As a plot for a television
show, this might sound a little familiar: Attractive power-women juggle careers and relationships in Manhattan. When things go badly they comfort each other by drinking cocktails or going shopping. This is what viewers got from
Lipstick Jungle, a US television series cancelled in March now making its way to European television. If it sounds a lot like Sex and the City, which debuted on US television in 1998 and gained a worldwide cult following, there's good reason. Candace Bushnell, author of the book
Lipstick Jungle, also wrote the book
Sex in the City and created the famous character, sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw.
In a shot aimed at
Desperate Housewives, another successful US television series about the misadventures of a group of suburban women, the creators of
Lipstick Jungle included married men and affairs.
Lipstick Jungle's main character is Wendy Healy played by Brooke Shields. The character is a hard-driven film producer who after work has to appease her neglected husband and daughter.
Nico Reilly, who is played by Kim Raver, is editor-in-chief of a glossy magazine who is torn between her spouse and a young lover. The trio is completed by Victory Ford, played by Lindsay Price. Ford is a fashion designer who struggles with scathing criticism and feels drawn in by the advances of a billionaire.
US television critics have called the phenomenon of Sex and the City copycats "Blahnik fatigue," referring to the shoe brand popular among well-off women. Just as NBC tested its
Lipstick Jungle series, competing network ABC tried doing the same with Cashmere Mafia with Hollywood star Lucy Liu.
Former Sex and the City producer Darren Star conceived the series which was about attractive power-women juggling careers and relationships in Manhattan. When things go badly they comfort each other by drinking cocktails or going shopping. Sound familiar? Exactly the critics' point.
No wonder that Cashmere Mafia was cancelled after its first season, while
Lipstick Jungle was axed in the middle of its second. So many over-styled power characters actually are not good for ratings. Furthermore, Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle seemed more like a cheap imitation of Sex and the City than a logical sequel.
The New York Times took a jab at it, saying it had stale dialogue, boring set designs and uninspired fashion. It said the outfits worn by the spoiled Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf, characters on the teen soap opera
Gossip Girl, were more exciting, not to mention the intrigue among kids at an elite New York City school.
People who still can't get enough of tales about big city women in stilettos can look forward to another Sex and the City movie currently being filmed in New York and due out next year.
This show was a shining light among a plethora of bland reality fare and numerous incarnations of lawyers, cops, and forensics shows. The writing was intelligent and funny and the show was stunning to watch. The plot moved along quickly, with never a dull moment, and the acting was excellent, from industry-wise Brooke Shields to the youngest of the friends, Lindsay Price. And it was so good to see Andrew McCarthy in a role with some meat on it. All in all, it was the best hour of TV for women of all ages for two short seasons. So of COURSE, NBC canceled it before it could develop the following all its fans KNOW it would have.
