Were you one of the Sex and the City fans who were annoyed that Carrie and Big ended up together during the series finale? If so, you’re not alone. SATC creator Darren Star says the ending, which wrapped Carrie and Big’s tumultuous six-year relationship in a neat little bow, wasn’t what he had envisioned when he first wrote the show.
“For me, in a way – and I didn’t [write] those last episodes – if you’re empowering other people to write and produce your show, you can’t ... say certain things,” Star said in Kindle Singles interview (via People.) “At a certain point, you’ve got to let them follow their vision. … But I think the show ultimately betrayed what it was about, which was that women don’t ultimately find happiness from marriage,” he explained. “Not that they can’t. But the show initially was going off script from the romantic comedies that had come before it. That’s what had made women so attached.”
Star doesn’t describe what was his ideal ending, but two alternate versions had been filmed. “The second one was that Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov) was coming home after me, “Sarah Jessica Parker said in 2004. “And the third one was me coming home to New York alone.” Perhaps Star preferred the latter?
“At the end, it became a conventional romantic comedy,” Star said. “But unless you’re there to write every episode, you’re not going to get the ending you want.” Of course, in the post-series 2008 film, Sex and the City, Carrie and Big’s relationship gets shaken up again.
Star also revealed Lisa Edelstein, currently starring on Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce was next in line to play Carrie Bradshaw if Parker had passed on the role.
Contact the author at marie.lodi@jezebel.com.
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DISCUSSION
I rewatched some SATC episodes over the holidays and the show has not aged well. But I never liked the Big character to start with. Not my cup of tea.