Interior ideas from the series Sex and the City

Alternative endings of the cult series "Sex and the City"

Photo: Amy Shamblen/Unsplash Writing the ending was difficult and beyond the scope of normal script writing. King knew he might disappoint at least a few million people who were hoping for a different ending, no matter what course of events he chose.

The writers argued among themselves: who will Carrie end up with in the end? With the man of her dreams? With Petrovsky? With someone else? Or maybe she will be left alone? King said it was always his plan for Mr. Big and Carrie to end up together. He just wanted to make sure that they would be together in an unusual way: no spectacular marriage proposal, it had to be Carrie's choice. Everything had to depend on Carrie’s decision to follow Petrovsky to Paris in search of her happiness in this dreamy European city.

Other heroines also had their own happy endings. In the finale, Miranda invites Steve's mother, Mary (played by the incomparable Anne Myra), to live with them in Brooklyn because she is showing signs of mental illness. When housekeeper Magda sees Miranda bathing a disoriented Mary like a fairy godmother, she feels truly proud. “This is love,” Magda says, kissing Miranda on the forehead. Charlotte and Harry receive news that they have been allowed to adopt a Chinese girl. And Samantha gives her triumphant speech in support of cancer patients with the support of her love, Smith Jerrod (played by Jason Lewis, model and guest star from Beverly Hills 90210). More importantly, she sends Smith on the set of the film, insisting that he have sex with other women. But at the same time she hopes that he won’t do this - and Samantha is incredibly happy when Smith returns home and says that he wants to be only with her.

Samantha has finally found love.

King added to the already insane workload with the unusual decision to film multiple endings as bait for the paparazzi and tabloids. They might be able to locate a shoot and guess from afar what will happen in a scene, or even get a crew member to tell details about the scene, but they won't be able to tell which shoot was real. He decided to confuse them: maybe she will be with Mr. Big. Maybe she will stay with Petrovsky. Maybe she will decide to stay in Paris forever. The actors and writers knew the real ending, but the crew, which may have included newcomers, freelancers, or just people willing to share secrets from the set with their spouses after a lot of hard work, had no idea.

In one alternate ending, Carrie deceives her friends by telling them that she is already married to Petrovsky. She then reveals that he is returning to the States from Paris so they can have a wedding ceremony with her three best friends as bridesmaids. In another alternate ending, Samantha says that Mr. Big went to Paris to stop everything for good. Carrie replies, "Big is over and we've all been waiting for it."

The twist endings created some absurd moments. After one long day of filming, they had to film all these alternate scenes in the coffee shop. Screenwriter Julie Rottenberg realized how obvious it was that the footage was not real. In the real ones, they ran between takes to give comments to the actors. She was quick to make recommendations for Nixon's false words. She gave her an incredulous look.

King decided to leave the controversy in the script for the final two episodes. Carrie and Miranda fight desperately when Carrie decides to quit her job and move to Paris. “What are you going to do there all day? Are there any croissants? - Miranda asks.

“I can’t stay in New York and be lonely just for you!” - Carrie answers her. This is the quintessential problem with friendships in adulthood: we are taught to prioritize romantic relationships over female friendships. We would consider it madness and perhaps stupidity to stay in a certain place for a platonic friend, even one we have known and loved for many years, even if the alternative is a prim, older Russian artist we have known for a short time.

As Carrie leaves, Miranda utters another rich line that's special to Sex and the City: "These are stupid fantasies!"

Another intense scene from the final episodes takes place on Carrie's street, Perry Street in the West Village, in that cozy, shady brick neighborhood that has become a second home base for filming over the years. That was the last time this street pretended to be an Upper East Side street. The street was blocked, as always, and lanterns were burning on the treetops. It was like a "magical terrarium," King says.

In the finale, Mr. Big comes to Carrie's house in a half-hearted attempt to either win her back or have a heart-to-heart.

“I came to say: I made a mistake,” he says. - We are with you…

- You and I are nothing! - she interrupts him with a shout. - I won't let you do this anymore. Stop pulling my strings!

After he states that “this time is different,” she cuts him off:

- Forget my phone number, forget my name. And you can keep watch outside my windows as long as you like, because I don’t live here anymore!

Most of the nights they filmed outside were in the spring or summer; this time it was winter. The final season was filmed in bitter cold, often with snow still on the ground. That night, the breath of the actors created small clouds of steam in the air.

The phrase “I don’t live here anymore” struck Parker to the heart. She didn't live here anymore. She was leaving Carrie behind. When the scene ended, her only consolation was a surprise visitor to the set: her husband Matthew Broderick stood there with three friends, watching.

