HBO's Sex and the City was a groundbreaking series when it hit the airwaves back in 1998 and viewers got their first look at a credit sequence that would become iconic. Sarah Jessica Parker strolls the streets of New York City in a pink tutu - as do we all at some point in our lives, right? - to take in the sights. She's the picture of cool and confidence... until she gets splashed by a bus that happens to have her picture (and "Carrie Bradshaw knows good sex") on the side. As it turns out, those iconic credits were almost entirely different.
Apparently, the Sex and the City crew filmed two versions of the opening credits. One was the familiar sequence with Sarah Jessica Parker in her pink tutu, getting splashed before seeing her picture on the bus. In the unused sequence, Parker was wearing a periwinkle blue dress for her strut through New York, and the mishap comes when she trips and almost hits the pavement. No pink tutu, no splash.
It's almost hard to imagine a Sex and the City that didn't open every episode will Carrie Bradshaw channeling her inner ballerina in New York City, but the folks behind the scenes evidently had quite a hard time choosing between the tutu version and the blue dress version. Obviously, the tutu won the day, and creator Darren Star revealed to EW why he thinks it was the right call all those years ago:
It was such a brilliant choice because, in a way, Carrie's dancing through her life in New York.
Given that the credits filmed back in March of 1998, I wouldn't be surprised if Sarah Jessica Parker didn't totally love shooting the credits in which she got splashed, but it was clearly all for the greater good. Did we have to suspend our disbelief to really buy a grown woman wearing a pink tutu out and about in New York City? Sure. But Sex and the City might not have packed quite as much of a punch early on if Carrie had simply been wearing a random blue dress and tripped on her own feet.
In case you've forgotten how it feels to watch Carrie dancing through her life in the credits, take a look! Fair warning, though: the jingle may get stuck in your head for the rest of your day.
Sex and the City would ultimately run for six seasons on HBO and two big screen movies, and while all the credit for the franchise obviously doesn't belong to the opening credits, there's no denying that those 30 seconds of Carrie in her pink tutu getting splashed helped turn the series into something unforgettable. Of course, now that we're in an era of small screen revivals, there's always the chance that the four leading ladies will get together for another season. Who knows? Maybe we'll even get that third Sex and the City movie.
While Sex and the City is gone from the airwaves, there are still plenty of great shows to be watched. Check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule for all your options, and don't forget to swing by our rundown of 2017 TV renewals and cancellations.
