Sex and the City Revival: HBO Max Boss Hints at Explanation for Samantha's Absence ('Friendships Fade')

We have our first clue as to how Sex and the City is going on without Samantha Jones.

HBO Max’s upcoming revival, officially announced last month, is bringing back the stars of the original Emmy-winning hit — minus Kim Cattrall’s Samantha. But how will the show explain the absence of one of the show’s core four? Star Sarah Jessica Parker and writer Michael Patrick King are the creative forces behind the sequel, and “they’re not trying to re-do Sex and the City,” HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys emphasizes to TVLine. “They’re not trying to say that these characters are reliving their 30s. It is very much a story about women in their 50s, and they are dealing with things that people deal with in their 50s.”

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To that end, “just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave,” Bloys continues. “Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life… They’re trying to tell an honest story about being a woman in her 50s in New York. So it should all feel somewhat organic, and the friends that you have when you’re 30, you may not have when you’re 50.”

Parker will be joined by original co-stars Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte) when the Sex and the City revival — titled And Just Like That… — hits HBO Max. And they’ll be backed by a more diverse writing staff, including series newcomers Samantha Irby, Rachna Fruchbom (Fresh Off the Boat) and Keli Goff (Black Lightning). Parker and King “didn’t want to tell a story with all-white writers or an all-white cast,” Bloys notes. “It’s not reflective of New York. So they are being very, very conscious about understanding that New York has to reflect the way New York looks today.” (With reporting by Kimberly Roots)

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