More than twenty after the broadcast of the first episode, Sex and the City continues to have a considerable influence on television. As evidenced by the most recent Netflix release starring Neil Patrick Harris, Uncoupledwhich could be summed up as a cheerful version of the iconic New York comedy, except for the humor, which has mellowed a lot since the end of the 1990s. Sex and the City, Uncoupled wants to be a light entertainment, failing to do in the subtlety.
The resemblance to the series Sex and the City is not fortuitous. Uncoupled is the work of the same producer, Darren Star, who is teaming up for the occasion with Jeffrey Richman, to whom we owe, among other things, the comedy Modern Family.
This time, Carrie Bradshaw is Michael Lawson (Neil Patrick Harris), a successful Manhattan real estate broker who, overnight, gets dumped by his partner of 17 years, who happens to be a wealthy Wall Street investor. Monogamy having kept him away for many years from the tribulations of the New York gay world and the hedonism that characterizes it, he finds himself approaching fifty immersed in an environment which he no longer recognizes. the codes. A thousand leagues from the one he knew when he danced until late in the nightclubs of Greenwich Village to the songs of Cher and Madonna.
The protagonist knows almost nothing about dating applications or PreP, this miracle drug which considerably reduces the risk of HIV infection and which pushes some to give up the condom. To see more clearly, Michael can at least count on his longtime friends, Billy (Emerson Brooks) and Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas), both hardened bachelors.
The first, a television weather presenter, corresponds to the archetype of the ” gaypard », the gay counterpart of the cougar, a pejorative term for women who are attracted to younger men. Superficial and narcissistic, Billy is an indomitable seducer who multiplies relationships without a future and who tries by all means to stay in the game despite the passage of time which is felt. Stanley, on the other hand, embodies this middle-aged homosexual completely declassed, victim of his ungrateful physique in a gay world marked by youthism. Erudite and caring, this accomplished art dealer nevertheless accumulates love failures, which makes him vulnerable to manipulators and intriguers.
A decent sense of humor
This trio of friends as different as they are complementary occupies a central place in the series, like the original quartet in Sex and the City. In Uncoupled, Michael can also rely on his business partner Suzanne (Tisha Campbell), one of the only main characters in the series who are not gay. This presence no doubt makes it possible to hook up a heterosexual audience, which might not grasp certain allusions to poppers or at Grindr.
Apart from a few well-sent replies here and there, Uncoupled somewhat lacking in bite. Those nostalgic for Sex and the City will perhaps remain on their hunger. Otherwise, we can make almost the same criticisms of the two series: overplayed intrigues, privileged characters who all evolve within the same New York microcosm. In their chic Manhattan apartment, the characters ofUncoupled belong to this social class unconcerned by the real estate escalation and the galloping inflation which nevertheless plague the Big Apple.
However, we will see an effort in terms of cultural diversity, where Sex and the City received a lot of criticism at the time. How times have changed in more than 20 years. And for good reason, it would have been unthinkable at the end of the 1990s for a major broadcaster to bet on a series whose premise is the separation of a gay couple.