All around them, crew members and producers were crying. Everyone decided to end the evening around the corner at the White Horse Tavern, a bar known as a literary hangout in the 1950s and 1960s, frequented by Dylan Thomas, James Baldwin, Jack Kerouac and others. It was the perfect place in New York to end an emotional night, except for one thing: The White Horse was closing early at 1 a.m. to prepare for a city inspection that was scheduled for the next day.

The cast and crew of Sex and the City began emptying their pockets of all the cash, handing it over to the bartender. “And for so much money you won’t close?” - someone asked. And the White Horse did not close that evening.

• • •

The finale was expected to be watched not only for its melodrama, but also for Carrie's fashionista trip to Paris.

Patricia Field did not disappoint. She found a huge, layered sea green Versace ballgown that stood out among her many outfits. This unusual Versace dress, which didn't look like Versace at all, was one of the many looks Field chose for the Paris finale. The whole team, even Field and Parker, thought it was too showy. But Parker said, “Let me just try to put it on.” They took a photo of it to show King.

Field and Parker often had to make a Supreme Court-style argument to convince King to approve their more daring outfit choices, but this time they had none. Field thought, "Okay, maybe when an American fashion icon goes to Paris, she'll bring all her clothes." Parker remained more down to earth: “We don’t have any arguments. This is just a dream".

Field saw it as perfect for one of the saddest scenes in the series: the main character living what she thought was her dream with the man she thought was her dream, and being terribly disappointed. Carrie could wear it in the scene where she stands next to Petrovsky - all the better, because she will look phenomenal when she waits for him. Baryshnikov described it as similar to a mille-feuille, a French cake whose name means “a thousand layers” (and known to many as Napoleon cake). “The more magnificent the dress, the more magnificent the sadness,” Field said later.

As Parker now sums up their plea to King: "It's everything she 'thinks she's running away from' and everything she 'thinks she's running towards.' This is just funny, and even too much. It’s not about what kind of person she is, but about who she becomes in Alexander’s presence.”

Finally, Field called King into her office, which was so filled with designer clothes that it looked like a department store. In the middle was a sea green Versace dress.

“This just came from Paris,” she said in the hoarse voice of a smoker. — This dress wants to be in the show.

- Patricia, it's amazing.

- It is unique.

- Patricia, how can she even take him? After all, if you think about it like that, Carrie will never be able to pack it into a suitcase.

Field ignored this remark:

- This is for the scene when she ends the relationship. I'm just saying it's one of a kind.

“She couldn’t take him with her,” he smiled sadly and left.

Then he thought a little and returned.

“Okay, go ahead,” he told Field. The decision to wear a Versace dress was one of the most important during King's time working on Sex and the City: sometimes it was necessary to create a spectacular spectacle.

When it came time to film the New York hotel scene—many of the Paris scenes were filmed in the States—Field arrived from her new job on the sitcom Screen Queen after a Friday night shoot to check out the Sex and the City set and dress. Parker's stunt double wore the dress while the scene was being filmed; to Field's horror, it was rumpled and looked like an unmade bed.

She stopped filming to express her displeasure and then asked to pet him. Parker was supposed to be lying in the middle of the bed, among layers of fabric. Then she should get up and go to the window, and the dress will follow her. “This is exactly how this dress should look in the frame,” Field recalled her words.

Parker needed the help of four team members to get the layered dress on correctly. The scene was filmed exactly as Field required. No one who watched the finale forgot that dress or how Carrie looked as she lay on the bed in it, waiting for her love.

Publisher: Bombora

• • •

Baryshnikov, Parker, Noth and the crew traveled to Paris to film in January 2004, during a cold and rainy time in the City of Lights.

They filmed at the Plaza Athénée hotel, where Petrovsky and Carrie were staying. The cast and crew also stayed at the hotel during filming. Parker's son, James Wilkie, then fifteen months old, first began to walk confidently in Paris. He took his first step back in New York, to the relief of Matthew Broderick's father, who didn't want to miss this moment. James Wilkie delighted the entire film crew, who felt like his big family.

Elsewhere in filming, Carrie dined with Petrovsky's ex-wife at the trendy Kong restaurant. She called Miranda from a payphone in Place Saint-Sulpice. She went shopping (and tripped) at the Dior store on Avenue Montaigne. She saw four girls having breakfast at the nearby restaurant L'Avenue, who reminded her of her friends. She stepped in dog poop in Louboutin shoes on Rue Servandoni. She and Petrovsky were walking like a happy couple along Dauphine Square in one of the last moments.

In fact, Carrie got everything she was looking for throughout the series: a famous suitor, a romantic city. But now she has become an outcast in a city even more glamorous than New York. She barely interacted with anyone, didn’t understand customs, and had lost her signature name pendant, an undeniable attribute of her personality.

The authors chose an ending that felt right to them from the very beginning: after all, her one and only was Mr. Big. And King arranged everything as effectively as possible.

