash by unceremoniously killing off Carrie Bradshaw’s divisive husband Mr Big in the very first episode.
But with Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones – the character who undeniably put the most sex in the city – missing, the spin-off fell short. And, well, just like that, midway through last year’s third series, bosses announced the show would be ending.
King, who oversaw both the original SATC and the follow-up, is standing by his work, though. The showrunner’s latest project is a third series of Lisa Kudrow’s The Comeback, which has just arrived on HBO Max – 12 years after the second season aired.
The first season of The Comeback, Kudrow’s post-Friends vehicle, had aired in 2005 and both returns came after belated calls from fans.
Speaking to the Guardian, King has drawn parallels between the sitcom and the SATC revival. He explained: “If The Comeback has taught me anything, it’s that perceptions can change over the years. The Comeback’s first perception was: it failed. Then it grew in relevance as the world caught up.”
“I think And Just Like That will potentially age well,” he continued. “It has the same DNA as the original Sex and the City, which was society telling 35-year-old women they should be married.
“In And Just Like That, society was telling 55-year-old women they shouldn’t be wearing tulle. I’ve always tried to be excited about writing the individual v society.”
His comments come after Mr Big actor Chris Noth took a jab at And Just Like That in February, claiming he felt “very lucky” to have not had a bigger part in the show.
Noth, 71, was written out of the series after sexual assault accusations surfaced against him. The actor has maintained his innocence, calling the allegations “complete fabrication”.
And Just Like That followed original SATC characters Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis), as they navigated their fifties.
Cattrall, who put her feud with SJP aside to reunite with her cast mates for the two SATC films, declined to reprise her role as PR powerhouse Samantha Jones - though she did make a brief appearance in the And Just Like That series two finale. With a cameo that didn’t require joining the others on set, of course.
