‘And Just Like That…’ Renewed For Season 2 At HBO Max

HBO Max announced on Tuesday the renewal of the Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That... for a second season.

Both series executive producer Michael Patrick King and HBO/HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys boasted about the show’s success in interviews with Deadline.

It performed well for the streamer – becoming its most-viewed series premiere of a new original on the service and ranking in its top ten across all movie and series debuts.

And Just Like That… stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis reprising their characters from the original series, which aired from 1998-2004 on HBO. While the original series showcased the women navigating the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s, the revival tackled the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.

“I am delighted and excited to tell more stories about these vibrant, bold characters – played by these powerful, amazing actors. The fact is, we’re all thrilled. And Just like That… our Sex life is back,” King said in a statement.

Added Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content at HBO Max, “We have been delighted by the cultural conversation generated by these characters and their stories, set in a world we already know and love so much. We are proud of the work Michael Patrick King and our wonderful writers, producers, cast and crew have done to bring these stories to the screen. We can’t wait for fans to see what’s in store for season 2!”

The series also faced challenges after actor Chris Noth was accused by multiple women of sexual assault. Noth has repeatedly denied all charges.

His character Mr. Big, husband of protagonist Carrie Bradshaw (Parker) was killed off in the premiere episode prior to the allegations. He was due to make a surprise appearance in the season finale shot in Paris but a decision was made to have him edited out.

There was also the heartbreaking and shocking death of Willie Garson on September 21 while the show was in production. Garson, who died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 57, shot multiple episodes of Season 1. Garson kept his illness a secret from all but Parker.

King told Deadline they have no plans to kill off his character Stanford Blatch, who was written off in episode 4 as going off to Japan following his famous social media client who is going on tour. It was also revealed he asked his husband Anthony (Mario Cantone) for a divorce.

“We have no interest or plans in killing Stanford. None,” King told Deadline in February.

He added regarding whether Stanny could be in Japan indefinitely, “Maybe. People change. People live in different places. It’s not something we’ve even discussed at this point because it’s so sad. We had 10 full, authentic, hilarious episodes for Stanford. Those just went away and there’s nothing really juicy about a real death, fictional death you can build around. Everybody knows Willie is gone, so there’s no real trick that we would try to pull to make that non-reality. We can’t bring Willie back so I don’t think we would even attempt to bring Stanford back because that’s a lot.”

There were also the looming questions about whether franchise star Kim Cattrall would make a surprise return after she chose not to reprise the role of PR maven Samantha Jones in And Just Like That… Spoiler Alert: She does not but Samantha’s spirit is felt throughout the season via text messages she shares with Carrie.

For now, it’s clear Cattrall has no plans to return and has since moved on with roles in Hulu’s How I Met Your Father and Peacock’s Queer as Folk.

Season 1 cast also includes Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, Karen Pittman, Sara Ramirez, David Eigenberg, and Evan Handler.

The freshman season was executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Julie Rottenberg, Elisa Zuritsky, John Melfi, and Michael Patrick King. Writers included King, Samantha Irby, Rachna Fruchbom, Keli Goff, Julie Rottenberg, and Elisa Zuritsky. Directors included King, Gillian Robespierre, Cynthia Nixon, Anu Valia, and Nisha Ganatra.

The HBO series Sex and the City was created by Darren Star and based on the book Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell.