Sex and the City's Miranda was a techie. So what happened in the reboot And Just Like That?

regular season starting on March Verse. But I wanted to jump on the mic and shamelessly use this podcast as an excuse to talk about one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Sex in the City. So quick spoiler alert, there's gonna be mild spoilers for the first two episodes of the new Sex in the City of Reboot and just like that. So I just finished watching the Sex in the City of Reboot and just like that, And back when I first started it, I couldn't figure out what exactly was

going on with the character of Miranda. Why did they make her so different than she had been in the original show? And as a tech podcaster, I couldn't help but wonder why they went out of their way to make her so afraid of technology. Seriously, think back to the original show, Miranda was a techie. She was online before any of her friends, and she was constantly on

her BlackBerry. Actually, the first time that I ever even heard of tevow, which was what we had is DVRs back in the day, was because Miranda was obsessed with it. It wasn't until I saw a TikTok from Shannon McNamara pointing this out that it really struck me. So Shannon has an amazing podcast called Fluently Forward where she breaks

down all the latest celebrity gossip, specifically blind items. And after watching episode two of and just like that, Shannon and I sat down to discuss my name is Shannon McNamara and title I don't know, I guess I'm a TikToker and podcast or even though it sounds kind of weird to describe yourself as that, I think of you as a TikTok or podcast as the title I think of you. Um So, really, you are this expert in

pop culture, celebrity and what we call blind items. Can you give our listeners who maybe don't know what a blind item is, just a rundown of like, what is a blind item? Yeah, a blind item is basically a bunch of well connected people in the celebrity world who are kind of spilling tea that you might not know about different celebrities, but in order to not get sued for defamation or slander, they wrap it all up in a riddle, so you kind of have to figure out

who they're talking about. Um, So it's like a fun way to engage the mind but also get selecious celebrity gossip. And I'd say about fifty of the blind items that you read do end up coming true, So it's like a fun little reward to have people come back and keep reading them. Yeah, how did you become someone who was so fluent in blind items? Like? How did you come to to engage with them so much? Yeah? To be honest, I just I feel like we've all been

here before. We're you're working at a job that you just really do not like. And I had a job in California where you know, I would have all these extra hours that I would have to stay in the office. So I started just hopping around different websites, and when I discovered websites with blind items, it was just like the perfect rabbit hole. Like everyone's experience with blind items is that you read one and then you become obsessed because you kind of start to learn the language of

who they're talking about. It was a fun way to get like juicy drama that also kind of feel like you're accomplishing something when you read them. I know that some of the criticisms about following blind items are people who are like, oh, it's essentially like celebrity fan fiction, or like they are conspiracy theories. What do you think

about the idea that like blind items can be harmful. Yeah, Well, it's interesting that the actual owner of Crazy Days and Nights Um has talked about this a bit before, and he said he thinks blind items are fine because once they make it to him, they're kind of local knowledge within Hollywood. And I feel like we see that a lot, right Like with everything going on with Harvey Weinstein. The minute came out, everyone was like, oh, it's an open secret.

So if it's a blind item, there's already you know, thousands of people in Hollywood that I feel like, no this information. Of course, some of them are fan fiction. Like you have to read everything on the Internet with a grain of salt. I will get so many d m s of people being like I read this blind item and it's true, and now I need to cancel this person, And I'm like, oh my god, don't do that. Just like take it as entertainment, run it through your

own filter. Um. But that being said, like we do live in a crazy time where if I read a blind item years ago about Armie Hammer wanting to be a cannibal and eat women, I would be like, oh my god, that's insane fan fiction. But like, sometimes these things turn out to be true, So we do live in a crazy world. Like, you know, take it all with a grain of salt, but also some of these

things happen. I'm a big believer in the power of things like whisper networks or you know that, like these things when we dismissed them as always incorrect, I feel that, um, it really discounts the times we're like, well, no, this was the was actually accurate, and like, yeah, maybe it did seem far fetched when you heard it, but now

it's actually now it's common knowledge. Yeah, exactly, And I think it's good to flex that muscle at least of like just researching something, right, Like if a bunch of websites have been saying one thing about a celebrity for years. You know, where they're smoke, there's fire, So it's at least worth looking into. It's not worth spamming their d m s and saying that they're a monster. But like, you know, just do your research and see what's going

to come true. Yeah, I mean and another So one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you today was your really deep, deep dive into blind items around Sex in the City and then you're just sort of reaction to it. Um, what are your initial thoughts about the and just like that reboot of Sex and the City. Oh my god. So, I mean, Sex and the City is one of my favorite shows, and I feel like it is for so many people, Like it just hit on, you know, it was a cultural phenomenon for a reason,

Like it's funny, it's witty, it's quick. It has four relationships with girls, which, by the way, I think if you're going to make a successful TV show having four women as the main leads, like you see that in Pretty Little Liars. You see that, I mean their men, but you see that a new girl, you see that in um, Big Little Lies. I feel like it's a great set up, but it just meant so much to people.

