The Last Season of “Sex & The City”

‘Sex and the City’ calling it quits

Show to end after sixth season

HOLLYWOOD, California (Variety) — HBO’s “Sex and the City” will call it quits after the show’s sixth season, with its final episode airing early next year.

Twenty half-hour episodes of the Emmy-winning comedy will be produced for the concluding season, with shooting set to start March 31 in Gotham. Twelve of those episodes will air starting in June, with the remaining eight unspooling in a sort of mini-season that will begin January 2004.

HBO announced the decision Tuesday during its session at the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour. The cable network is a division of AOL Time Warner, as is CNN.com.

The conclusion of “Sex” could mark the closing of a chapter in HBO original programming history; “The Sopranos” is slated to wrap sometime next year, following the conclusion of its fifth season, though HBO insiders remain hopeful that series creator David Chase can still be persuaded to produce one more year of the mob drama.

Indeed, HBO is open to both shows returning, Carolyn Strauss, executive VP of original programming for HBO, told Daily Variety, adding that in both cases, the decisions were much more about the creative forces behind the series deciding the show’s over.

“Everybody involved is entitled to change their mind,” said Strauss.

HBO made Chase an offer to continue “Sopranos” that even the creator termed “generous,” she added. While he declined, he assured HBO that he would consider a sixth season — if in the process of doing season five he feels that’s creatively viable.

Together, “Sex” and “Sopranos” helped solidify HBO’s place in pop culture, transforming the pay TV network into a legitimate series player. Now, however, HBO faces the prospect of two giant holes in its signature Sunday night lineup.

Strauss downplayed the possibility of HBO’s original programming heyday winding down.

“This was the same question everybody asked after “‘The Larry Sanders Show’ — and before ‘Sopranos’ and ‘Sex and the City,’ ” she said.

Among its many honors, “Sex and the City” was the first cable show to take top honors in the Emmy Awards’ comedy series category. It is based on the book by Candace Bushnell.

Read more about HBO’s future “Late Night” schedule this year @ CNN