Like many girls, I often fantasize about a specific future: me, a phenomenally wealthy corporate CEO, strutting to work in variety of fashionable outfits, all while single handedly changing the world. Basically, I hope to be an intelligent goddess saint in a cute power suit.
My visions can probably be attributed to my watching too much Sex and the City in high school. Of course, I was excited that this season, ABC and NBC took the SATC formula; unnaturally fly women in a big city making big city dough, and duplicated it. My question: what took so long? A SATC remake seems a surefire hit for primetime television. Unfortunately, I also have to ask why their efforts have yielded two shows that should never have seen the light of day. ABC’s Cashmere Mafia, which stars the beautiful, but underwhelming Lucy Liu, is an irritating bore, and NBC’s Lipstick Jungle doesn’t look much better. In the hands of the major networks this formula has resulted in a few psychotic, emotionally void, oversexed hipper-than-thou chicks taking New York "by storm.” Personally, I think it is the plan of the networks to paint these career female images in a less than positive light in order to make the average woman want to stay home and have babies. But that’s just me.
Surprisingly, the creators and producers of these shows have great track records. Oliver Goldstick, who now produces Lipstick Jungle, made television crack with Ugly Betty, Popular and Everwood (ok, maybe that last one’s a stretch, but it got ratings, so whatever). Candace Bushnell, the series’ sole credited writer, penned both the original SATC book, and the chick-lit novel that Lipstick Jungle was based on. Cashmere Mafia, interestingly enough, is produced by Bushnell’s SATC collaborator, Darren Star. Star is also noted for his work on Beverly Hills 90210, and Melrose Place. Shows like this, with such all-stars behind them, should be great, but aren’t.
The reviews for Lipstick Jungle, which premiers February 7th, are already lukewarm. Cashmere Mafia, which I know for a fact is crap, is doing decently ratings-wise, but probably because of the Patricia Field wardrobe, the writers’ strike, and the fact that people will really watch anything that moves. My advice to both the SATC fan and the average television viewer: don’t waste your time on these shows. If you want something to fill the void of your SATC nostalgia, do the obvious, lovers, and get to a midnight screening of the premiere May 30th. And to the girl with high-powered wishes and M.B.A. dreams? Move to the city, but try to not be as vapid as the women in these second rate imitators.
Posted by: Imon
Photo Courtesy of Time Warner (I think)
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