And also since the show ended, you've kind of seen what all of these actresses did, right, Like so Cynthia Nixon went the political route, Sarah Jessica Parker went the fashion route, Kim Control kind of removed herself from the scene. Nobody knew what was happening with Kristin Davis. So I do think everyone says there was no need for the show to come back, but I think people were curious about, like, you know, what happens afterwards, and especially the feud with

Kim Control and Sarah Jessica Parker. I think that made everybody really curious to see kind of who was quote unquote like right in that feud in case you don't know. Even though Sam Jones and Terry Bradshaw or BFFs on the show, Kim Control and Sarah Jessica Parker, the actors who portrayed them on Sex and the City had a lot of bad blood behind the scenes. There's accusations and

exploitation and bullying and people being iced out. And when Kim Cantrall's brother tragically passed away, Sarah Jessica Parker sent her flowers and Kim responded on Instagram saying to Sarah Jessica Parker. You were not my friend, you were not my family, and I don't need your love and support

at this tragic time. Ouch. Now, if you've seen the second episode of And Just like That, you'll know this actually mirrors a plot line on the series when Carrie's husband Big suddenly does Samantha, who has since moved away and stopped talking to Carry, still sends flowers. I followed that feud pretty closely, and I think, you know, in thinking about some of the aspects of the reboot, that I didn't really like. I thought it was a little bit tacky that, you know, the plot line where Samantha

sends flowers when carries when when Big dies. Knowing how that mirrored their real life feud, I thought was a little like like using the platform of sex in the City to push this feud into into the audience. I thought that was a I didn't really love that mean either.

And I had been kind of like, I didn't really know where I stood on the feud because I was like, you know, I love Kim Control and I love Samantha, but you know, everyone sides of Sarah Jessica Parker, and she does seem so polite and well put together in interviews.

And I remember there was this quote she had where Sarah Jessica Parker said that on her lock screen on her phone, it just says Grace and she looks at that every time before she speaks publicly, because she wants to handle everything she does in the public with Grace. And I was like, oh, you know what, maybe they're both right in this. You know, there's two sides to every story. Maybe Sarah Jessica Parker is on the right.

And then once they dropped the first two episodes of the show, I was like, you know what, I'm on Kim control side because the way you handled that was not with Grace talking about money problems, talking about death like it was just to me, it was just like egregious. I thought the same thing, and I felt like it was. It was not only was it egregious, it felt like lazy writing because I don't think that Sam Jones would ever She just stood by her friends through so many things.

I don't think that she would fall out with Carrie over money. It seemed to be creating this this version of the characters that we had never seen before. Yes, like complete fantasy and I think that's why so many people were upset. And also, Samantha was the one person who her friends meant more to her than anyone because

she didn't have a partner. You know, it would make more sense for Miranda to drop them because she's busy with her family, or you know, Charlotte to kind of ghost out, but Samantha viewed her friendships as like her family. So it's just the whole thing makes no sense. Let's take a quick break at her back on just like that, you'll barely even recognize Miranda. She can't read on a kindle,

she can't figure out podcasts. It's come clearly out of step with a tech forward, no nonsense woman that viewers like me fell in love with on the original series. Let's get into Miranda, because I feel that if all the character a lot of the characters seemed completely out of step with who they were in the O G series,

but almost nobody quite so much as Miranda. And you know, when I watched the first two episodes, I couldn't quite put my finger on some of the things, like like Miranda was the most clear in her ideology as a feminist, as an independent woman, as what that meant to be an independent woman in your aforities, doing things on your own. Um, watching this version of her, now, who is this bumbling boomer who is like fumbling everything? I did not recognize

