And Just Like That is one of the most hated ongoing series these days. Now and then, it just switches ranks with yet another controversial Darren Star creation, Emily in Paris. Fans were never sold on the idea of a Sex and the City reboot in the first place — mostly due to Kim Cattrall's retirement from playing Samantha Jones. Now, halfway into season 1 and viewers are still calling the show a disaster due to bad writing. Perhaps the only fun critics have had in a while are the memes comparing AJLT with The Golden Girls. Here are a few interesting parallels between the two shows.
'The Golden Girls' Were The Same Age As The 'And Just Like That' Stars Now
That's right — Golden Girls Rose Nylund, Dorothy Zbornak, and Blanche Devereaux were the same age as Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York Goldenblatt, and Miranda Hobbes in AJLT now. When the NBC series began, Rose was 55, Dorothy was 53, and Blanche was 53. Meanwhile, the SATC sequel follows the lives of Carrie and Miranda at 55 and Charlotte at 54. We know it's hard to process.
After all, the Golden Girls actresses were also much older than their characters. Betty White and Bea Arthur were both 63 when they started filming the show. But Rue McClanahan was a year younger than her character Blanche, making her the youngest in the cast. The AJLT stars are the same age as their characters — Sarah Jessica Parker is currently 56, Cynthia Nixon is 55, and Kristin Davis is 54. They're actually younger than most of the Golden Girls. But that doesn't make their show any better according to fans...
The Real Reason 'And Just Like That' Stars Look Younger Than The 'Golden Girls'
Fans took to Reddit to cite the many differences between the way AJLT stars and the Golden Girls cast were styled. "Hair and clothes make all the difference," a fan posted. Other fans agreed on the comments. "There is a TikTok that shows the Golden Girls characters with more modern hairstyles," one added. "And it’s amazing. They look so much younger." Just look at the sample below.
Blame it on '80s fashion, right? But some fans don't think it's that era at fault here. "The clothes and hairstyles they wore were fashionable in the 80s," they wrote. "And remember that the SATC ladies are more financially comfortable than the Golden Girls (four women sharing a house) were." In episode 6 of AJLT, Carrie was even considering getting a mini facelift after consulting a plastic surgeon. GG fans think it's what makes their girls the OG as they were "never bothered" about their natural aging process.
Fans Think 'Golden Girls' Is More Progressive Than 'And Just Like That'
AJLT is painting a painful portrait of women in their 50s — Carrie feeling weird about discussing masturbation, Miranda having a sexless marriage, and Charlotte having bizarre "feminist" fits towards Harry. The Golden Girls had a lot of fun. We're talking about sexually active gals who defied ageism without that cringe-worthy "wokeness" fans hate about AJLT. It's too bad since SATC revolutionized the depiction of women in their 30s and 40s onscreen. They were sexually adventurous and unafraid to discuss the taboos of dating.
But one thing that's missing in the reboot that Golden Girls was consistent with is comedy. Star said that when they were pitching SATC 23 years ago, it was laughter that got then-HBO chief Chris Albrecht to say yes to them. "I remember we were pitching Chris Albrecht," Starr told Los Angeles Times. "And I was with Michael [Patrick King], and we had developed the stories together for the first season. I thought, 'He’s either going to laugh or throw us out of the room.' And he laughed." Meanwhile, fans don't even think AJLT's stand-up comedian Che Diaz is funny.
Even Candace Bushnell, the author of the original Sex and the City novel, doesn't think AJLT managed to keep the series' spirit. "To me, Emily in Paris has much more of the spirit of Sex and the City," she said. "In terms of like the spirit of it and the humor and all of that. It’s a different animal. [The reboot] is Michael Patrick King and Sarah Jessica Parker — their sensibilities." The writer didn't have any creative involvement in the sequel. These days, she's occupied with promoting her own one-woman show, Is There Still Sex in the City?
