Michael Patrick King

When Michael Patrick King was first approached about working on the "Sex and the City" series in 1998, he was intrigued by two things: One was the ambiguous look on Sarah Jessica Parker's face at the end of the pilot, when she appears to morph from insouciance to stoic dismay as her future love Big drives away. The other was the lure of "taking sex out of the shadows. I like the fact that it's not so dark and shamey. We took sex out of the black, inky oil stain and we made it pink and fuzzy like Champagne."

When Michael Patrick King was first approached about working on the "Sex and the City" series in 1998, he was intrigued by two things: One was the ambiguous look on Sarah Jessica Parker's face at the end of the pilot, when she appears to morph from insouciance to stoic dismay as her future love Big drives away. The other was the lure of "taking sex out of the shadows. I like the fact that it's not so dark and shamey. We took sex out of the black, inky oil stain and we made it pink and fuzzy like Champagne."

Michael Patrick King's job is enough to make a mother proud. Proud and a little red-faced. King is the executive producer of the saucy HBO hit comedy series "Sex and the City," but he's also the product of an Irish Catholic family that never discussed sex, he says. Now King's mother, a former manager of a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop in Scranton, Pa., finds herself having previously unimaginable graphic conversations with her show-business son.

There's still sex to be had in the city, even though Carrie Bradshaw has settled down with one man. New Line Cinema spokeswoman Candice McDonough confirms that "Sex and the City" stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and writer-director Michael Patrick King are signed for a sequel to last year's hit movie. New Line parent Warner Bros. plans to have the sequel out in summer 2010.

DEBUTING tonight on HBO, "The Comeback" might sound like one more behind-the-scenes TV comedy made by insiders for all those outsiders who'd like to feel like insiders. But its creators -- Lisa ("Friends") Kudrow and Michael Patrick ("Sex and the City") King -- insist that the dark comedy about a desperate B-level actress is much more. They call it an expose of the current deteriorating state of network television itself.

There's still sex to be had in the city, even though Carrie Bradshaw has settled down with one man. New Line Cinema spokeswoman Candice McDonough confirms that "Sex and the City" stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and writer-director Michael Patrick King are signed for a sequel to last year's hit movie. New Line parent Warner Bros. plans to have the sequel out in summer 2010.

"One of the best things about New York is that on any given night there are a million things to do," writes newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) on her laptop. "One of the worst things is trying to pick one." There are many ways to light a torch. Salutes to New York have been arriving in waves since Sept. 11, surely all of them sincere and heartfelt testimonials to the character, backbone and resilience of the wounded metropolis and its residents. Among the tenderest, though, and surely the subtlest, is one that was not even intended as a memorial.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to talk about the new "Sex and the City" movie without first mentioning "Sex and the City," the HBO series; or the rabid fan devotion it enjoyed; or the equally fervent antipathy (female and male) it inspired on socio-political grounds (sort of like the late-'90s equivalent of not letting your daughter play with Barbies); or the recently much-affirmed straight-male aversion to the series, predicated on cooties. In fact, the film arrives shrouded in such a fog of expectation, preconception, anticipation and (now with more post-Hillary bite!

After some years as a writer-director in show business, you develop certain rules that help move you forward in your career. At first, the rules are simple: Put brads only through the top and bottom holes of a script. As you progress up the ladder, the rules become more complex: Everyone wants a writer to have a voice. Until he uses it. Even farther up the ladder, the rules approach a kind of show business Zen, such as my most recent: Be yourself, because they'll fire you anyway.

Matthew Moy could barely contain himself, almost leaping out of his chair at an outdoor Beverly Hills cafe with excitement. "See this?" Moy exclaimed, showing off the bronze clip on his dark tie, which read, "This is a horcrux. " The "2 Broke Girls" costar chuckled, amused that his presentation had attracted only a quizzical expression from his table mate. "A horcrux is what is used by a dark wizard or witch to hide a part of their soul. You obviously aren't that familiar with Harry Potter.

After some years as a writer-director in show business, you develop certain rules that help move you forward in your career. At first, the rules are simple: Put brads only through the top and bottom holes of a script. As you progress up the ladder, the rules become more complex: Everyone wants a writer to have a voice. Until he uses it. Even farther up the ladder, the rules approach a kind of show business Zen, such as my most recent: Be yourself, because they'll fire you anyway.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to talk about the new "Sex and the City" movie without first mentioning "Sex and the City," the HBO series; or the rabid fan devotion it enjoyed; or the equally fervent antipathy (female and male) it inspired on socio-political grounds (sort of like the late-'90s equivalent of not letting your daughter play with Barbies); or the recently much-affirmed straight-male aversion to the series, predicated on cooties. In fact, the film arrives shrouded in such a fog of expectation, preconception, anticipation and (now with more post-Hillary bite!

DEBUTING tonight on HBO, "The Comeback" might sound like one more behind-the-scenes TV comedy made by insiders for all those outsiders who'd like to feel like insiders. But its creators -- Lisa ("Friends") Kudrow and Michael Patrick ("Sex and the City") King -- insist that the dark comedy about a desperate B-level actress is much more. They call it an expose of the current deteriorating state of network television itself.

"One of the best things about New York is that on any given night there are a million things to do," writes newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) on her laptop. "One of the worst things is trying to pick one." There are many ways to light a torch. Salutes to New York have been arriving in waves since Sept. 11, surely all of them sincere and heartfelt testimonials to the character, backbone and resilience of the wounded metropolis and its residents. Among the tenderest, though, and surely the subtlest, is one that was not even intended as a memorial.

Michael Patrick King's job is enough to make a mother proud. Proud and a little red-faced. King is the executive producer of the saucy HBO hit comedy series "Sex and the City," but he's also the product of an Irish Catholic family that never discussed sex, he says. Now King's mother, a former manager of a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop in Scranton, Pa., finds herself having previously unimaginable graphic conversations with her show-business son.

If only they'd called it "Almost No Sex and Very Little City," at least we would know what we were in for with " Sex and the City 2." In this second screen incarnation of the fabulous HBO series, the satire is sagging, the irony's atrophied and the funny is flabby. Yes, the clothes are more fabulous than ever, but Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte have misplaced their chic and sassy and become, gulp, too ordinary and desperate. They were never supposed to be like the rest of us. Still, the women are not anywhere as desperate as the movie itself, which fails its stars and its many obsessive fans, unless everyone was waiting for the AARP version.

The Rules of Hollywood: In the June 1 issue, a caption accompanying The Rules of Hollywood identified the writer, Michael Patrick King, as being in an editing room. It was a sound-mixing room.