this woman. And it wasn't until I watched your TikTok where I was like, oh, yeah, they also really reinvent Miranda's relationship with technology, and you know, can can you give us some examples of Miranda's relationship to technology in the original series? Yeah? So, I mean Miranda was one of those characters in the original series who, like nobody wanted to say they were a Miranda, but you so

closely identified with her. And she was just obsessed with technology, Like she had so many funny storylines about being obsessed with TVO, wanting to go home to what her TV TV was recording. Um, she was just on the cutting edge, Like she always had her BlackBerry with her. When her and Steve went to their honeymoon in the cabin, she was like, it's too quiet, Like I need my gadgets, I need my Internet things like that. She was the

one who helped carry get online. She was the one that I think, um, in one of the movies when they're traveling, she wants to make sure that the place has WiFi because she has to be checking her email. She was even getting Lasik procedures, like she was on top of everything. And then now in this new series, she's like, I can't get into podcasts. I would never touch a kindle. I I like the way that the pages turn on a book, And I'm like you, I've

never even seen you read a book. For any episode of the series, you're watching TiVo and you're on your BlackBerry. So it just felt like it wasn't like they were taking a personality trait of hers and then making it larger. They just completely switched. It was like a black and white change, and it just felt like a disservice to the character. I completely agree, and your TikTok really helped crystallize that for me. And I also think, first of all,

Miranda would funk with podcasts. She would be listening to MPR, she would have a tote bag for MPR, she would be She's someone who would really like podcasts. And you know, you go back to talking about some of the ways that Miranda had this this relationship with technology and the original show, keep in mind that we're going back to like the late nineties, right, so, like I remember, the first time I had ever heard of Tevo was because Miranda wanted to watch her like British soap operas on TV.

I've never heard of Tevo before, right, Nick, Now it's ubiquitous, but it wasn't ubiquitous in like um, so she definitely was on the cutting edge. Another scene I remember is um how she reacts when when they moved to Brooklyn and Steve is like, oh, I finally hooked up DSL and she you know, I mean that's going back a while, you know, back from how we used to get online. But like she explodes and joy, She's so happy to

have it. And yeah, I why do you think that they have decided to make her go in this complete different direction in terms of her relationship with technology. Yeah, well it was interesting the comments on that TikTok I made.

One person said that, and I made another video about this where I feel like Samantha was kind of the punching bag in the original series, where like you know, in the when they go to Ablu Dhabi, She's like, you know, oh my god, I need my hormone pills and I'm just like a raging mess of a woman, and like if there was anything embarrassing that had to happen, they typically gave that scene to Samantha or Miranda, And

now is Samantha gone. I feel like they need one of the characters to be like the Bumblane mess, where like funny things happened to them and they're just so not with it, and that role kind of fell to Miranda. Either that or like they want some sort of boomer Karen character, so they just wors Miranda to be it. And a lot of people were saying it seems like Charlotte would actually be more suited for that role, and I don't know, I really don't know. Yeah, that's kind

of what I think. I believe that her in this new version of the show, Miranda's tech technophobia and her missteps when it comes to things like race relations are kind of linked. I feel like they're kind of making this point that you know, when a when a middle aged person is trying to be like woke or politically correct, that they're I think they're trying to demonstrate it as a kind of regression for a middle aged woman, and I think that like her regression away from technology is

sort of linked to that. I feel like they're trying to make a point about you know, Miranda is really going backward, and her inability to talk to like a black black college professor is linked to her inability to like read a kindle or understand podcast. Like we're watching her like regress. Yes, and it seems like Miranda is aware because she's always been so like academ me a focused and things like that, so it seems like she's

aware of issues, but she's just handling them wrong. You know, like she knows what a microaggression is, but she's committing them all over the place. And she knows that you need to be able to have an open relationship with your child about sex, but instead she's just letting her son have sex in the house and not really talking to him about it. So it's weird because it's like she's almost like she's missing the mark on everything, but she knows that she's missing the mark. So it's just

it's painful to watch. I'm like fast forward in her scenes because Miranda used to be the character where like, no matter what scene she's in, you know she's going to handle herself well. And now every time she comes on screen and I'm like, oh God, like, what's gonna happen? That's so true. She was like the most relatable of the bunch. I felt like in a lot of ways, she was kind of the stand in for the audience

