Comparing the Sex and the City & Gilmore Girls revivals
It's hard to let go of a TV show. We find ourselves wishing for more time with these characters. We want to know what happens next. But sometimes we should be careful what we wish for. Sex and the City and Gilmore Girls are completely different TV shows, but strangely enough their revivals have similar hiccups and format problems. Let's take a closer look at And Just Like That and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
There will be spoilers below for all currently released episodes of And Just Like That. And also Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, but you've had several years to watch that!
Title Change: In an effort to separate these revivals from their original show runs, both Sex and the City and Gilmore Girls get some rebranding. The 10-episode SATC miniseries goes only by And Just Like That, a reference to a commonly used phrase from Carrie's column in the original series. The four-part Gilmore Girls mini-movies go by Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, following the winter, spring, summer and fall cadence from You've Got a Friend on Carole King's Tapestry album.
Theme Song Change: If you're looking for the familiar bump-bump-bump-buh-buh of the Sex and the City theme song, you'll be waiting for a while. Carrie isn't running around in a tutu skirt. She won't get splashed by a bus. Instead a title card for And Just Like That comes across the screen at the end of the the opening scene to mark the start of the episode. The theme song shift signifies a larger tonal change in the series. Instead of the fun and goofy credits, we're in for a more somber viewing experience. Gilmore Girls ditched Carole King's Where You Lead theme song for AYITL. For each installment, a title card for the season comes across the screen at the end of the opening scene. Although its following the cadence of another Carole King song, it's strange to see our Girls without the early 2000s montage.
Format Change: Both And Just Like That and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life have some growing pains. At the heart of these problems is the decision to drastically alter the original show's format. While these choices were made very intentionally by creators to separate the revivals from their series runs, they're not well executed. SATC goes from a 20-minute comedy series to a 40-minute drama (with very few comedic moments). Plot points in the original series were sometimes downright zany. With this shift the show loses a lot of its spark, as it navigates a tone that is much more serious than the original series or the movies ever were. Six episodes in and And Just Like That is still struggling to strike the right storytelling balance. Gilmore Girls started as a 40-minute dramedy that leaned heavily into quirky comedic elements (think anything Kirk ever did), but with its transition to a series of short movies, it struggles to shift its story plotting to match the way a movie needs to function. Storylines are picked up and dropped between installments. The episodes don't have clear beginnings, middles and ends. And the previously charming Stars Hollow moments last longer to match the extended run time, meaning jokes struggle to stick their landings. At the end of the day AYITL feels bloated and unorganized.
Missing Friends: What is SATC without Samantha? Truly nothing. Unfortunately due to offscreen cast conflicts, Samantha is only present in text message form. I would have been able to accept that, but the show also invents a ridiculous conflict between Samantha/Carrie to try and explain away her absence. Would Samantha EVER hold a grudge because Carrie dropped her as a publicist? Never. While it's interesting to watch Carrie struggle to navigate ups and downs without one of her best friends, the premise is so unbelievable that it becomes distracting. While Sookie wasn't as crucial to Gilmore Girls as Samantha was to SATC, Sookie's missing presence is felt throughout AYITL. Due to scheduling conflicts (aka Melissa McCarthy being the most famous member of the original cast), Sookie is only present in a few minutes of the last episode of the revival. During the first three episodes, Lorelai also struggles without one of her best friends, acting erratically at work and getting angry at celebrity chefs who attempt to fill Sookie's shoes. While the timing of Sookie's absence is a little confusing, it's handled much better than Samantha's exit.
The Impact of Real-Life Events: Sadly Edward Herrmann (Richard Gilmore) and Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch) both passed away in real life before filming either took place or concluding for these revivals. Edward Herrmann's passing fuels the bulk of Lorelai and Emily's storylines in the revival, as they both mourn the loss of their father and husband, respectively, and work through their own preexisting conflicts. Willie Garson was originally supposed to appear in the entire SATC revival but was too sick to continue filming. It's lovely to watch him reprise his role as Stanford for even just a few episodes. While the show wouldn't want to write off another main character in a sad way after Big's death, the way they handle Stanford's absence feels a bit trite, considering real-life events.
Main Characters in Mourning: Carrie and Lorelai are both adjusting to huge losses that fuel their stories throughout these new episodes. At the end of the first And Just Like That episode Big tragically dies, and we watch Carrie process her grief and figure out what comes next. In AYITL, Lorelai's father, Richard, dies offscreen, and we see Lorelai grieve, while examining her relationships and life choices.
Main Characters in Trouble: Miranda and Rory have always had their... difficult qualities. Miranda frequently landed the problematic character beats of the harpy, successful career woman. Rory was always entitled and spoiled. But in these continuations, Miranda and Rory both make some strange choices and flounder to such a degree that it becomes ridiculous. Rory is a MESS. She's cheating on her boyfriend with Logan, who is engaged. She can't hold down a job. She's been a journalist for 10 years and doesn't have any story pitches. She doesn't have a place to live. Watching Rory struggle in a realistic setting is interesting. We don't need to see Rory constantly succeed! But her career problems and constant bouts of infidelity are unexamined and too messy to be believable. Miranda is also going through a lot. A thoughtful portrayal of Miranda exploring her sexuality and looking for fulfilling work outside of a law firm would have been interesting! The show takes it too far. Miranda is unapologetically cheating on Steve (who is treated like a complete after thought). She's drinking too much. She can't stop making problematic, white savior statements. The way these storylines are handled don't feel in line with how we've seen Miranda evolve over six seasons and two movies. Perhaps Miranda's story will come to a more thoughtful conclusion over the next few episodes - I hope so - but for now it's just frustrating to watch.
