Whether you love HBO's groundbreaking millennial hit or simply prefer to hate on it for its deference to conspicuous consumption, there's no denying that Sex and the City was, and still remains, a cultural force to be reckoned with. Like All in the Family, Cheers, and Seinfeld, its influence on episodic ensemble comedy is so expansive that a writer of this stuff would be lying if he or she said the show had no bearing on their work. Leon Acord is not a liar. "An inspiration that I will cop to -- and I hope it doesn't get me sued, because we do get compared to the show a lot -- is Sex and the City."
He reveals, "I remember seeing the Sex and the City movie, and at the end of it, Samantha is turning 50 and decides to break up with her boyfriend and go back to her single life, and I remember watching the movie and having sort of this moment of, like, 'Oh, that's so sad. She's 50 and single.' And then I checked myself before I wrecked myself and went, 'Wait a minute. You're not far from 50. Do you think it's sad?'"
Of course, things were slightly different for the actor/writer, who'd been in a committed relationship for 20-plus years, but as any gay man -- hell, anybody, for that matter -- over 40 and living in Los Angeles will tell you, age can be way more than just a number here. "In San Francisco gays of a certain age are still kind of marginalized, but there is this feeling of, 'They're the elders; they're the history bearers,'" Acord explains. "There is a kind of respect for older gay men that does not exist in L.A. L.A doesn't want to know from history -- gay, straight, or otherwise."