of like, she's gonna she's gonna handle herself. She's not gonna get swept off into like Pollyanna Land like Charlotte or you know, you know, make all the wrong choices like Carrie. My like she like I felt like she knew, like the audience knew that she reliably knew how to handle herself. And watching her go the opposite direction in in the reboot, it's just like, yeah, sometimes it's hard

to watch. Yes, Yeah, And it's funny because I think, um, the rest of the characters are just coming off like so much better, you know, Like I'm actually, I don't know, kind of driving with Carrie this season when typically, like Carrie was not my favorite person to watch on screen. Yeah, that's such a good boy, Dan More after a pickbreak,

let's get right back into it. Another thing I really appreciated about your TikTok is the way that you talk about how the sort of institution of sex in the City on its own was this kind of great thing because you got to under you've got to see these like thirty forty fifty something women dealing with sex and dating and work, and that's not something we really see

a lot. You We kind of have this assumption that once you're out of your twenties, women just like stop being sexual, stop having conversations about sex, stop thinking about sex. And we know that's not true. And the show really kind of reset that standard in a way that was

really refreshing. And I guess that's one of the reasons why I'm so disappointed in the way that they have framed Miranda's relationship to technology, because I see them kind of linked right that we have a blanket misconception that folks in there are forties, fifties, sixties have no relationship to technology. It just like not something in their life,

and that's just not true. And I guess I wish that we could see, you know, the same way that we saw Miranda as this like cutting edge person involved in technology. I wish we could continue to develop what these women and their relationships technology looks like into their sixties. I think that like that's not something we see on screen a lot, and we have just kind of have this blanket assumption that it's, you know, they're not involved

in technology, but we know that's not true because everybody is. Yeah, and I think that they're in this new reboot. It's just like it's so odd. I feel like they're trying to touch on like a bingo card of like trending topics and like address it without doing a good job on it. And they're even looking at certain things like the idea that someone in their fifties, you know, is gonna like Steve doesn't have any hearing whatsoever, and like

Miranda doesn't know what a podcast is. I'm like, my parents are in their sixties and they're obsessed with podcasts. Like you're making it sound like it's something. I just feel like you're putting boomers in like a negative light where it's like they're not these bumbling creatures. Sure, like some of them are. I don't think they know how to TikTok, but like these are still you know, these

are still smart people. And then they're also talking about aging too, where they're talking about like, oh my god, can you believe that we're aging in her hair and things? Like that. It's like, you don't need to talk about it in every scene, just be there. Look how you look. I feel like they're touching on these topics, but they're talking about them in such a negative light, and it's like, this could have been a chance for you to not lean into the stereotypes. You know, yeah, I think it

really like turns. It could have been a chance to really give an authentic, nuanced depiction of what it's like to be an aging person, and instead they chose to lean into caricatures of what that might be like, like a real a real like stereotypes, stereotype driven caricature of

somebody aging. And even in the original series, they talked about things like aging and technology, but they did it so much better than where Samantha would be like, yeah, I get botox or you know, I'd like to do things like this, or yes, you know, I am forty and I am still fabulous and I wear glasses. But it's okay. And without Samantha there, you just have like

the negative Nancy's bringing each other down. There's no I don't know who in the show is now the empowered woman that I want to be like, because I look at all three of those ladies, and I'm like, I don't think i'd want any of their lives. Samantha was the person who like, she's fabulous, she's living her life on her own terms and loving it, and yeah, looking at it now, I don't know who we're supposed to look at and say they're living their life on their

own terms and loving it. Yeah, And I you know, I'm sure that there's some sort of formula for shows where you have to have all the care to start in a bad place so that way there's like things to overcome, and like that's what moves the plot along. Um, but I don't know, like do all of them have to be down so bad? Like couldn't one of them be like a role model and they take turns being cringe? I don't know. Yeah, that's another thing the show was

just was the first two episodes. Maybe it'll change both just real bummers, Like yeah, and what we were thoughts on the Peloton thing. I was like they must have some serious resentment was someone on there? Because the entire advertisement I was like, I'm never working out again in

my life. It was just such a negative endorsement. It was so this has been a big topic of conversation in our household because I'm obsessed with indoor cycling, even though I don't have a Peloton because I can't afford it. But it really like the scene where Miranda and Steve are talking in the closet and He's like, it was that bike. He should have never been on that bike.