Big asks Carrie's friends for permission to go to Paris to win her back. He shows that he understands his place in Carrie's life—and articulates the show's central message when he tells her friends, “You three are her true loves. And some man will just be lucky if he comes in fourth.”

Miranda says, “Go get her.” Nixon says it in a way that makes even those of us who don't like Mr. Big cry.

Mr. Big finds Carrie in Paris and vows revenge on the Russian when he learns that Petrovsky (accidentally) hit Carrie. “I don’t need protectors,” she says, and this is also one of the important messages of the final episode.

Big finally confesses his love on the bridge: “It took me a very long time. But now I'm here. Carrie, you are my only one."

She replies: “I miss New York so much. Take me Home".

But this is not the end. In the last scene, Carrie is alone among a crowd on the street in New York City, walking toward her future.

It was here that King pulled a surprise on the writers by revealing Mr. Big's real name on Carrie's pink glitter flip phone: John. The writers first realized this when they read the script. Normally, a detail like this would have been revealed in the writers' office. But as he was writing, it suddenly dawned on him: “He must have a name. Now that he finally realized that Carrie was the one for him, he became real.”

"John" was the most classic name he could come up with. Just John. Just "man".

King was proud of the last two episodes. “These Paris scenes are wonderful,” he says.

However, show creator Darren Star had a different reaction. He felt that the ending "betrayed the core message of the series." “The show was about women not being defined by men,” he said.

They can fall in love with men, but his main idea should not be about being happy with one of them. If she was alone on the streets of New York, it would be wonderful. Of course, she was reunited with her friends. Why did Mr. Big have to be such a big part of all this? “Overall, the show became a regular romantic comedy,” Star said.

Star's longtime friend Candace Bushnell agreed with him, although she understood King's decision. “In real life, Carrie and Mr. Big would never have ended up together,” Bushnell later said. “But at that moment the television show became so famous. "Viewers became so invested in the storyline of Carrie and the man of her dreams that it became a bit like the story of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet."

Viewers also differed in their opinions: many were crazy about the romantic ending. Others complained that the ending betrayed what they loved most about the show. Either way, everyone had a clear opinion about the ending, as well as the show itself.

• • •

By the time the show signed with HBO in 2004, the Sex and the City finale had been watched by 10.6 million viewers. The last episode was the most watched in the history of the series. Sex and the City helped transform the cable network into a provider of quality content. The show has earned a reputation not only from Emmy awards and rave reviews, but also from academic circles: British film professors Kim Acass and Janet McCabe edited Discussing Sex and the City, a 2004 anthology of critical essays in which explores the project's place in the literary canon (along with Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie), its connection to Woody Allen's films, and its strong connection to gay culture.

Over the course of the show's six seasons, it was nominated for more than fifty Emmys and won seven, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2001, when it needed the recognition most. King won the statuette for outstanding directing for a comedy series in 2002, and Parker and Nixon won for their acting in 2004.

More recognition and legacy will come to the show over time. But not before King and Parker put everything into two feature films.

Sequels

Sex and the City: The Movie

The feature-length sequel to Sex and the City was produced and directed from his own script by Michael Patrick King and was released in 2008. Along with the four leading actresses, Chris Noth, Evan Handler, David Eigenberg, Jason Lewis and Willie Garson return to their roles in the film. In addition, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson played the role of Carrie's assistant, the charming Louis. The film takes place four years after the series finale.[1] The film received mixed reviews from critics, but became a box office success - according to the results of the year, Sex and the City turned out to be the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the year[2][3].

Sex and the City 2

The film Sex and the City 2 was released in May 2010. All the main cast members returned for the sequel. Liza Minnelli and Miley Cyrus also appeared in cameo roles, and Penelope Cruz appeared in a cameo role. The events of the film take place two years after the first part. Like its predecessor, the film became incredibly successful at the box office, but was lukewarmly received by critics.

The Carrie Diaries

In 2012, The CW began working on the project The Carrie Diaries, which is based on the prequel novel of the same name, also written by Candace Bushnell[4]. The role of young Carrie went to actress AnnaSophia Robb[5], and the series premiered in January 2013.

Products

VHS

The series was released in the USA and some other countries on VHS media.

DVD

All six seasons of the show were released on DVD. The release of the sixth season consisted of two parts. Officially, the show was published in the first (USA), second (Europe, Middle East), third (Korea) and fourth regions (Oceania and Australasia). The encoding of publications also depended on the region of publication.

In addition to the standard release of each season, a limited edition "Collector's Edition" of the entire series was released, which also featured regional coding and additional materials. The American and Canadian editions were released in standard format with a bonus disc; there is also a so-called "Shoe Edition" for Europe.

