''And Just Like That...'' is an American comedy-drama

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series developed by

Michael Patrick King Michael Patrick King (born September 14, 1954) is an American director, writer, and producer. He is best known for directing and writing for ''Sex and the City'' and its film adaptations, and for co-creating the television comedies '' The Comeb ...

for

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

. It is a revival and a sequel of the HBO television series ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'' created by Darren Star, which is based on

Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City'' anthology. The book was ...

's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name. Development for the series began in December 2020, following the cancellation of a third film adaptation. It was given a straight-to-series order in January 2021 by HBO Max. Casting announcements were made throughout 2021 and filming started in July 2021 in New York City. ''And Just Like That...'' premiered on HBO Max on December 9, 2021, with mixed reviews. The season finale was released on February 3, 2022. Originally billed as a miniseries, the series was renewed for a second season in March 2022.

Overview

Set 11 years after the events of the 2010 film ''

Sex and the City 2 ''Sex and the City 2'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film ''Sex and the City'', based on the 1998–2004 television series. Sarah Jessica Parker, ...

'', from their friendship in their 30s to a more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s, the women of ''Sex and the City'' make their transition.

Cast and characters

Main

* Sarah Jessica Parker as

Carrie Bradshaw Caroline Marie "Carrie" Bradshaw is a fictional character from the HBO franchise ''Sex and the City'', portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker. Candace Bushnell created Carrie as a semi-autobiographical character for her column "Sex and the City" in ...

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...

Miranda Hobbes Miranda Hobbes is a fictional character on the American HBO television series ''Sex and the City'', its subsequent film spinoffs, and HBO Max revival '' And Just Like That...''. She is played by actress Cynthia Nixon. Nixon received an Emmy Aw ...

Kristin Davis Kristin Landen Davis (also listed as Kristin Lee Davis; born February 23, 1965) is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO romantic comedy series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004). Sh ...

Charlotte York Goldenblatt Charlotte York (formerly Charlotte York MacDougal, later Charlotte York Goldenblatt) is a fictional character on the HBO-produced television series ''Sex and the City''. She is portrayed by actress Kristin Davis, who received two Screen Actors ...

Mario Cantone Mario Cantone (born December 9, 1959) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and singer with numerous appearances on Comedy Central including ''Chappelle's Show''. He also played Anthony Marentino in ''Sex and the City'' and Terri in ''Men In T ...

as Anthony Marentino *

David Eigenberg David Eigenberg (born May 17, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Steve Brady on the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' and its revival series '' And Just Like That...'' and as Lieutenant Christopher Herrmann on NBC's '' Chic ...

Steve Brady ''Sex and the City'' is an American cable television program based on the book of the same name by Candace Bushnell. It was originally broadcast on the HBO network from 1998 until 2004. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the sex lives of ...

Willie Garson William Garson Paszamant (February 20, 1964September 21, 2021) was an American actor. He appeared in over 75 films and more than 300 TV episodes. He was known for playing Stanford Blatch on the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', in the related ...

† as Stanford Blatch† (Season 1) *

Evan Handler Evan Handler (born January 10, 1961) is an American actor who is best known for playing Harry Goldenblatt, a divorce attorney and later husband of Charlotte York on ''Sex and the City'' (2002–2004) and its revival series ''And Just Like That…' ...

as Harry Goldenblatt *

Sara Ramirez Sara Elena Ramírez (; born August 31, 1975) is a Mexican-American actor and singer. Born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juilliard School. ...

as Che Diaz *

Chris Noth Christopher David Noth ( ; born November 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Mike Logan on '' Law & Order'' (1990–95), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

as Mr. Big/John James Preston †(Season 1) *

Sarita Choudhury Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born 18 August 1966) is a British actress, known for her role as Mina in the Mira Nair-directed feature film '' Mississippi Masala'' (1991). Choudhury has played roles in American and international films and te ...

as Seema Patel

Recurring

Nicole Ari Parker Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe (born October 7, 1970) is an American actress and model. She made her screen debut with a leading role in the critically acclaimed independent film '' The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love'' (1995) and went o ...

as Lisa Todd Wexley *

Karen Pittman } Karen Pittman is an American actress. Born in Mississippi and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Pittman received a Bachelor of Arts in Voice and Opera at Northwestern University and a Masters of Fine Arts from NYU's Graduate Acting Program. Pittma ...

as Dr. Nya Wallace *

Bobby Lee Robert Lee Jr. (born September 17, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. From 2001 to 2009, Lee was a cast member on ''MADtv'', and he co-starred in the ABC single-camera sitcom series '' Splitting Up Together'' alongs ...

as Jackie Nee * Chris Jackson as Herbert Wexley * LeRoy McClain as Andre Rashad Wallace * Cathy Ang as Lily Goldenblatt *

Alexa Swinton Alexa Skye Swinton is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She appeared in a lead role as Piper in the 13-episode ABC prime time series called '' Emergence'', has a recurring role as Eva Rhoades in '' Billions'', and the HBO series '' An ...