He was a fool to be on that bike. Like the way that they like really make it seem like the Peloton was the cause of his death and the real world impacts of that, like Peloton shares dropped quickly. They put up that ad with Big being like, oh, I'm still alive. I also feel like it really almost borders on like a little bit of like your responsible information that like cardio causes can cause your death. If

you work out too hard, you're gonna die. I was like what, And I think, like, good for Peloton for putting out that ad where it's like or that statement where it's like, well, Big drank a lot, he ate steaks. He's smoking a cigar earlier in a scene in that same episode, so like, let's not pretend it was the occasional cardio that might have did him in. Yeah, and just for them to it was like another thing too,

where why did it have to be Peloton? And there were so many aspects in the show they're talking about Peloton, they're talking about um, what was it uh COVID, like different references to that. I feel like a show is good if it can be timeless, right, Like you could hop into any Friends episode or any old sex in the City episode and it is what it is. But this show just seems like it was made for the year two and it was just made as a quick

cash grab. And I'm sure Kim Control is sitting back having a glass of wine, going, thank god it chose not to be in this Yes. I mean, it's like

universally being panned and I think you're so right. It kind of reminds me of like if you ever watched bow Jack Horsemen, those flashback episodes where it's like this is a this is a song about the nineties, because this is an episode about the nineties, Like yes on this morset Crunge plans, Like that's what I feel like I'm watching, like just the missmash of like things we remember from one COVID mass Peloton, you know, um, Wokeness,

all of these different things. Yeah, So my last question for you is as a podcaster, what do you what do you think about Carrie as a podcast host? How does this how does it sit with you? Here's the thing I think when I look back on the show, and I'm sure you know how much of it is Carrie versus how much of it is the writers of the show. But Carrie is really fucking funny in the show, and like, so is Samantha. The lines in there are

so good. I remember like one of the scenes where where Samantha's talking about how she's dating the guy with the funkiest tasting spunk, and then they're like, why do they think girls are gonna like it? And then they're like, well maybe if you know, maybe if men came beer or whatever, like they would drink it and stuff like that, and it's like, those are really funny conversations. And also they did talk about sex back then, so I don't know why they're making out Carrie. It's probably what the

age boomer think. They're making her out to be such a prude, and it's like, you had a sex column. I just thought it was so weird. And then that her asking big if he masturbates how could you not ask that to someone that you've been married to and having sex with for like thirty years now. It's it's really close to me. So I think Carrie could be

a great podcaster. But maybe they're just kind of talking about this generational idea where like, you know, even my parents will listen to my podcast and say, Shannon, you're dropping too many F bombs. Um. But people in our generation and are happy to talk about like their hemorrhoids or their hookups on the internet. So I think that Carrie could get into it because she is funny. It's

just a shame that she's like self censoring herself. This is someone who in the nineties wrote a column about how a politician wanted her to pee on it like the politician yes, yeah, or um, like having an anal sex or three sums or I mean, I feel like there wasn't a single topic because I've rewatched Sex in the City now and I've gone, Okay, if they were still making the show, what new sexual like taboo or fetish is out there that people are engaging to that

they haven't talked about. And I'm like they actually cover everything, like there's no new thing they're talking about vibrators, groups sex. It's like they did such a good job of covering everything openly on the show. And once again, I'm like, maybe that's why Samantha is missing, because the show is sex in the City, and like nothing sexy has happened

in the past two episodes. That episode of Big pleasuring himself was like, oh my god, I would rather watch a scene with Miranda and her professor again, even though that was just as bad. It was just like it was horrible. It was horrible. It was bad. But here's the thing, I'm gonna keep watching like it's so bad episode it's on tonight, I think, and you better believe

I'm gonna be on the couch. Also, I think they did do a good job of setting up Carrie to be singles, so now we can see what it's like, you know, dating in your fifties or whatever. So I'm glad that that's going to happen. I just think, like, my god, did they bungle the first two episodes. Well, here's I'll be watching, you'll be watching. We'll have to stay in touch about how we feel about have the

next two episodes going down. Definitely, she didn't where can folks follow all the hilarious, insightful, eyebrow raising work that you are up to? So sweet, I'm I'm fluently forward on everything just as one word. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi? You can reach us at Hello at tangodi dot com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangdi dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was

created by me Bridget Tod. It's a production of I Heart Radio and Unboss creative Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. Terry Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michaelmato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Tod. If you want to help us grow, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I heeart Radio, check out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.