It’s a sad truth that some TV shows from the past just don’t hold up today. No matter how much pop culture obsessives talk about the film and TV gems from the ’80s and ’90s, sometimes the outfits, production value, and storylines seem very dated by more recent standards. One such show is Sex and the City.
Yes, the show has its die-hard fans (especially those who want to be Carrie Bradshaw), but since it was on the air from 1998 until 2004, it makes sense that there are some things about it that don’t quite work today. Here are 10 episodes of Sex And The City that have aged badly.
A Woman’s Right To Shoes (Season 6)
The title of this episode is problematic these days because shouldn’t women love something other than shoes? That’s why this is one of the episodes of Sex And The City that has definitely aged badly.
It’s hard to imagine that this show could air in 2019 and someone would take Carrie’s shoes when she’s at a party. For one thing, that doesn’t seem like enough of a storyline to sustain an episode, and for another thing, it just seems so fluffy and frivolous. Sure, there are many episodes of this show that still hold up and are worth tuning into, but this isn’t one of them.
The Big Time (Season 3)
Even though Big is married by the time Carrie runs sees him in the third season episode “The Big Time,” she still listens when he wants to be with her again. Not only that, but she actually starts seeing him again (behind his wife’s back, of course).
This is another episode of Sex and the City that hasn’t aged well because it’s impossible to respect that Carrie would do this. She has already been put through the wringer by Big, and it’s clear that he doesn’t treat her well and that he’s not actually relationship material. By 2019’s standards, he’s not even worth looking at twice. If Carrie’s a feminist and this show is about being single and being cool about it, why would she behave this way?
An American Girl In Paris (Part Deux) (Season 6)
The series finale has a Samantha-focused storyline that feels problematic today. Fans will recall that Samantha had cancer, and while she had chemotherapy, she wasn’t interested in having sex.
Well… yeah. It’s hard to imagine that this would even be a storyline at all. Sure, it makes sense since Samantha is the one in the group who is the most sexually active, but isn’t this kind of insensitive to people who have had serious illnesses? There are so many things to be concerned about while going through treatment and it seems like being intimate wouldn’t be one of them. Someone would be a lot more worried about their health and taking care of themselves. It feels like a very silly treatment of a serious subject.
Cover Girl (Season 5)
In this fifth season episode, Miranda wants to get rid of the weight that she gained while pregnant, and she goes to Weight Watchers. This is an episode of Sex And The City that has aged badly because this is such an old-fashioned idea.
So many moms are not concerned with “losing the baby weight” these days. After all, a woman just had a baby, which is a beautiful thing, and she’s enjoying being with her newborn and basking in the glow of family life. Also, the idea that a woman should try to lose weight, in general, feels very of the past. The discussion today is around healthy eating and real food, not calories or weight.
The Cheating Curve (Season 2)
Charlotte has some new pals in this episode: “Power Lesbians.” That statement alone is enough to make this one episode that has aged badly.
Like the others on this list, this isn’t an episode that seems like it could be made in 2019. While that’s not always the best way to judge TV—some shows can feel dated in terms of fashion or hairstyles (like Seinfeld, for example) but still hold up in other ways—it’s relevant here. A show like Sex And The City just isn’t that nice all the time, and it’s awkward to have Charlotte call her new friends “Power Lesbians.”
Evolution (Season 2)
In another episode that features Charlotte, she goes out with a guy named Stefan. He says that he’s a “gay straight man” but she assumed that he was gay.
Since the four women go on several dates every season, it seems like this was an odd choice for a character (not to mention an offensive one). When Charlotte goes out with Capote Duncan in the pilot, for example, it’s a good storyline because he’s a total player and this is a lesson for her. But this particular season two storyline seems like a misstep.
The Baby Shower (Season 1)
In the first season episode “The Baby Shower,” the four friends go to a baby shower. It’s a big deal for them because they knew this woman back in the day and she was a typical NYC single woman (aka just like them). Now she’s married, pregnant, and living in Connecticut.
This episode has aged badly because the typical journey that is depicted here—a woman falls in love, gets married, moves to the suburbs, and starts a family—feels very played out at this point. It’s a huge cliché. It’s also not necessarily true-to-life these days. Sure, there are people who want a simpler life and want to raise kids outside an urban environment, but lots of couples are having kids while living in a city (or having kids without getting married, or getting married but not having kids, etc).
Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl (Season 3)
In the third season episode “Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl,” Carrie doesn’t believe in people being bisexual. It’s impossible to imagine this episode airing in 2019, and if it did, it seems like it would get a lot of flak. This is definitely an episode from Sex and the City that has aged badly.
This is a frustrating episode to watch because it’s hard to believe that a sophisticated writer who lives in a city like New York would say something like this. Don’t New Yorkers pride themselves on being super accepting of diversity?
Models And Mortals (Season 2)
The second season episode “Models And Mortals” is about men who are into models. Miranda goes out with someone who feels this way, so that becomes the theme of this particular episode.
It really feels like the whole “men only liking models” thing is very much of a different, earlier time. It was something that happened in the late ’90s and early 2000s, and it’s just not talked about anymore. For one thing, society is more accepting of all body types these days, and the skinny model look isn’t the only way to go. And for another thing, many models who are working in the industry today are healthy and they care about taking care of themselves. (Also, if people go on bad Tinder dates, they don’t think that the person is actually looking to date a model. They just say that it was a creepy or awkward date.)
The Pilot
The pilot of Sex And The City is another episode that has aged badly. Carrie tries to “have sex like a man” (without feelings) and that is just one reason why this feels so awkward to watch today. Society has come a long way and a lot of people don’t view intimacy that way anymore. Here, it feels very men vs. women and black and white.
In the pilot, Carrie also feels very consumed by her dating life and while, sure, that’s one part of the show, it doesn’t really feel like she’s a strong woman who’s going to make it on her own and have fun along the way. Since the series is meant to be uplifting, it’s weird that the pilot wouldn’t focus on her writing and her friendships more.