as Rose "Rock" Goldenblatt * Niall Cunningham as Brady Hobbes *

Cree Cicchino Cree Cicchino (born May 9, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress playing one of the lead characters, Babe, in the Nickelodeon comedy television series '' Game Shakers'', which aired from 2015 to 2019. She then went ...

as Luisa Torres * Ivan Hernandez as Franklyn *

Brenda Vaccaro Brenda is a feminine given name in the English language. Origin The overall accepted origin for the female name Brenda is the Old Nordic male name ''Brandr'' meaning both ''torch'' and ''sword'': evidently the male name Brandr took root in area ...

as Gloria Marquette *

John Corbett John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...

as Aidan Shaw (season 2) *

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

(season 2)

Guest starring

Julie Halston Julie Halston is an American actress and comedian. She was born in Flushing, Queens on December 7, 1954. Her parents, Rudolph “Rudy” Abatelli and her mother Julia Madeline “Dolly” (née Gardner) moved to Commack, Long Island when Halst ...

as Bitsy von Muffling * Pat Bowie as Eunice Wexley * Alexander Bello as Henry Wexley *

Molly Price Molly, Mollie or mollies may refer to: Animals * ''Poecilia'', a genus of fishes ** ''Poecilia sphenops'', a fish species * A female mule (horse–donkey hybrid) People * Molly (name) or Mollie, a female given name, including a list of persons ...

as Susan Sharon *

Bridget Moynahan Kathryn Bridget Moynahan (born April 28, 1971) is an American actress and model. Moynahan is best known for her role as Erin Reagan in the police drama '' Blue Bloods''. She graduated from Longmeadow High School in Massachusetts in 1989 and be ...

as Natasha Naginsky-Mills *

Jon Tenney Jonathan Frederick Tenney (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor. He played Special Agent Fritz Howard in TNT's ''The Closer'' and continued in its spinoff '' Major Crimes''. Early life Tenney was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His mother ...

as Peter *

Jonathan Groff Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer . He began his career on Broadway, rising to prominence for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in the original production of '' Spring Awakening'' (2006-2008), for which h ...

as Dr. Paul David *

Hari Nef Hari Nef (born October 21, 1992) is an American actress, model, and writer. Nef's breakthrough role was Gittel in the Amazon original series '' Transparent'', for which she was nominated for a SAG award in 2016. She made her runway debut at New ...

as Rabbi Jen

Episodes

Production

Development

In December 2016, ''

Radar Online Radar Online is an American entertainment and gossip website that was first published as a print and online publication in September 2003 before becoming exclusively online. As of 2008, the magazine has been owned by the publisher American Media ...

'' reported that a script for a third ''Sex and the City'' film had been approved. However, on September 28, 2017, Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed that the third film was not going to happen. She said, "We had this beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, joyful, very relatable script and story. It's not just disappointing that we don't get to tell the story and have that experience, but more so for that audience that has been so vocal in wanting another movie." It was reported in 2018 that

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Awa ...

did not want to return as Samantha Jones in the film due to disagreeing with its planned storylines, involving killing off Mr. Big and Samantha receiving sexting and nude pictures from Miranda's 14-year-old son, Brady. Cattrall later clarified in 2019 that she opted not to appear in a third film, explaining she "went past the finish line" portraying the character of Samantha because of her love for the franchise. In December 2020, it was reported that the proposed third film's script had been redeveloped as a miniseries revival of the original ''

'' television series in development at

, without Cattrall returning as Samantha, in line with her previous comments. In January 2021, ''And Just Like That...'' was confirmed by HBO Max as a series which would consist of 10 episodes. In February 2021,

Samantha Irby Samantha McKiver Irby (born February 13, 1980) is an American comedian, essayist, blogger, and television writer. She is the creator and author of the blog ''bitches gotta eat'', where she writes humorous observations about her own life and moder ...

, Rachna Fruchbom,

Keli Goff Keli Goff (born July 20, 1979) is an American producer, playwright, screenwriter and journalist. She is a contributor to various news outlets and has written for a number of popular television shows, including And Just Like That..., the reboo ...

, Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky joined the series as part of the writing team. Rotternberg and Zuritsky also serve as executive producers. It was also confirmed that long-time series costume designer and collaborator Patricia Field would not be returning to work on the revival. However, she recommended her friend and colleague Molly Rogers to the creative team for consultation. On March 22, 2022, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

Upon the series order announcement, Sarah Jessica Parker,

, and

were reprising their roles as close friends living in New York City. In May 2021, Sara Ramírez was cast as a series regular, while

was cast to reprise his role in an undisclosed capacity. On June 9, 2021,

, and

all joined the cast to reprise their respective roles in undisclosed capacities. In July 2021,

