Screwed and the City

Now that my finals are over, I have ample time to indulge in TV re-runs. This is a good thing. Usually. Last night, on the WB, was the final episode of one of my staples, Sex and the City. I am admittedly addicted to this show and own all seasons (except season 5, which sucked) on DVD. I am aware that the final episode is 41+ minutes long and as such, the WB would be cutting major chunks of the show for network broadcast.

Let me tell you: the WB slaughtered the final episode and robbed newcomers to Sex and the City fanaticism of how truly great the last episode was. As I watched, I kept thinking, those poor viewers without HBO or DVD access to the final episode are missing so many of the really important parts of the finale!

Among the moments that WB edited out:

- Carrie losing and finding her "Carrie" necklace, a major metaphor for losing herself and re-finding herself.
-Carrie's long, lonesome walk through Paris, including being hit on the head by a little boy and stepping in dog shit.
-Miranda bathing Steve's Alzheimer-stricken mother.
-Magda telling Miranda "what you did, that is love. You love."
- Carrie's last monologue about different kinds of relationships -- including scenes of Samantha and Smith back to the banging, Miranda and family at home in Brooklyn, and Charlotte and Harry walking the dogs.
-Mr. Big calling Carrie to tell him the house in Napa is on the market.
-The cell phone displaying Mr. Big's real name, John.

These are crucial moments in what I consider a crucial show. You may think it is creepy that I am so familiar with these scenes that I am able to recognize their ommission and quote lines from them. However, I see this as fulfilling a duty to the deprived, WB-watching, Sex and the City-liking (if the loved it, they'd have the DVDs) public. If just one person that has only seen the WB version of the Sex and the City finale reads this entry and is convinced that the REAL finale is worth renting, my work is done.

Shame on you, WB. Shame. Shame. That is no way to reward viewers who have jumped on the syndicated Sex and the City bandwagon.