Sex and the City - The Complete Second Season | Sarah Jessica Parker

Sex and the City - The Complete Second Season | Sarah Jessica Parker | One of the best original cable programs ever...

DVDs:

Sex and the City -...

	Sex and the City - The Complete Second Season Sarah Jessica Parker HBO Home Video, 2001 average customer review:based on 169 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Carrie and Big try, try again, and Miranda meets Steve

Now that "Sex and the City" has gone the way of all flesh, which in this case means sanitized syndication on conventional cable television, it is interesting to go back and find out that the second season was about more than the roller coaster relationship between Carrie and Mr. Big. The other major development was that after dumping on Miranda for most of the season (and some things are worse than being dumped on, e.g., "was it good for you?") she finally meets up with Steve Brady. Since Miranda ends up being my favorite character on the series, the point at which her life begins to turn around and heads for her unexpected happy ending is a key "Sex and the City" moment.

But the focal point of "Sex and the City: The Complete Second Season" remains the attempts by Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) to various break up with Big (Chris Noth) and to make the relationship work. She starts off the season trying to replace Big with a new member of the New York Yankees ("take me out to the ballgame"), but running into Big makes it clear she is not going to be over him and is never going to be over him. After giving the relationship six months to die, she brings it back to life ("four women and a funeral") and learns that the only thing worse than not dating Big is dating him, especially when she makes the mistake of saying "I love you" to him ("the caste system"). I keep thinking that at some point he will catch on to the sense of desperation that he provokes in her, but it never seems to happen. The Fates clearly think these two should be together, but apparently there is some sort of celestial alignment required that does not happen until the last possible moment in the show's six-year run.

Of all of Carrie's boyfriends I liked Aidan (John Corbett) during the third season the best, although I realized from the start that wanting Carrie to stop smoking was a deal breaker. But I appreciate the way Carrie's tango with Big represents one of the more complicated ongoing car crash relationships in television history. If you had to put only one of these two on the couch to get them to answer questions and force them to confess what they think they are doing, I think it would have to be Big, but in my heart I think the writers just keep making him toss Carrie curve balls just to be her back on her heels. Of course, the idea of Big going to Paris is interesting to reconsider given the series finale, but a symbol is a symbol.

In the second season Charlotte (Kristin Davis) continues to have one bad date after another, culminating in the one where the guy falls asleep on her during sex ("was it good for you?"), which simply serves to set up the character's growing sense of desperation that will become fixated on Trey (Kyle MacLachlan) in season three. My favorite Charlotte moment in season two is when she mingles with the "powerful lesbians" ("the cheating curve"). Meanwhile, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) basically has a "believe it or not" type year of sexual encounters. This is obvious when you consider that the problem she has with her lover in the first episode is the exact opposite of the complaint she has with the one in the finale episode of the season. The gamut is rather obvious, but then Samantha's character is the one in the quartet that most resists any sort of continuing relationship, which is why turning Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) into a deep and meaningful relationship during the final season was such a surprising and touching success.

But when the focus is on how the second season sets up the end point of the series it is Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) who reaches the low point and does not really notice when she meets the man she is going to end up marrying in bartender Steve Brady (David Eigenberg). I can see how her relationship with Skipper (Ben Webber) sets up what happens with Steve, but the key difference is that Steve really likes Miranda without turning into a sad little puppy dog. I think the reason I like Miranda is that when she hits rock bottom and decides to stop dating ("the freak show"), she does so in relative silence (i.e., compared to Charlotte, whose suffering and successes are both fully voiced). I understand that Miranda's cynicism exists primarily to show Carrie that no matter how bad things are she still has a way to go before she is at the edge of the cliff, but there is something painfully poignant about deciding to buy an apartment for yourself and plan on living the rest of your life alone ("four women and a funeral").

The language on "Sex and the City" never struck me as being unrealistic, although sometimes I think the ladies are saying these things a little louder at the coffee shop or wherever than I think they would in the real world. But then I remember this is a television show and take that with a grain of salt, just as I do the idea that women usually make love while still wearing their bras. However, since the language is so integral to the show, if the choice is between watching a sanitized version of "Sex and the City" or going with the DVD and the fully voice profanity, then I think you have to go with the latter. Of course, this begs the question as to whether the language would bother you in the first place, but it will be the subject matter more than the language that I would expect some to find objectionable, which explains why the series was on HBO in the first place.

for more information click here

One of the best original cable programs ever...

Based on the bestselling novel by Candace Bushnell, the HBO original series Sex And The City took the television world by storm following its release in the summer of 1998. Following the exploits of four young and educated female friends living and working in New York City, the show revolves around the various relationships and life problems experienced by each member of the group. Sporting an experienced and talented cast, the show has developed a strong, borderline fanatic following...

