"Sex and the City", Then and Now: The Reception of a TV Series of Extended Duration by a Generation of Extended Youth

Abstract

One of the most popular TV series of the 21st century, Sex and the City, continues to have a significant media and cultural impact to this day, as shown by the production of two films which are thematically a continuation of the series, and a 2021 sequel series (And Just Like That…). In terms of genre, this series could be defined as hybrid (postmodern); its postmodern characteristics are also apparent in its considerable intertextuality and spilling over into other segments of culture, while its recycling and new iterations have given it a new lease on life, so that Sex and the City could be termed a series of extended duration. This paper discusses the two decades long public life of this media text, as well as the reception of the original series and its sequel in the local Serbian context. Particular focus is placed on the reception of the Sex and the City phenomenon by members of the media generation X in Serbia, on how much of an imprint the series has made, and what meanings and values are associated with it. The study was conducted with three focus groups, and the respondents can be characterized as members of a generation of extended youth, who originally watched the series in their late media formative period. Based on discussions with respondents, the reception of the recent sequel of this series (And Just Like That…) is also analyzed in order to shed light on the question of the possible creation and content of generational semantics relating to this element of TV culture. Twenty years after it first aired in Serbia, Sex and the City continues to be a highly recognizable product of television culture, and among local members of generation X there are numerous cultural references to the series, regardless of whether the viewers are fans or critics of the series. Among respondents there is a divergence in the perception both of the original series and of its sequel (most frequently related to the respondent’s sex), with almost universal agreement regarding the open and humorous character of the original media text, which, however, has not been recognized in the current sequel. It can be said that the original series continues to represent a significant segment of this media generation’s pop culture experience, while its latest iteration appears not to have added new elements to this experience among respondents.