Sex and the City – Essentials

I'll admit, I was not a regular watcher of Sex and the City during its run on HBO. The only time I really watched the show in any sort of depth was when my friend's gay roommate at the New School was away for the weekend and left us with nothing but the Season 1 box set to entertain ourselves. So we had a sleepover, popped in one DVD after another, and proceeded to giggle and cry like little girls into the early morning. I'm pretty sure that story is true. Let's not worry about that though "” I can tell you I have seen enough of the first and last seasons and scant episodes in between to know what the show is all about. On to the business at hand"¦

HBO has had much success with the DVD releases of each season of Sex and the City, and the Collector's gift set of the complete series is still among the top 200 best-selling titles on Amazon four months after its release. We all know how popular the show is and how successful HBO has been at marketing it. Now comes a new sort of release "” Sex and the City Essentials, four discs (with more to come) comprised of three episodes linked by a common theme, such as Lust, Breakups, and Romance. If this marketing effort is a success, other shows will surely follow suit. At the top of my wish list is Seinfeld: Newmanium, a special edition box set featuring only those episodes of Seinfeld that feature Wayne Knight playing the scheming (though lovable) mailman, Newman.

Being a typical guy, I started with Lust. I found the episodes "” like the series in general "” to be fairly light on sex scenes, but entertaining and quite clever nevertheless. The show's on-location filming in Manhattan is of course an attractive feature, while its over-the-top wardrobes will likely bring out the inner fashionistas in all of you, though it had no effect on my own steadfast manliness. Though its viewers and creators often attribute too much sentimentality and profundity to the show, Sex and the City is at heart a lighthearted comedy series about sex and relationships, and a rather good one at that.

Sex is unabashedly cynical and urban, but it is also highly stylized and far from realistic. As a result, supporting characters on the show are often caricaturized and stereotyped in contrast to the main characters, who we tend to sympathize with more often than not. But the main characters themselves, despite their vanity, are well-constructed, complex human beings, played by four actresses who know their counterparts very well. If the show's creators and its fans take it too seriously, I am the complete opposite, but I'll say to the cynics out there "” Sex is much more

The Essentials method of organization has its pros and cons. Some might think it suits the show well, as each episode is meant to serve as material for Carrie's sex column in the fictional New York Star, which typically appears to focus on a single issue. However, the titles of the discs are so broadly constructed that they could probably apply to almost all of the 94 episodes of the series. I mean, which episodes of this show don't deal with lust, breakups, romance, and Mr. Big?

For the obsessive fan who already owns the complete box set and considers Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha personal friends, these new discs don't have any new material to offer, as there are no special features attached to them. But they will prove to be of great value for the casual fan or for someone who has never really watched the show but might want to get into it. For those who insist on watching shows chronologically, Essentials is not for you, but as a self-professed casual viewer, I can say there is much to be gained from Sex even if you watch it piecemeal and out of order. I suspect that those who have intermittently caught episodes of Sex in syndication on TBS are the most likely benefactors of these new releases, as they have yet to see the episodes unedited, as they originally appeared on HBO.

I cannot conclude this review without mentioning that the four discs feature many of the series' most pivotal and best episodes, including four that were individually nominated for Emmy awards. It is almost immediately apparent that Essentials relies more heavily on the "Greatest Hits" principle than on its titular themes. Essentials features many of the episodes that undoubtedly rank in the serious fans' top ten lists "” I know because I asked them. If any disc is the winner in this category, it's the Mr. Big disc, which features the series premiere and the finales of seasons two and four. Whatever your choice, think less about the disc's title than about the fact that you're watching some of the best stand-alone episodes the show has to offer.

Episodes Grade "” Lust Essentials: B+

The F**ck Buddy – Season 2, Episode 14

Running with Scissors – Season 3, Episode 11

The Turtle and the Hare – Season 1, Episode 9

Episodes Grade "” Romance Essentials: B+ (enjoyment will depend on whether you consider yourself a romantic)

Baby, Talk is Cheap – Season 4, Episode 6

Hop, Skip and a Week – Season 6, Episode 6

An American Girl in Paris (Part Deux) – Season 6,
Episode 20 (series finale)

Episodes Grade "” Mr. Big Essentials: A

Sex and the City – Season 1, Episode 1 (series premiere)

Ex and the City – Season 2, Episode 18 (finale)

I Heart

Episodes Grade "” Breakups Essentials: A- (Nathan Lane and Ron Livingston spice things up a bit)

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – Season 3, Episode 12

I Love a Charade – Season 5, Episode 8 (finale)

The Post-it Always Sticks Twice (Season 6, Episode 7)

DVD Features Grade: N/A

Overall Grade: B+