It's a Jungle Out There
Okay so I have an immense loyalty to Candace Bushnell and her gang of high fashion gal pals from the days of yore on HBO’s Sex and the City. I, like so many twenty somethings, felt a sense of loss when they aired the final episode of SATC. Network television tried its best to fill the void with racy shows like Desperate Housewives. However, after one season, these suburban vixens came off as vapid and bland compared to the spirited and dynamic Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. Moreover, Desperate Housewives were, well, just that. Samantha’s weekly escapades with a plethora of men (many of whom were either devastatingly gorgeous and/or immensely wealthy) and Carrie’s sharp wardrobe and closets of Manolos cast a dark shadow over the semi monogamous marriages and sunny sweater sets of Wisteria Lane. This is not say Housewives is not good or even entertaining, it’s just that in this post SATC era, I and so many others yearned for a show that offered SATC, but one step further. We sought life after Charlotte began to care for her much desired baby and after Miranda and Steve settled into their Brooklyn nest. And now there is a program whose characters slip comfortably into Carrie’s well worn Manolos and walk ever so proudly in them.
Lipstick Jungle, from the creators of SATC, offers similar grittiness and an even better wardrobe. Where Lipstick departs is in the lead characters’ focus in life. Whereas, the women of SATC’s most overwhelming decision was often which man to date, the trendiest night spots or where to get the latest handbag, the women of Lipstick move through a complicated maze of career, family and personal obligations at a dizzying pace. Confident and self assured they are not without insecurities; a recent episode skirt the issue of one character being disappointed with her husband’s role as the stay at home dad, while another enters an affair with a much younger man. What Lipstick Jungle offers most is a peek into post marriage and family SATC lifestyle.
