Sex And The City was the product of “a very unfeminist time” according to Candace Bushnell – the real-life Carrie Bradshaw whose novel inspired the hit TV show.
While the show is returning after two decades with a new name, And Just Like That, Bushnell says for those who now feel the original hasn’t aged quite as well as it should have, it’s important to remember the context.
“I think the way the show ended up, it really reflected the times that we lived in,” she told Sky News in between performances of her new off-Broadway one woman show Is There Still Sex In The City?
“It was a very unfeminist time… the banks lessened their credit restrictions so suddenly people were able to borrow and spend much more money on their credit cards than they had ever been allowed to… Sex And The City reflected that consumerism.
“Also, if you remember, there were so many actresses who were saying, ‘I’m not a feminist’. When money is free flowing, there’s less feminism, when money is tighter and women have to work and can’t rely on men so much, there’s feminism.”
While she hasn’t been involved with the new series, Bushnell who was credited as a producer on the original, says she still enjoys hearing that people took life lessons from the show.
“I don’t know that I would necessarily look to a TV show like that but so many women have felt that it really influenced their lives and I think that’s actually fantastic.”
Such is the excitement of the return of Sex And The City that tickets to a pop-up replica of Carrie’s New York brownstone in Covent Garden sold out in 24 hours. Fans lapping up the chance to drink Cosmos and wistfully sigh whilst looking into the middle distance as they type at Carrie’s laptop.
For Bushnell, who says she hopes to bring her play to London, it’s now theatre rather than TV that’s her current calling.
“There are very, very few women playwrights and, you know, I really was thinking it’s going to be another thing that I’ll try to do where maybe it’s not going to work out, which is something honestly that I do a lot, I mean, I write pilot scripts for TV shows that nobody wants. I write 200 pages of a novel that my publisher is like, you know, forget it.
“So I am just really somebody who is like ‘I’m just going to do it and see what happens’ and honestly, maybe 20% of it works and this happens to be in the 20%!”
So, to quote her new play, is there still sex in the city?
“Actually last night my director and I were we were at the And Just Like That premiere and there was a 70-year-old woman and she told me she just went online and she had all these lovers.
“She said ‘I’ve never had so much sex in my life’ and she found a new boyfriend and she was so happy. So yes, there is still sex in the city… and people should come to see my show!”
Is There Still Sex in the City? runs until 6 February at the Daryl Roth Theater in Manhattan.
HBO’s The Sex and the City Apartment celebrates the entire series being available on Blu-ray for the first time.
And Just Like That is available now on Sky Comedy and streaming service NOW.