Being too cheap to pay for HBO, I have missed out on such apparently fine shows as Oz and The Sopranos.
Now that Sex and the City is coming to TNT next week, I was curious as to what all the buzz is about. I was going to watch it, but any insight from fan Dopers would be appreciated. (Plus it has Kim Cattral in it, whom I fondly remember from ST: TUD.)
So, how raunchy was it? Would the required editing diminish the story and plot line? I’m assuming they’ll be bleeping the swear words. Is it worth my time?
I’d say no. Not that you need the swearing and nudity to make the show, but it’s so dovetailed, I’m not sure how they will be able to successfully clean it up for regular tv and not really mess it up.
Almost all the seasons are out on DVD - you could always rent them?
Seriously. First of all, the episodes themselves are almost half an hour long each, so I’m sure they’ll be trimmed for time right off the bat. Then, they’ll have to be extremely edited to be shown on TBS at all. That means tons of swearing, some nudity, probably descriptions of sexual practices, everything. Not only will this make the episodes sound retarded (I hope they’re just going to bleep or cut offensive words and not dub them over like they do with movies), it will completely destroy the natural feeling of the conversations between the characters and the open talks about sex that are pretty much the highlight of the show.
If you want to watch it (and I highly reccomend you do, it’s an excellent series), I reccomend renting the sets. Even my crappy local Blockbuster carries every season on both VHS and DVD, and of course there’s always Netflix. I was going to suggest you watch a couple episodes on TBS to see if you liked it, but, IMO, the show starts out slow and doesn’t pick up speed 'til about halfway through the first season, and I really think the editing will take a lot out of even that. Plus, VHS rentals are cheap now.
I think I remember hearing that they knew the show was going to be syndicated from the beginning, so they filmed alternate scenes or recorded alternate dialogue for the raunchiest bits that wouldn’t make it on regular cable. So while it will be edited for time, it might not be quite as chopped up as you’d expect. A lot of the appeal of the show is just how the characters relate to each other in everyday situations, so I’d say go ahead and watch a couple to see if you like it. I mean, it’s not like you have to pay for it or something…make up your own mind!
The New York Times said in its TV review that the episodes on HBO ran 24-30 minutes long. On TBS they will not be cut for time, so some episodes, with commercials, will run something like 40 minutes. TBS is going to air two episodes a night, so I don’t know if that will mean the two will run for 90 minutes combined or what. I don’t think they will be cut for time though.
Even if the show isn’t as good as if it were shown unedited, anything that gets Kristin Davis on TV more often is cool by me.
The amount to be censored changes wildly from episode to episode. My wife and I have started watching the episodes on DVD over the last few months, and some episodes are so jaw-droppingly over the top that we ask each other “How are they going to edit THAT for TBS?”
Like the time the four go to a lecture on tantric sex in this woman’s apartment, which culminates with her demonstrating, um, “kneading” on her husband. This goes on for a long time, with the ladies reacting in different ways, but the “highlight” is when the husband pops off, and you see some of “it” getting onto Miranda’s hair. Hilarity ensues.
If you are saavy enough to know there is an original, un-cut (in every respect) version to watch, why would you watch the bastardized version?
However, I was showing the first season to my elderly aunt and my cousin’s wife, and my aunt was shocked and offended beyond belief…she made me shut it off, much to the dismay of my cousin’s wife.
I think the TBS version is good for people who are easily offended by crass language and nudity (which, by the fact you are a member of the SDMB, I think leaves you out of that catagory) and hopefully some who like the show will be moved to rent the original at their local video store. I can’t imagine the cleaned up version will be half as funny or interesting.