Sex and the City is coming back with a revival that very few people wanted, judging by the tepid response to the show’s first new trailer.
The iconic HBO dramedy, which ended in 2004, will return to HBO Max following two spinoff movies in 2008 and 2010. The revival, titled And Just Like That, will begin filming this spring.
The teaser trailer doesn’t show any real footage from the revival, just some clips of New York accompanied by an announcement that Carrie Bradshaw and the girls are back. Well, Carrie and two of the girls. Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis will reprise their roles as Carrie, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York, respectively, but Kim Cattrall won’t return as Samantha Jones, the raunchiest member of Carrie’s squad.
This casting problem is raising questions among fans. Namely: Will Sex and the City even work without Samantha, and how will the revival explain her absence?
Cattrall’s absence can likely be explained by her longstanding feud with Parker, the show’s lead actress. This saga involves pay disputes, veiled barbs in the press, accusations of cliquey behavior while filming, and a rather shocking moment in 2018 when Cattrall publicly rejected Parker’s condolences following the death of Cattrall’s brother.
Cattrall seems perfectly happy with the idea of Sex and the City recasting Samantha. But HBO Max has decided (probably rightly) that this won’t happen. Instead, And Just Like That will feature the other three lead actors without Samantha.
As many fans have pointed out, this definitely upsets the balance of the group. Samantha was by far the sexiest character on a show that literally had sex in the title. Her role was often played for laughs, but without Samantha, the group has a much more conservative dynamic. Combine the casting drama with the negative response to Sex and the City 2, and it’s easy to see why fans aren’t welcoming And Just Like That with open arms.