TCA 2011: ‘2 Broke Girls’ isn’t ‘Sex and the City’ redux, says Michael Patrick King
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With Michael Patrick King, all roads lead back to “Sex and the City.”
When the writer/producer/director appeared before reporters Wednesday at the Television Critics Assn. media tour at the Beverly Hilton to promote his new show, “2 Broke Girls,” it was hard to escape the legacy of the HBO comedy.
Co-creator Whitney Cummings spoke of its influence on her in her stand-up comedy acts. And “2 Broke Girls” star Kat Dennings pointed out that she actually broke into television on “Sex and the City,” playing a girl who hires Samantha to do publicity for her Bat Mitzvah -- impressive considering she was a “home schooled kid living in the forest” who had to get cable just to watch the episode.
Video: Watch a sneak preview of ‘2 Broke Girls’
All the gushing aside, King warns against expecting his new CBS comedy to be a slimmed-down, younger version of ‘Sex and the City.”
“That show and this show is completely different DNA,” King said. “The girls from ‘Sex and the City’ had relationship check lists; these girls barely have checks.” He added that he and Cummings liked the “really scary dynamic of talking about money on TV,” a topic usually glossed over or ignored -- kind of like Carrie Bradshaw’s ability to afford designer duds and spiffy apartment on a columnist’s salary.
Rather, ‘2 Broke Girls’ centers on bristly, hard-working Max (Dennings) who finds herself working with the suddenly broke, trust-fund baby Caroline (Beth Behrs) at a diner. After getting off to a rough start, the two eventually become pals who move in together. The series makes its debut on Sept. 19 with ‘Two and a Half Men’ as a lead-in before settling into its regular time slot on Mondays at 8:30 p.m.
That’s good and all, but back to that other show: What about rumors a prequel flick to “Sex and the City” was in the works to accompany Candace Bushnell’s novels that look at Bradshaw and gals way back when.
“I’m not working on any ‘Sex and the City’ prequel at all,” King said. “My Carrie Bradshaw started at 33, and I took her to 43. For me, the idea of going backwards and making her less evolved … is something that I don’t even imagine doing. I have no connection to the prequel.”
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-- Yvonne Villarreal
Twitter.com/villarrealy
