Darren Star - has he ever talked about daytime?

[Sylph]

And the soaps he watched, soaps that influenced him? I was just watching What Goes Around, Comes Around, an episode of Sex and the City and as every other episode he penned for the show has so many daytime-like references. And lots of shirtless and gorgeous men. With all the trashy soaps he created, he just must've watched at least one. And still watches, probably.

If someone has a piece of interview with him about this, I'd like to read it.

[brimike]

Wow, I never thought about this before - but yeah, I'd love to know if DS was ever influenced by daytime. Good call, Sylph!

I don't recall ever hearing him say anything about them, but then again, I don't feel like I've read a whole lot of background info on him in interviews either. They're usually just sound-bytes in articles about actors/actresses. I can't remember seeing any interview with him personally about HIS life. Maybe the Advocate, or something like that? That would be my best guess, since I'm not sure GQ or Details considered him their demo back in the Melrose days (although they should have... hell, I'm not even sure Details was around back then).

I'd be very curious to know. If I had to guess, I'd say he's definitely an old-school B&B'er, but that's just my opinion.

[dm.]

Ah, Melrose Place... those were the days. I have the first three seasons on DVD, and I'm currently going through the first one... Total classic.

[Cat]

Given Darren Star's working relationship with Aaron Spelling in the past, I'm wondering whether he might have seen what happened with Spelling's Sunset Beach on NBC and figured that daytime was a nut not worth cracking.

After all, on a network like HBO or F/X or Showtime, you have less restrictions in terms of content.

[Sylph]

He kind of talked about network interference here:

Q.

Did you see

Sex and the City

as a reversal of TV stereotypes?

A.

We were very consciously turning the stereotype on its head. Women have always been objectified by men, and in this case the women were objectifying men. The men had names like Mr. Big, Mr. Whatever; they weren't even referred to by name.

Q.

How did the portrayal of sexuality on

Sex and the City

compare to what you did on a network show like

Beverly Hills 90210

?

A.

The first season of

90210

was a little under the radar. I wrote and directed the episode where Brenda loses her virginity and was sort of squealing and celebrating with her friends. After that, the network bosses and station owners looked at it and freaked out that there was this girl who was celebrating having had sex. I was told for the first episode of the next season, that she had to deal with the dreadful ramifications of this act, which meant a pregnancy scare and breaking up with her boyfriend. We were taken to task for that.

Q.

What kind of freedom did you have on

Sex and the City

by doing the show on cable rather than network TV?

A.

Network television tends to be behind the curve of what's really happening.

90210

was not able to show the reality of promiscuous teenage sexuality. We were able to suggest it, but we had a network box around us. On

The Dick Van Dyke Show

, it was already the '60s, but Rob and Laura slept in separate beds—there was always a sense you were watching a false TV marriage. What we were allowed to do in

Sex and the City

, on cable, is lift the curtain, in a sense.

Q.

What type of influence did the show have on television and society?

A.

Every successful show influences the next. Women who are fans of the show have been influenced by it; on one level, it's taken as entertainment, on another level, women look at these characters as examples of women who aren't being defined by marriage. The show is not anti-marriage, but it's also not suggesting that women need a man to be completed or fulfilled. What I would say about

Sex and the City

and a show like

Cashmere Mafia

is that they're not defining behaviour, they're reflecting behaviour.

Sex and the City

was a reflection of the experience a lot of urban women were going through.

Q.

Did you ever get any complaints from people who felt the characters were too focused on sex and men at the expense of other things?

A.

Well, it's called

Sex and the City

! I think as it evolved, the show became much more about relationships, and was not leaning on sex in terms of finding its stories. One of the best testaments to the success of the show is that a cleaned-up version of

Sex and the City

airs on regular television. Minus the four-letter words and the real naughty bits, the show still holds up.

Q.

Do you have a favourite

Sex and the City

parody?

A.

I don't know that I've seen many. But you know you're a success when you're being parodied. It's the sincerest compliment. When

Saturday Night Live

did a

90210

parody, I, like, fell off my chair. I couldn't believe it. We'd entered pop culture Nirvana. When that happens, you know you've arrived.

[brimike]

I love how networks feel that if a LATE-teens girl who has been in a monogamous relationship with her boyfriend of a year-or-two decides to sleep with him, it is an "act" that must have "dreadful ramifications".

[JackPeyton]

i agree, but to be fair brenda was what.. 9th grade? thats not really late teens.

[detroitpiston]

I beleive Brenda and Brandon were supposed to be 16 when the show started so she was in the 11th when she had the pregnancy scare, right??????????????

[Y&RWorldTurner]

10th.

[jcar03]

On 90210 they spent two years (seasons) as Sophmores.