In addition, the first season of the European edition had some playback problems, and the disc was missing additional materials. The picture was not converted to a PAL signal, but remained in the original American NTSC format, which ultimately led to playback problems on some European models of TVs and DVD players. All subsequent region two editions were transferred to PAL format from the original film print, and the first season was re-released in PAL format.

Outside the US, the series was published by Paramount Pictures. American and Canadian editions were produced by HBO. In Australia, for example, each disc could be purchased separately. A Shoe Edition of the series was also released in South Korea. In Brazil, the first and fifth seasons were released on DVD Dual, and all other seasons were released on DVD sets.

In addition, selected episodes were published as part of the "Sex & The City Essentials" series. A total of 4 discs were released, with three episodes on each:

• "The Best of Lust": The episodes "The Fuck Buddy", "Running With Scissors" and "The Turtle & The Hare".
• "The Best of Mr. Big": episodes "Sex & The City", "Ex & The City" and "I Heart NY".
• "The Best of Romance": episodes "Baby, Talk Is Cheap", "Hop, Skip & A Week", and "An American Girl In Paris, Part Deux".
• "The Best of Breakups": episodes "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", "I Love A Charade" and "The Post-It Always Sticks Twice".

Also released exclusively to Target stores in the United States was the fifth disc, “The Best of Fashion,” with the episodes “Secret Sex,” “The Real Me,” and “Luck Be An Old Lady.” This is the only disc in the entire collection that was released with a color cover rather than black and white.

Soundtracks

After the broadcast of the series, several soundtrack albums were released with music heard in the show and written based on it.

• On June 6, 2000, the Sire Records label released the first album, Sex & The City: Music From The HBO Series, which, among other compositions, included a cover mix of the main theme of the series, recorded by the Groove Armada duo. In total there are 13 compositions on the disc.
• In 2002, the album “Electric Martinis” was released as part of the Rob Monsey project. The release also contained music featured in the series.
• On March 1, 2004, a two-disc edition of “Sex & The City: Music From & Inspired By The TV Series” went on sale with 37 tracks on it - the main musical theme of the series, written by composer Douglas Cuomo, was also recorded on the disc, in two versions - from opening title screen and end credits.
• The Irma Records label released several two-disc editions of the club music featured in the series - the albums were titled “Irma At Sex & The City, Part 1: Daylight Session” and “Irma At Sex & The City, Part 2: Nightlife Session.” Both albums were released in April 2004. Also in 2005, the three-disc collection “Irma At Sex & The City” was released.
• In 2008, the album "City Songs" with instrumental music from the series, written by composer Bob Christianson, went on sale in the iTunes online store.

Printed publications

During the series' broadcast, a companion book, Sex & The City: Kiss & Tell, was released. After the release of the last series, the book was republished with corrected and expanded information.

Release

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Six Emmy Awards and eight Golden Globes, as well as 36 other awards[6]. The series also became the first cable show to win an Emmy Award.

Criticism

Critics say Sex and the City was a big hit because instead of stereotypical 18-year-old blondes, it featured women in their early thirties. It turned out that their life was interesting and rich. They go to restaurants and cafes, attend cultural events, discuss their sexual stories and simply enjoy life.

Influence

The series became incredibly popular among viewers. For example, after the series finale, a bus tour of New York was launched, with participants visiting the most famous places shown in the series.

The series was parodied in the comedy show MadTV.

Shown in other countries

The series premiered in Russia on January 20, 2003 on the NTV channel[7].

Notes

1. McNary, Dave
   .
   Jennifer Hudson moves to 'City', Variety
   (September 10, 2007).
2. Sex and the City (2008). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 7, 2012. Archived February 26, 2013.
3. Sex and the City (2008). Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
4. “Sex and the City” Prequel Set for the CW!, US Magazine
   , September 12, 2011
5. Swift, Andy
   . AnnaSophia Robb Cast As Carrie Bradshaw In The CW's 'Carrie Diaries' Pilot (May require Firefox 3/IE7 to view properly), Hollywood Life by Bonnie Fuller (February 27, 2012). Retrieved February 10, 2013.
6. List of all awards for the TV series "Sex and the City" on IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159206/awards?ref_=tt_awd
7. VEDOMOSTI - New York saga

Bradley Cooper (Season 2, Episode 4)

The actor (in the story, a fun-loving party animal) pestered Carrie Bradshaw ( Sarah Jessica Parker (51)). They even left the party together, but the heroine’s mood soured due to a bad photograph on the cover of a magazine. So, to our great regret, there were no sex scenes.

Cooper's (41) first appearances No one could have imagined that we would soon fall in love with his characters from “ Bachelor Party in Vegas ”, “ Area of ​​Darkness ”, “ My Boyfriend is a Psycho ”, and would envy the model Irina Shayk (30), with whom the actor began an affair at the end of 2020 of the year.