Sarah Jessica Parker (the de facto lead character of the show) stars as Carrie Bradshaw, a popular sex columnist for a local newspaper who travels in numerous Manhattan social circles. Carrie is engaged in a tempestuous on-again, off-again relationship with a mystery man always referred to as "Mr. Big". The young urban professional shares her life with three best friends who have similarly interesting jobs - Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon), a lawyer tired of being single given the societal ramifications; Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), a promiscuous publicist who enjoys non-exclusive relationships; and Charlotte McDougal (Kristin Davis), an art museum curator who is relatively less open about her sexuality... Together, the women seek each other's advice on the ever-present and varying predicaments in which they find their romantic relationships...

The Sex And The City (Season 2) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in which Carrie, having broken up with Mr. Big, starts dating a member of the New York Yankees. However, when they run into Mr. Big, she realizes she's not really over him. Meanwhile, Miranda is tired of her friends talking about nothing but men, and Samantha thinks she's found the man of her dreams - at least until she gets him in bed... Other notable episodes from Season 2 include "Four Women and a Funeral" in which Carrie's reflections on the shortness of life following friend's death lead to a reunion with Mr. Big, and "The Man, The Myth, The Viagra" in which Carrie urges Mr. Big to get to know her friends better and Samantha dates a wealthy man in his seventies...

Below is a list of episodes included on the Sex And The City (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 13 (Take Me Out to the Ballgame)
Episode 14 (The Awful Truth)
Episode 15 (The Freak Show)
Episode 16 (They Shoot Single People, Don't They?)
Episode 17 (Four Women and a Funeral)
Episode 18 (The Cheating Curve)
Episode 19 (The Chicken Dance)
Episode 20 (The Man, the Myth, the Viagra)
Episode 21 (Old Dogs, New Dicks)
Episode 22 (The Caste System)
Episode 23 (Evolution)
Episode 24 (La Douleur Exquise!)
Episode 25 (Games People Play)
Episode 26 (The F*ck Buddy)
Episode 27 (Shortcomings)
Episode 28 (Was It Good For You?)
Episode 29 (Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women)
Episode 30 (Ex and the City)

The DVD Report

for more information click here

My Rant On Circumcision

OK, Sex and the City is one of my favorite shows ever, and this second season is almost perfect, except for one episode I don't like; in fact, it's the only episode of all 94 throughout the series run that I don't like, "Old Dogs, New Dicks" (the title was changed on TBS to "Old Dogs, New Tricks," which really doesn't make sense since the episode has nothing to do with tricks). However, I really, really hate this episode, so I decided to write an exclusive review on why. OK, well, I hate the way Charlotte acts in this episode. The plot has her dating a man who is uncircumcised and not liking it. I thought this was wrong. I know this show has had a lot of subjects covered that could be considered offensive, but I never was offended because these were all mostly based on some truth, while this episode ignores all truth and dishes out urban legends and foolish misconceptions about circumcision. One is: circumcision doesn't hurt. It does. A lot. And the baby can feel ALL the pain. Don't believe your doctors who say it's "just a little snip." It's a major surgery, very bloody, very violent, and very painful; all in all, totally sick. Another misconception is that circumcision makes the penis cleaner. All you have to do if you're uncircumcised is wash under the foreskin. Should we pull our teeth out just so we won't have to brush them? Now perhaps you're thinking, "But teeth are useful and foreskin is not." It amazes me that people continue to think this way. Obviously, if you are born with something it serves a useful purpose. And foreskin happens to have tons of sexual nerves, millions upon billions. perhaps Charlotte should have given the guy a chance before judging based on looks (PS, an uncut penis doesn't look like a sharpei in any universe). My main beef with the whole procedure is that the baby has no way to say no. He doesn't know how to talk and he doesn't know what the heck's going on. Babies are people, too, and doing this type of thing to them destroys their human rights before they can even talk. For the rest of their life they will always know they are missing a part of their body because of their parents and not because they wanted it removed. It is sick, unhumane and incorrect. The reason for my rant is mostly because, whether people believe it or not, they are inspired by the media. I'm not saying people are shooting up schools because of video games (THAT, my dear friend, is crap), but if someone says something on TV, people generally beleive it more. Most TV shows always show circumcision as a painless, consequence free little surgery that's make you "normal" and "accepted." They must not know that over 85 percent of the world remains uncircumcised (actually Carrie mentions it in the episode, but it's brushed over quickly). What would have been really cool would have been to see an episode of this show where the girls realized the whole procedure was sick and wrong. Maybe Charlotte would sleep with the guy and the sex would blow her away and they'd all start to question the merit of it. That would have been unique and special and different from all the other TV shows, and it would have been truthful, like the other episodes. What we have now is a naive and juvenile episode that gets all its facts wrong and grossly misinterprets the whole ritual of circumcision. Will a show ever get it right? Anyway, I guess this rant might seem kinda pointless, but I just want you to think about it. Just because somethings socially accepted doesn't make it OK. What if everyone started cutting off one of their kid's toes at birth. What if, in a thousand years, noone had five tioes on each foot. Would that make someone with 10 toes a freak? Just think about it.

I don't mean to diss the show. I mean, if you skip this one episode and watch the 93 other brilliant ones, you have yourself one of the greatest shows ever, and this one episode doesn't damage the quality of the show, but it's still bad. However, the show itself is brilliant.

for more information click here