The long awaited Sex & The City like show "Cashmere Mafia" has finally made it to the small screen. During a season that has seen the production of most shows shut down because of the writers strike you would think the premiere would be like water in a dry desert... Not so much. After all - there is four ply Italian Cashmere - and then there is one ply cashmere from parts unknown.
While the show is produced by Darren Star who brought you Sex & The City, the bloom feels slightly off the rose. Its not that the cast was not strong, led by Lucy Lui there are some very competent actors. It wasn't that the costuming is not right up there with Sex & The City either - in fact , the magical Pat Fields is pulling the looks together on CM just like she did on SATC. The truth is that any show of this type inevitably feels like a cheap version of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. You can't look at the promo pics from the show - without immediately thinking of those girls who put Cosmo's and Louboutin on the map..

The biggest difference between the two shows is that the ladies of SATC could always laugh at themselves - and they never talked about themselves like someone on Gossip Girl- "everyone wants to be us".
If Samantha or Carrie talked about "us" vs. "them" when discussing married women - or suburban women - it was tongue in cheek - and usually wound up with one of them dropping an f-bomb which was always good for a laugh. While Cashmere mafia has the foursome sitting at a very expensive dinner and Juliet Draper - the alpha female of the crew saying "we make more money than they do - and they're threatened".. and the "they" being discussed were the men in their life.. ewwwww! With SATC now running on the WB and TBS almost non-stop, the comparison is a given.


The most interesting plot of Cashmere Mafia is actually the sub-plot.. extremely sub.. as in not on camera at all! You see, Mr. Star pulled a one- two sucker punch on Candace Bushnell - the original creator of the column and book Sex & The City. They worked together to create the series for HBO. A New York Times article quoted Ms. Bushnell describing how Darren knew she was developing a show for network tv based on the concept of a subsequent book "Lipstick Jungle". He never mentioned his own development deal - for months. Remember, these were not casual social friends - these two had worked together developing a show. Ms. Bushnell called her "friend" to tell him she had signed the deal for "Lipstick" and thats when he got quiet and said "I have a similar show happening". WOW - thats when Carrie would have thrown a cosmo in his face!!!
If your like me, your waiting for Lipstick Jungle with baited breath!!! PLEASE give us something new.. or give us something just like SATC!! one or the other... not some lame jello mold in between. Brooke Shields returns to TV to lead the cast.
OF COURSE.. we don't have long to wait until the second coming.. Sex & The City the movie will be out this spring - click on the link to the trailer at the beginning of this post!!