NYC state of mind
HBO Max revives ‘Sex and the City’
NYC state of mind:
Fix yourself a celebratory cosmopolitan and slip on your favorite heels (Manolo Blahniks, perhaps) because “Sex and the City” is officially coming back to television.
HBO Max, which has seemingly taken a spare-noexpense approach to original content (its content budget is reportedly a multibillion-dollar affair), has given the green light to a 10-episode installment titled “And Just Like That …” which will be made available on the streamer. It will add a new chapter to the story of now-fiftysomething friends Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker, “Divorce”), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon, “Ratched”) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis, “Labor of Love”), who are still navigating love, fashion and friendship.
Michael Patrick King is also returning to the series that earned him an Emmy for his behind-the-camera work. But what about Samantha, aka actress Kim Cattrall (“Filthy Rich”)? That’s the question everyone has been asking, especially since Cattrall made it very clear she has no interest in reprising the role.
Back in 2017, Parker’s announcement that there would be no third Sex and the City movie made headlines around the world, especially after an anonymously sourced article in the Daily Mail blamed the demise on Cattrall’s demands. Cattrall was quick to deny this and, in an interview with talk show host Piers Morgan, she candidly spoke about longstanding tension between her and Parker, who has served as executive producer since the show’s second season.
After sharing a teaser video on Instagram, Parker didn’t shy away from addressing Cattrall’s absence or allegations of a personal feud. She replied to one user, “No. I don’t dislike her [Cattrall]. I’ve never said that. Never would. Samantha isn’t part of this story. But she will always be part of us. No matter where we are or what we do.”
So it remains to be seen how Samantha’s absence will be explained on-screen when “And Just Like That …” debuts. Production is scheduled to begin this spring. Anarchy at FX: This year marks the 45th anniversary of “Anarchy in the U.K.,” the snarling anthem that shocked the British establishment and heralded the advent of punk rock.
It was the first single from the Sex Pistols, the British punk band whose only studio album came out the following year. While their lyrics sparked a musical revolution, the band’s meteoric rise and fall is a tale of excess, clashes and controversy, and it will all be revisited in a new limited series on FX.
The six-episode series “Pistol” is based on guitarist Steve Jones’ memoir, “Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol,” so the series will tell the story from his perspective. Jones co-founded the Sex Pistols in the mid1970s, and his fiery on-air exchange with talk show host Bill Grundy resulted in a lot of publicity (good and bad) for the band in 1976.
The series will center on Jones’ journey from West London’s council estates to his association with Vivienne Westwood and Sex boutique — an early center of punk culture and fashion in London — through the Sex Pistols’ brief time in the spotlight before splitting up in 1978.
And who better to get this story right than “Trainspotting” (1996) director Danny Boyle? The award-winning director had this to say about the project: “Imagine breaking into the world of ‘The Crown’ and ‘Downton Abbey’ with your mates and screaming your songs and your fury at all they represent. This is the moment that British society and culture changed forever. It is the detonation point for British street culture … where ordinary young people had the stage and vented their fury and their fashion … and everyone had to watch and listen … and everyone feared them or followed them. The Sex Pistols: at its center was a young, charming, illiterate kleptomaniac — a hero for the times — Steve Jones, who became, in his own words, ‘the 94th-greatest guitarist of all time.’ This is how he got there.”
Production will reportedly begin in March and the cast has already been assembled. It includes Toby Wallace (“The Society”) as Jones, Anson Boon (“1917,” 2019) as frontman Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon), Louis Partridge (“Enola Holmes,” 2020) as bassist Sid Vicious and Maisie Williams (“Game of Thrones”) as punk fashion icon Jordan.
“Dexter” baddie:
It stands to reason that every successful TV show needs a resident bad guy — even if the lead character is a prolific serial killer.
For Showtime’s “Dexter” revival, that bad guy will be none other than actor Clancy Brown (“Billions”). Brown will star opposite series lead Michael C. Hall (“Six Feet Under”) in the limited series, which is still moving forward with the expectation of a fall 2021 premiere.
Brown will play the role of Kurt Caldwell, the unofficial mayor of the town of Iron Lake. A former big-rig driver who turned business owner, Kurt owns the local truck stop and he’s a man of the people: consider yourself blessed if he has your back, but you’d better run if you dare cross him or hurt someone he loves. All this should make him an interesting antagonist for Dexter, who has spent years living in self-imposed exile.
You might remember Brown from some of his many previous roles, including that of Kurgan in the 1986 film “Highlander,” or the corrupt Captain Hadley in “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994). Come to think of it, he was the antagonist in “Carnivale” and in an episode of “The Mandalorian.” Brown has also lent his voice to a few animated characters with less-than-noble intentions, including Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe, fire demon Surtur in “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017) and the often-miserly Mr. Krabs on “SpongeBob SquarePants.” So, playing the “bad” guy is nothing new for this veteran actor. (And really, what’s a good story without a great villain?)
Brown isn’t the only new addition to the cast of the “Dexter” revival. Julia Jones, who also appeared in “The Mandalorian,” is set to play police Chief Angela Bishop, while Johnny Sequoyah (“Believe”) will play her daughter. Alano Miller (“Sylvie’s Love,” 2020) will star as a police sergeant and Deadline cryptically teased that Jack Alcott (“The Good Lord Bird”) will play someone who “has a meaningful encounter” with Dexter.