, and Isaac Cole Powell joined the cast in starring roles while Alexa Swinton,

, Niall Cunningham, and Cathy Ang were cast in undisclosed capacities and

and Ivan Hernandez were cast in recurring roles. In August 2021,

was cast to reprise her role in a guest-starring capacity while Christopher Jackson and LeRoy McClain were cast in recurring roles. Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch throughout ''Sex And The City'' and reprised his role in the new series, died on September 21, only three months after his return, after filming his scenes for the series' first three episodes. The new series explained his absence via a letter to Carrie in episode four. On November 8, 2021,

announced on an Instagram post that he has a small role in the revival. Despite Mr. Big dying in the first episode, Noth was set to appear as Big in a fantasy sequence in the season finale, but he was edited out after sexual assault allegations were brought against him. On August 19, 2022,

was cast to reprise his role as Aidan Shaw in a recurring capacity for the second season. On October 18, 2022,

joined the cast in a recurring role as Che's father.

Filming

Production began in June 2021 in New York City. The first table read was held on June 11, 2021, at the show's studio in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Filming had commenced on location in New York City by July 9, 2021, and was commemorated by the release of a promotional photo of Parker, Nixon and Davis on the streets of Manhattan. To mislead speculation about a major plot line, Noth arrived on location the day his character's funeral was filmed. On October 11, 2021, it was reported that filming had taken place on location in Paris, France. Filming concluded on December 6, 2021. Filming for the second season began on October 4, 2022 in New York City.

Release

The series premiered on December 9, 2021, with the first two episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis until the season finale on February 3, 2022.

Home media

The first season was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, on December 13, 2022. A

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

version is not yet revealed.

Reception

Audience viewership

Despite

not revealing subscriber viewership for its original programming, ''And Just Like That...'' was announced to have delivered the service's most-watched series debut to date, including both HBO and

originals premiered on the service. The series placed within the service's top 10 most-watched premieres including film debuts. The series was the most-watched first viewing in the service's history, implying that new subscribers enlisted to watch the series.

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 48% approval rating with an average rating of 5.5/10 based on 79 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''And Just Like That...'' fails to recapture ''Sex and the City''s heady fizz, but like a fine wine, these characters have developed subtler depths with age."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 55 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review, while stating that the show "in moments is very good," described it as "painful" and "part dramedy about heartbreak, part awkward bid at relevance," writing "when you are evivinga series there is the fatal danger of losing your touch. And there you have 'And Just Like That'." The themes of

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

were criticized. ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' described it as "tediously

woke ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexi ...

", and the '' Radio Times'' wrote: "The main three's newfound social and cultural awareness is shoe-horned in to such a degree the whole endeavour feels often cloying.'" ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...

'' wrote that "far too many 2021 cultural touchstones and new characters are awkwardly parachuted into

he show He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

... as if to check a box". EmpireOnline added: "the attempts to paint a rich, real, diverse world are ham-fisted, inauthentic and riddled with self-consciousness, awkwardness and moments of self-congratulation." Specifically, the character of Che Díaz was derided heavily online and has been considered to be one of the worst characters in television history. Kristin Corry of

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...

criticized the tokenization of Black characters, writing "The 'Sex and the City' reboot wants to undo its colorblind legacy by including Black characters. Unfortunately, they're treated as luxury accessories."

Response from Peloton

After the episode in which Chris Noth's character dies following a

Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...

bike workout, the stock for the company dropped significantly. The company issued a statement through Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a cardiologist and member of the company's health and wellness advisory, saying that they agreed to the product placement but were not aware of how it would be used in the pivotal scene. The statement also said not to blame the company for the character's death, and cited some contributing factors, such as his lifestyle (e.g., his consumption of steaks and cigars) and a cardiac surgery in a previous season. Three days after the episode aired, the company released an ad, featuring Chris Noth and narrated by

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

, with Reynolds quickly citing the benefits of cycling and ending with "He's alive." Four days later, the ad was removed after sexual assault allegations were reported against Chris Noth.

Accolades

The series was given the Seal of Authentic Representation from the

Ruderman Family Foundation The Ruderman Family Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, managed by the Ruderman family. The foundation operates in the US and in Israel in two main areas: inclusion of people w ...

for the portrayal of Steve Brady by David Eigenberg, and Chloe by Ali Stroker, as actors with disabilities and at least five lines of dialogue. The series was recognized with

The ReFrame Stamp The ReFrame Stamp for Gender-Balanced Production certification is awarded by ReFrame to corporations and media that show progress toward gender equality and greater representation of women in key roles. History On June 8, 2018, the ReFrame Stam ...

for hiring people of underrepresented gender identities, and of color.

Other media

A documentary that serves as a behind-the-scenes look of the series titled as ''And Just Like That... The Documentary'' was released on February 3, 2022.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:And Just Like That... 2020s American comedy-drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series 2020s American romantic comedy television series 2020s American sex comedy television series 2021 American television series debuts American sequel television series English-language television shows HBO Max original programming Sex and the City Television shows filmed in New York City Television shows set in Manhattan