This post is most definitely NOT the next Sex and the City

Like (as far as I can tell) everyone else, I don't watch The Wire. Despite how good it apparently is, I'm hard-pressed to try to fit another show into an already pretty-full schedule.

It's on its fifth season anyway. That's not just tacking an hour into the week's TV viewing; that's a project unto itself.

Something I did sit through: The premiere episodes of Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle (and yes, you can safely conclude from the phrasing "sit through" rather than "watch" or "view" that I didn't watch the second week episodes). My fiancée had recorded them and played them while I was also in the room, and I did not leave the room while the episodes played.

I'm not suggesting I'm in their target demographic, but I consider myself a demographic of one who is willing to watch a show if it's good. I will also keep watching a show that isn't completely good if it has some other appeal.

(That is not suggesting I watch every show that is good; as noted above, The Wire simply never got into my viewing schedule.)

And as I've already parenthetically mentioned, I didn't sit through a subsequent episode. The thing is: I'm pretty sure that she (the one who actively watched them) didn't bother to record the next week, and I assure you that my opinion would not have dissuaded her if she thought they were worth continuing to watch.

Obviously both were touted as heir to the title of "the next Sex and the City" for their connections to that show's heritage, but having actually watched Sex back in its day (not avidly, but I saw a majority of the episodes)—that is, when it was on cable—I definitely didn't get the impression that either would acquire the crown.

Perhaps it's the fact that what worked only worked under the more liberal standards on cable. But mostly I think Sex was a quaint half-hour comedy, not an hour-long whatever they are.

I'm not saying I am giving either a thorough analysis; I fully admit this is just a glib reaction. But the thing is: That's what I give any show. Either it strikes my fancy or it doesn't. Sometimes I give a show more of a chance than it deserves (Alias--which, yes, I somehow watched all the way to the end... and the reason I'll never trust another J.J. Abrams project), and sometimes shows get the there's-nothing-else-on-while-I'm-eating-dinner pass, but ultimately it comes down to a simple matter of appealing or not.

With these, however, it wasn't just that they were new shows that weren't that good; they were ridiculously over-promoted shows that weren't good. If they didn't have so much to live up to (which may also be a function of their debuting during the writers strike), they probably wouldn't have so far to fall.

Anyway, if I had to pick which was less off-putting for me, I guess I'd go with Cashmere. But if I need something to fill a couple hours a week, I can go rent the DVDs of The Wire.