The first season of ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', an American television romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

, aired in the United States on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

from June 6 to August 23, 1998. Based on the eponymous book written by

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 ...

, the series was created by

Darren Star Darren Star (born July 25, 1961) is an American writer, director and producer of film and television. He is best known for creating the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000), '' Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), ''Sex and the City ...

and produced by Darren Star Productions, HBO Original Programming, and Warner Bros. Television. Star, Barry Josen and

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 Just Like That...'' and its film adaptations, and for co-creating the tele ...

served as the series' executive producers. The show follows the relationships and sexual escapades of

Carrie Bradshaw Caroline Marie "Carrie" Bradshaw is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO media franchise ''Sex and the City'', portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker. In the television series and subsequent films, Carrie is a New York City-based newspa ...

, a sex columnist for the fictional ''New York Star'', and her friends Samantha Jones,

Charlotte York Charlotte York (later Charlotte York MacDougal and Charlotte York Goldenblatt) is a fictional character in the ''Sex and the City'' media franchise. She is one of the four central characters in the HBO television series ''Sex and the City'', its ...

and

Miranda Hobbes Miranda Hobbes is a fictional character from the HBO television series ''Sex and the City'', its film adaptations, and the sequel series '' And Just Like That...''. The character is portrayed by Cynthia Nixon, whose performance earned her a Pri ...

. Season one, comprising 12 episodes, aired on Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m.

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five ...

, except the pilot episode which aired at the same time on a Saturday night. The season garnered mixed reviews from critics. The first season garnered strong ratings for HBO in America, as well as Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, where it landed among the top 30 weekly most-watched programs. The show received several major award nominations, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and a SAG award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Parker.

Episodes

Crew

The first season of ''Sex and the City'' was created by

and produced by Darren Star Productions and

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios, operating under the name Warner Bros. Television (abbreviated as WBTV; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division), is an American television production and distribution studio and the flagship studio o ...

, in association with

HBO Original Programming Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. The series is based on the book of the same name, written by

, which contains stories from her column with the ''

New York Observer New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

''. The show features production from Barry Jossen,

, and Star. Season one featured writing credits from Star, King,

Jenny Bicks Jenny Bicks is an American screenwriter and television producer, most notable for her work as a television writer on the HBO series, ''Sex and the City'' and the creator and writer of the ABC series, ''Men in Trees''. Her production company is Pe ...

, Michael Green,

Jenji Kohan Jenji Leslie Kohan (born July 5, 1969) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the creator and showrunner of the Showtime comedy-drama series ''Weeds'' and the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black''. S ...

, Susan Kolinsky, and

Terri Minsky Terri Minsky (born August 27, 1957) is an American television writer and producer who created ''The Geena Davis Show'', ''Lizzie McGuire'', ''Less Than Perfect'', and ''Andi Mack''. Early and personal life Minsky grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsyl ...

. The season was directed by Michael Fields, Matthew Harrison,

Nicole Holofcener Nicole Holofcener ( ; born March 22, 1960) is an American film and television director and screenwriter. She has directed seven feature films, including '' Walking and Talking'', '' Friends with Money'' and '' Enough Said'', as well as various t ...

Alison Maclean Alison Maclean (born July 31, 1958) is a Canadian-New Zealand film director of music videos, short films, television (episodes of ''Sex and the City'', ''The Tudors'', '' Homicide: Life on the Street''), commercials and feature films. Her works i ...

, and

Susan Seidelman Susan Seidelman (; born December 11, 1952) is an American film director, producer, and writer. She is known for mixing comedy with drama and blending genres in her feature-film work. She is also notable for her art direction and pop-cultural refe ...

Cast

Season one featured four actors receiving star billing.

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both Sarah Jessica Parker filmography, screen and stage. List o ...

played the lead character

, a writer of a sex column, "Sex and the City", for fictional magazine and the narrator of the series.

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British, Canadian, and American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominati ...

portrayed Samantha Jones, a sexually confident public relations agent who follows the same relationship rules that men do.

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 in the HBO romantic comedy series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004). She received no ...

played

, an optimistic art museum curator who holds traditional views on relationships.

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 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supportin ...

portrayed

, an acerbic lawyer with a pessimistic outlook on relationship and a distrust of men. The season featured a number of recurring guest appearances.

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'' (1990–1995), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

appeared as the slick, elusive business man and Carrie's love interest known as Mr. Big.

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 series ''Sex and the City'', in the related films ...

portrayed Carrie's gay best friend and talent manager Stanford Blatch. Ben Weber played Skipper Johnson, Carrie's friend and Miranda's on-off

friend with benefits Friends with benefits most specifically refers to a friends with benefits relationship. It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Friends with Benefits'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Will Gluck * ''Friends with Benefits'' (telenovela), ...

Reception

Critical reviews

Season one garnered mixed reviews from television critics, receiving an aggregated score of 52 (out of 100) at

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

. Caryn Lucas of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the series "slight, breezy", "fresh and funny" while highlighting Parker's performance. Terry Kelleher of ''

People Weekly ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the la ...

'' praised Parker in her role, but was against the elements of New York mixed with the theme of sex. Phil Gallo of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave a mixed review of the series, criticizing the script but praising the performances of the main cast. Gallo also deemed the subplot of Carrie and Mr. Big's attraction "compelling." Earl Crassey of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

deemed the DVD release of season one "Highly Recommended", writing that "However those not easily offended should give it a spin; you will find an enjoyable and refreshing new comedy series from HBO." Crassey noted that the frank sexual dialogue and topics discussed in the series set it apart from the other sitcoms.

Viewership

In the United States, ''Sex and the City'' debuted on June 6, 1998, at 9:00 p.m.

(Saturday) with the premiere episode "Sex and the City". The episode garnered a 2.9 household rating, translating to 2.8 million households. The encore episode achieved a 3.0 rating (2.96 million households). The episode was watched by 3.84 million viewers. The season finale "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" was watched by 4.44 million viewers. The first season averaged a total viewership of 6.9 million viewers. In the United Kingdom, the series debuted on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

on February 3, 1999, to 4.53 million viewers, ranking as the third most watched program on television on the week ending February 7, 1999. The following episodes attracted between 2.5 and 4 million viewers.

UK ratings

All viewing figures and ranks are sourced from

BARB Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

Awards and nominations

At the

56th Golden Globe Awards The 56th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in 1998 in film, film and 1998 in American television, television of 1998 as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, HFPA, were held on January 24, 1999, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beve ...

, Sarah Jessica Parker received a nomination for award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. At the

50th Primetime Emmy Awards The 50th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1998. It was broadcast on NBC. When ''Frasier'' was announced as the winner of Outstanding Comedy Series, Emmy history was made. The NBC sitcom became the first show to win one o ...

, the series was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series while Parker received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. ''Sex and the City'' received seven nominations from the Online Film & Television Association for the OFTA Television Awards, including awards for Best New Comedy Series, Best Cable Series and Best Ensemble in a Cable Series.

Home media release

The DVD boxset for the first season was released by HBO Home Video in the United States on May 23, 2000, nearly two years since it completed its broadcast on television. The season boxset, in addition to the twelve episodes, includes features such as commentary from the cast and show creator, episode previews, and an inside look at the show. The boxset was popular in the United States, selling 1.1 million copies by 2003.

References

{{Sex and the City 1998 American television seasons Sex and the City seasons