HBO's Sex & the City redefined the dramedy genre by exploring the trials and tribulations of romancing in New York City told through the perspective of four fabulous and fashionable women.
The show never held back in their depiction of audacious subject matter, but on the occasion of the show's 20th anniversary, producers looked back and told Vanity Fair about one particular scene they were relieved HBO left on the cutting room floor.
According to producer-writer Amy B. Harris, one scene was censored from "The Monogamists," an episode which aired during Season 1, The scene in question depicted a "horrifying" act with a golden retriever.
Darren Star, the show's creator, told Vanity Fair about the unaired scene that was "really the end of the story line."
Star shared the risqué details in the episode where things literally headed south for Charlotte when the man she was dating forced oral sex against her inclinations.
He basically was always pushing her head down to give him oral sex. And he had this golden retriever who was always around. In the final scene, she basically let him have it about being offended by his insistence on just wanting a blow job. She accused him of only liking her for that and kind of stormed out.
The episode, which originally aired in 1998, ended there, thankfully, but there was an epilogue to the scene that went too far.
According to Star:
And then she walked back in and saw that his golden retriever was going down on him.
(EW)
Upon reflection, he was mortified about the scene that made the transition from script to screen.
It's sort of horrifying that we shot that. We shot him putting peanut butter on his penis, and Charlotte walks back in like, 'Oh, I'm being unreasonable,' and then she sees that. . . . I can't believe we even thought about doing it.
Over the course of six incredible seasons, Star recalled the groundbreaking show managed to have only a couple of inappropriate scenes that set off censorship alarms and were inevitably spliced into obscurity. Some things are invariably better left unseen.
However, we certainly miss the lovable foursome sashaying their way around Manhattan in their Manolo Blahniks and stealing our hearts. On the occasion of the show's 20th anniversary, we raise a cosmo.
Cheers, girls! We miss you, "Big" time.
@WhiteHouse/X
