Sad news for New York City: it’s been bumped down to “seventh lead character” for And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City reboot. That’s because while Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones is not returning, the show will effectively replace her with three entirely new women.
“Just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave. Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life,” HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys told TV Line about Samantha’s departure from the series. “So it should all feel somewhat organic, and the friends that you have when you’re 30, you may not have when you’re 50.”
Samantha’s absence will be addressed in the first episode. Bloys, however, adds that she will not be killed off.
As for those three new women, well, there’s not much to know yet, but Bloys promises that they will be women of color. The show will also add three other characters of color in prominent supporting roles.
The announcement of three new women coming in with the addition of various new supporting friends would feel completely normal if we were talking about, say, a season of Bravo’s Real Housewives. Those women get shuffled in and out with stunning regularity. But television audiences have a notoriously rocky time coping with drastic changes to fictional friend groups, particularly in comedies.
The original series finale of Will & Grace toyed with the idea that the sometimes important, meaningful friendships in one’s life don’t last forever by imagining a future where Will and Grace become estranged for decades. Audiences absolutely hated it, and that entire plot was completely forgotten when the show was revived in 2017. And while The Office had some success with shuffling characters in and out of the show’s main cast, when Steve Carell’s Michael Scott left, so do did many regular viewers.
Oh well, we suppose there’s a reason the reboot won’t be titled Sex and the City in the first place.
Other details about And Just Like That… are scarce at the moment. Though there’s been news that John Corbett’s Aidan Shaw will return in some manner, the fates of other characters from the original series remain up in the air. We’re still waiting on official confirmation for whether or not Evan Handler’s Harry, David Eigenberg’s Steve, Mario Cantone’s Anthony, or Willie Garson’s Stanford are returning.
Still, the Samantha replacement news doesn’t just add some much-needed representation to the show’s cast; it also means we’re about to enter a new golden age of “Which Sex and the City character are you?” quizzes.
Source: W Magazine
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