Last Thursday, on a cold and blustery January afternoon, the cast and crew of Lipstick Jungle, the new NBC series premiering Feb. 7, scuttled about the Ukrainian Institute of America on 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Bright lights illuminated the high ceilings, ornate moldings and chandeliers within the 1898 mansion, which was standing in as a billionaire bachelor’s New York City apartment. Banks of additional lights outside the building created artificial sunlight streaming through the windows. The grand staircase was covered in plastic wrap.  read more »

Sex and the City addicts will want to grab an ice pack out of the freezer, because the ultimate cheap tease can now get into your home. Yup, that’s right. After taking the city hostage for months—clogging Midtown arteries and shuttering SoHo eateries—the SATC feature film is finally in post-production. And that means the hype is just getting started, beginning with what’s sure to be a barrage of playful ads on television, enticing spreads in fashion glossies and, at least in this town, the odd 50-foot-tall Sarah Jessica Parker on the side of a building.

The trailer offers few surprises. It starts with the first line of the classic, upbeat jingle Fever. And while we may never know how much S.J.P. loves us, HBO and New Line Cinema definitely do. After all, they really needn’t pour a bunch of money into fancy promotions. If they build it, we will come! A decent Web site, some late-night talk show appearances and movie listings would probably suffice. Still, they give us a rapturous, twirling Carrie Bradshaw in a wedding gown, a breathy voiceover (“They say nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style.”), a wide-angle shot of the ladies tromping down Fifth, shopping bags securely in-hand. Then, of course, they really stick it to us—the kicker: a lingering, fairytale smooch between Ms. Bradshaw and Mr. Big. Spring can’t come soon enough.

Semi-related shameless self-promotion: The Observer's Sex and the City archives  read more »