When "The Carrie Diaries" makes its debut, there are sure to be plenty of "Sex and the City" fans nitpicking the CW prequel and origin story, stemming from the hit HBO series that starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw.
"Sex and the City" attempted to steer clear of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte's backstories, rarely referencing or including family members on the show. Viewers met Charlotte's brother once (for a storyline in which he slept with Samantha), only heard of Miranda's mother when she was on her death bed, found out -- in passing -- that Carrie's dad left her and her mom ... and so on.
On "The Carrie Diaries," however -- which is based on the book of the same name, written by Candace Bushnell, who also penned the original "Sex and the City" book -- Carrie's mother has passed away, but her father is still very much in the picture. Plus, she has a younger sister Dorrit.
Amy B. Harris, "The Carrie Diaries" showrunner, talked to The Hollywood Reporter about the inconsistencies viewers might see with the CW series not lining up with the long-running HBO show and subsequent movies. "In the 'Carrie Diaries' book, Candace did something very interesting, which was she had the mother having passed away," Harris said. "We debated a lot about whether or not to include anything about Carrie's family backstory in ["Sex and the City"] and we mentioned once [on that show] that the father had left. It didn't feel like the right version to me, because the story felt more complicated than a parent leaving, and Candace's version in the book really spoke to me, the idea that she has a good relationship with her father, which is why she's looking for a certain type of man."
When the "Carrie Diaries" book came out, one Slate writer had this to say: "'Sex and the City' never bothered to give much background information for any of its protagonists: the point of the show was to examine dating and friendship broadly rather than to create particularly well-rounded characters. Still, fans of the series have a right to feel indignant about the fact that ['The Carrie Diaries'] totally ignore[s] those few bits of back story."
Continuity aside, Harris told THR that there will be "Easter eggs for the 'Sex and the City' audience," like when Carrie (AnnaSophia Robb) rips her tights on the first day of work "and that's why she doesn't wear pantyhose as much."
Will those will be enough to satiate "Carrie Diaries" viewers? Decide for yourself when "The Carrie Diaries" premieres on Monday, January 14 at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
