‘Single in the City’ meets ‘Sex and the City’
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'Sex in the City's' Carrie, left, meets with Mr. Big.
(Courtesy photo)
'Sex in the City's' Carrie, left, meets with Mr. Big.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - For those of you who just can’t get enough of four uber-entitled women, so self-absorbed they’re practically inside-out New Yorkers who go through men like lungs go through oxygen — and you’ve got $299.95 to throw away, the new DVD collector set, which is encased in a “rose velvet photo album” no less, of HBO’s “Sex and the City” can be yours.

HBO Video’s news release lauds “single girls Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha as they experienced the pleasure of sex, the pain of heartbreak and the panacea of friendship,” no doubt followed by the panacea of penicillin.

So what do the authors of this column think about the philosophy of “dating, fashion, friendships and relationships” purported by this show that has forced thousands of husbands/boyfriends to turn to the little 13-inch TV in the basement so they can watch the SportsCenter highlights? And yes, Dan did write the intro for this week’s column.

DAN: I’m reminded of a clip from “Family Guy,” where Brian recalls his attempt to bond with his gay college roommate by watching an episode of “Sex and the City” together. Cue to the two of them tuning in, as we hear the “Sex and the City” theme. Then Brian asks: “Um ... so, it’s about three prostitutes and their mother?” Well said, Brian, well said.

JOAN: I have conflicting views on “Sex and the City.” As a screen-writing professor at Towson University, I believe the show was the fastest half-hour on TV. The writing was brilliant, the acting superb, and the frankness hilarious. I do worry about the message that promiscuity is OK because even if you sleep around a lot, you’ll end up with Mr. Big. That’s not necessarily true.

DAN: Mr. Big (said with sigh of pity). Poor Chris Noth. What were you thinking getting yourself involved in this estrogenfest? Get your cop-action-show butt back to “Law and Order,” pronto. I’ve been forced by female friends to sit through this show, which the Taliban probably utilizes to make its point to recruits about American decadence.

The HBO news release reads, “Strap on the Manolos and grab a Tartini, the party’s isn’t over yet.” As far as I can tell, it’s a show about four women who spend more money than Denmark’s gross national product on shoes and booze, complain about what they’ve got man-wise, what they don’t have man-wise, about each other, about why the world doesn’t recognize how fabulous they are and just give them everything they want in terms of men, shoes and booze. Party isn’t over yet? Please, let it be over. Now.

Of course, not everyone shares my opinion (even though I’m right). Consider the view of Carole Langrall, proprietor of A Garden of Earthly Delights floral design studio in Baltimore and “The International Flower Spy” blogger.

“’Sex and the City’ was a good show because it gave women hope and encouragement with their female friends,” Langrall said. “I was elated that the characters were true friends and never catty or mean to each other the way some women can be toward each other. Take away the clothes, glamour, jobs and city backdrop, you are still left with four smart, successful and supportive women, who would do anything for each other. What more could a girl ask for in a gal pal?

“As far as the sex/relationship stuff, Candice Bushnell, the show’s writer, was on the money. And it was always fun to watch situations you have been through be validated on a show. Most women could relate to at least one of the character’s boyfriends. It was truthful, but funny.”

JOAN: I must admit that some of the scenes and topics made me blush, like the episode on sex toys and the frontal nudity of Samantha’s boyfriend diving into his pool. Mind you, I didn’t turn off the TV. OK, I’m shallow. I watched the show’s last season to see if Charlotte was going to marry the guy with the hairy back and if Carrie was going to run of with Baryshnikov.

This brings up the question — why do Hollywood writers send 30-something women off into the sunset with 50- and 60-something men? Personally, this burns me up. Hoorah for Samantha for dating the young hunk. That’s a good start.

Dan Collins is a terminally single 40-something writer and local PR maven. Joan Allen is a noted matchmaker extraordinaire and author of “Celebrating Single and Getting Love Right: From Stalemate to Soulmate.”


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Comments from Examiner Readers

3:00 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008 re: "In the game of love, sports is a major player"

Nancy-Single on the Road said:
From working with ESPN and an 90% crew of men every weekend for over 10 years, I can comment on this one! Every weekend that I show up for work, I am bombarded by comments on my outfits, and this is from men that breath and eat sports! AND THEN they quickly move on back to sports. Unless they are clothes designers, metrosexuals, or extremely in touch with their feminine side- I just don't think it merits much attention or is a top priority for men to spend time on the subject of our outfits. I think they make a mental note of our choices over time and make a mental summary (just like they would with their favorite -or soon to be not so favorite by those choices- quarterback.) Men ARE from Mars, but keep those new dresses coming without expecting a response and they will appreciate you like Venus. Even if its sharing nachos watching the game.

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2:38 PM MST on Thu., Jul. 10, 2008 re: "Survey says, trust yourself, not the research"

Nancy-Single on the Road said:
Just moved back from SoFla and your articles my Mom sent me I now enjoy right off the driveway!I've been living in the dating nightmare capital of the world for women over,well, 35 is over the hill down there.Add to that I'm 5'11" so I was one of the tallest people down there and am not enhanced with plastic surgery...yet.So,it was time to come home and meet a nice guy only to find everyone tell me its a dating nightmare HERE!(Just one reason for the move btw.)Also, I work with almost all men on the road in the TV /Sports Industry and travel alot.Bitter?Airplane for one please.You'd think it would be easy to find one crispy in a stale bag of chips, but its not! You know the OJ book,'If I Did It?' Well, mine is,"If I Dated It!" The sad part is all the stories I gather from singles(sorry Dan, usually women-the men are busy showing pictures of their wives-NOT) on the road are just as pathetic.So what words of wisdom do you have for this tall,45ish,nomadic newcomer to Balto.?

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8:25 AM MST on Sat., Jul. 5, 2008 re: "Making the most of every day, relationship"

Examiner Reader said:
"“Now I’m waiting on a birth mom in Florida. It’s very hard to find a birth mother if you are single in the U.S. I have a room set up for a baby, a rescue dog, and a new career that I love. Now I want to save a child, not the world.”" Ugh. You really need to education yourself about adoption before you consider it. If you're going in with the idea of 'rescuing' you've got a long way to go. Also, birth mother is a sexist and offensive term. It implies that a woman is only an incubator. A pregnant woman is an expectant mother.

0 agree | 2 disagree
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3:09 PM MST on Sat., Mar. 8, 2008 re: "Putting a corporate spin on the dating game"

Examiner Reader said:
Joan, try a valium.

7 agree | 7 disagree
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1:20 PM MST on Tue., Jul. 3, 2007 re: "The perilous world of online dating"

Happy Mom said:
My son went on J-Date last year, connected with a young lady living in Hawaii for a year, started talking long distance and he decided to go visit her (he figured if she didn't work out he knew he would love Hawaii). Long story short, he called 6 days later and said he loved both. They are on their honeymoon right now. My daughter met her husband on same site, he was living in Virginia, but distance didn't seem a problemk. They are now married for 3 years. So sometimes these services do work and make the parents happy to see their children happy!

743 agree | 180 disagree
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7:17 AM MST on Tue., May. 29, 2007 re: "What’s with men who date only younger women?"

Examiner Reader said:
re: "For me, it can take months to trust and truly love someone, and during that time I am open to meeting others." -- I think the ambiguity and potential conflict comes from people who say what you say but are also willing to have sex with the person in the mean time. Many people equate sex with exclusivity. If she does and you don't, there's a problem. Either you have to wait to have sex until you're ready to be exclusive, or she has to be willing to have sex without being exclusive. The problem is no one likes to talk about this until after having sex. ;-)

229 agree | 207 disagree
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