Queering TV: And Just Like That... Kim Cattrall Rules

In the battle of the June divas, Kim Cattrall takes the prize. Sorry, Sarah Jessica Parker, but comparing Cattrall's beauty mogul on "Glamorous" with her grieving widow on "And Just Like That...," it is easy to see who has captured the zeitgeist.

Cattrall has also driven the media narrative about their respective shows; so much so that SJP was angry about the press Cattrall received at the announcement of her unusual return. Radar Online writes it "has exclusively learned that sources close to the lead actress, who plays love life columnist Carrie Bradshaw, said that she has been fretting over her series 'And Just Like That ...' while Cattrall popped in for a single, million-dollar scene."

Radar OnLine continued: "Insiders claim that SJP is hoping this 'expensive gamble pays off and the show gets decent ratings.' They alleged, 'It's very frustrating for Sarah. She's put her heart and soul into this project – and Kim's stolen the show!'"

"While Kim takes this bow and counts her bash, Sarah's been busting her butt promoting the show nonstop and fending off questions about Kim's cameo," the tipster added.

"According to sources, Cattrall shot her dialogue on March 22 in New York City, without seeing or speaking with the stars of the series, including Sarah Jessica Parker, or with 'And Just Like That' showrunner Michael Patrick King," Variety reported.

"In the scene, Samantha, who in the show has moved to London, will have a phone conversation with Parker's Carrie Bradshaw. In the first season of 'And Just Like That,' Carrie engaged with an estranged Samantha over text, and in the finale, the two made a plan to see each other in order to reconcile."

The need to bring Samantha back at all remains one of the mysteries of this too-often awkward reboot, but that the producers went to such lengths to accommodate Cattrall's demands only shows how craven they are to reunite the four. That her scene was shot alone with only "Sex and the City" costume designer Patricia Fields joining her only shows how far things have gone. No cosmos with the girls!

Additionally, to make sure that her feelings about SJP haven't changed, just this past week Cattrall responded to a tweet about how bad the "Sex and the City 3" script was with the word 'ha,' bringing the feud back to where it all began.

The tweet from writer Evan Ross Katz featured singer Shakira wearing a white coat dress featuring a large "NO" across the front to Paris haute couture fashion week, to which he captioned: "Kim Cattrall after reading the SEX AND THE CITY 3 script."

"Ha!" replied Cattrall. Ryan Murphy... are you listening?

Dropping concurrently with the "AJLT" premiere, came "Glamorous," the 10-episode Netflix series starring Cattrall as an ex-model-turned-fashion brand-exec whose beauty line is in a tailspin. To hope to bring a fresh perspective, she hires a fiercely original make-up artist working in one of her mall kiosks to be her second assistant. Marco is played by the sweetly charismatic Miss Benny, who recently made headlines of her own coming out as transgender in a moving Time Magazine essay. Her character, Marco, leaves NJ for the sophisticated Hudson Yards headquarters for "Glamorous by Madolyn" (Cattrall's company). Once there, they are part of the queerest workplace on television with the principals (save Cattrall) LGBTQ+. The show's brittle silliness grates a bit, but its slick look (kudos to production designer Adam Rowe) is so seductive it may have those who work at home envious to return to the office.

At the center of it all is Cattrall, a bit elevated and removed from the rest. And a mystery. It takes five episodes for Madalyn to come to earth, but when she does it is moving testament to her feelings about Pride. The moment comes when she dumps a slick Pride-centered campaign for something more real – her connection with the drag community. Cattrall's often sphynx-like demeanor is played to great effect, but over the 10-episode arc she breaks the Miranda Priestley template of the controlling, remote fashion mogul. She starts as a familiar caricature but over the ten episodes is made more human and integral to the interpersonal dynamic of her younger co-workers. By the end of the first season, she's not removed from the rest.

While "Glamorous" bears a strong relationship to "Ugly Betty" and "The Devil Wears Prada" with its neophyte navigating the corporate world, it is also bringing to mind "Hacks" in sharing a similar premise. In both a well-known brand finds itself stuck and seeks the help of a fresh face (with fresh ideas) for rejuvenation. In "Hacks," it is stand-up superstar Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) who hires millennial Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) to make her relevant. And in the show Deborah has a mostly queer workplace.

What Madolyn shares with Deborah is how she slowly reveals her vulnerability and her ability to learn to trust. On "Hacks," Deborah was often abrasively dismissive of Ava; and distant from her aides (who include Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), the out CEO of Deborah's management; but gradually bonds to both. On "Glamorous" that dynamic is played out between Madolyn and her himbo son Chad (Zane Phillips). (For more on Phillips, follow this link. Philllps is an archetype – the 'A-List' gay with the Equinox gym membership and business school cred, but so not right to be handling the financials for his mother's company. Madolyn handles Chad with a velvet glove, despite his having brought the company to the brink of disaster. They have the show's most interesting dynamic, despite Chad being played a joke a good deal of a time. That he being ripped is part of the character's MO and Phillips lives up to the look, but he also develops Chad in ways that are surprising and revealing, though that his private life remains untouched is fodder for a Season Two.

But will "Glamorous" get a second season? While the series has largely mixed reviews (50% on Rotten Tomatoes), that pool is small, making it seem that the show has slipped under the critical radar. It doesn't' look good according to the Netflix watchdog website What's On Netflix. "As we'll come onto in a second (week of Netflix screening data), its viewing figures have been far from spectacular, and from week 1, we've seen it underperform against other shows that were eventually canceled."

"Of course, one good way the show could get renewed is if it overperforms in other avenues, whether on the awards circuit (they're not actively promoting it on their FYC site) or hits certain internal targets we do not have visibility on.
Another factor at play is the WGA strike which currently has no end in sight. A few of Netflix's shows so far this year have been handed early renewals to counter this. That could've been the case here, but we've yet to hear anything that suggests it."

On its plus side, the show continues to drop in Netflix's Top Ten of the week and, after a slow start, saw a 54% rise in viewership for its second week. It would be a shame if the show was canceled, if only to watch Miss Benny experience in her transition, as well as enjoy Kim Cattrall in her smart return to television. There may she shades of Samantha Jones in her performance but shows how she is willing to embrace roles that expand her abilities, not just rehash past triumphs.