Sex and the City

The good news is that after a creatively weak and shortened Season 5... it appears that one of television's finest series has regained its momentum and sure footing and will -- barring a misstep -- walk out of the spotlight at the height of its emotional resonance.

Watching all of this unfold, it's hard not to feel as though we've been here before.

As shamelessly superficial as the crowd it memorializes, but so sophisticated in its approach to shallowness that it's also great fun. [5 June 1998, p.F28]

Parker projects a saucy style, but her Carrie character comes across as an arrogant skeptic with an I-don't-really-care attitude. She avoids emotional risks. Despite her rampant curiosity and calculated posing, Carrie prefers to keep her distance as a journalist. [4 June 1998, p.43]

Single and in their 30s, each is a distinct blend of guile, guts and needfulness, traipsing through the dating world with predictable and even trite results, their chatter constantly hitting on sex, relationships and sex. Some good acting and some nicely shot romantic interludes provide some redemption for the series, but scripts need to loosen up and inherit some of the playfulness the actresses bring to their roles. [3 June 1998]

What may be a reasonable, even sexy premise comes out flat, bitter and flaccid...Neither director nor cast can do anything much with Star's awkward script, which is choppy and burdened with impossible dialogue. But worst is that the smarty mood leaps beyond cynical, and his characters are too disagreeable to make funny. [3 June 1998]

A dark, outrageously cynical, cold take on the lives of thoroughly unpleasant people living in present-day Manhattan...What's supposed to be entertainment is wearisome, whiny and annoying. [6 June 1998, p.E07]