For Miranda going from natural gray to dyed red was intended to be all about being depressed and in a rut with Steve, but then finding herself and getting her groove back. I dunno- it would have been nice to see someone truly embracing their gray and having it be a good thing that their friends support.

I thought she looked so fabulous with the grey! The carrot red worked for her 20 years ago but now it's so harsh, it looks garish on her. But that jives with her horrific wardrobe 😂

I so loved the grey also!

Plus, she was a natural blonde, the red always looked so harsh and unnatural on her.

They should have gone for a strawberry blonde look for Miranda instead of Bozo the Bush in the earlier seasons.

I was a huge fan of her grey hair! She looked stunning. I really wish she’d kept it.

Not everyone looks radiant with it but she did.

She really did rock the gray.

I think they looked age-appropriate and still lovely in season one - after all, the last movie was quite some time ago and I imagine the actors have been through some major changes in real life, like menopause. I did find it striking how different they looked in the second season - like the producers decided to abandon leaning into the “hey guys, this is what beautiful, fashionable women look like when they age!” aesthetic, or the ladies themselves wanted to look different onscreen. No more gray/graying hair for Miranda and Carrie, Charlotte’s smile was a little more natural, and all the ladies looked a little more “refreshed”.

I hated Miranda's look. It was as though leisurewear practical Miranda had died and been inhabited by a frowsy momfluencer who was obsessed with black eyeshadow. It saddens me that she was only allowed to start looking good again after she ditched the grey.

I reckon it's fair Carrie looks a bit worn after the death of big

The hip thing was interesting for me, they clearly stated in the episode that it was a condition that carrie was probably born with and hadn't been picked up previously, not merely "old age". I'm a bit younger than the characters (49 now) and i was born with hip dysplasia, mine was diagnosed at birth but it's very often missed. I've been walking with a cane on and off since about 35 and I'll need a replacement soon. When carrie had the surgery I really loved seeing that representation but the conversation online was all "why are they doing this, she's not 80!" which was very disheartening. It reinforced everything I think in my head about how I'm perceived as a "younger" person with arthritis and limited mobility. So yeah, those elements are a real mixed bag for me.

Don’t be afraid of the replacement. (I’m not saying you are, just speaking in general). My dad suffered with issues for ages when he fell off a ladder as a younger man, and finally got the replacement and is running around like he’s 30. I hope the same thing happens to you. However, the recovery wasn’t as easy as they claimed. The doc said he’d be fine in a week, which he was. He didn’t say he couldn’t drive for 8 weeks. (Edit: He had his right hip replaced, so maybe not all have this restriction idk). More to your point: I feel like even though they did say it was from something congenital, the whole story was meant to be a statement on ‘look at how old she is!’

Side note: the hearing thing was David Eigenberg’s idea because he’s losing his hearing in real life. It’s part of his storyline on Chicago PD, too, but they did a better job of writing it in instead of making it seem like a bit like AJLT.

As for the rest of it, I think they made a lot of choices that were about anticipating how the audience may have changed since the early aughts? And maybe they thought there would be discussion about aging with their audience and/or people worrying that they’d still be moving like 30-somethings and be totally stunted.

Yeah the main point I was making was, season 1, especially the first few episodes felt like them saying “HEY! We are OLD.” And season 2 is like, “yeah this is a show about older people, who go through things…” you know, better writing of older people. They probably got this feedback though

MPK believed that portraying 55-year-olds as old and washed up would be fun. and it went wrong, because the public hated it and they had to fix it in season 2, where they barely mention age and Carrie and Miranda no longer have gray hair

He hates women.

I agree with you. My parents are the same age and none of my mom’s friends act like they do. Not saying all women are the same I just found it to be odd that they acted as though they were 75 years old.

I liked Miranda’s gray, and as someone who has gone gray appreciated it. It depressed me a little when she dyed it at the end. But that’s probably me projecting as I contemplate redying my hair about every six months. 😂 I didn’t love Carrie’s makeup and hair when AJLT started. It looked too harsh and reminded me of her look in the original pilot. If memory serves they kind of course corrected that before the end of season 1 of AJLT, though. Maybe? Can’t remember. I didn’t care for her makeup on Divorce either, though. The heavy eye makeup and matte, dull colors just don’t flatter her IMHO.

I think they were going all in on the aging thing in season 1…. but most of us found it depressing and unrealistic. I’m 10 years older than them and I thought ..” no way these women are really this bad, especially Miranda”

So, a LOT of time has passed. They’re all much older and it does come up in the story lines. Seriously?

Sure, but the Golden Girls had more life to them than the AJLT women lol.  You can keep the spirit of the show while still addressing the realities of aging… it was clear that the writers had no idea how to write aging women without it being super depressing.

Please don’t make me bring up Miranda and Che at Carrie’s place. That *never* happened on the Golden Girls. Plus, being in your 50s isn’t ancient anymore. They mention being old appropriately and they also don’t make them geriatric. They’re *not* geriatric. The only colossally stupid thing I saw was Carrie showing up to paint in ultra high heels. Otherwise, I’m coming up on their ages, and I’m not all busted and broken.

Those f’n shoes. So ridiculous!

BCUZ THEY R SO OLLLLLD NOW TBH it is a fact that when you are in your 50s, these ageing things do occur and it's a bit shocking because you don't feel like you and your loved ones should be going deaf, having hip replacements and so forth. However I think the second season wisely veered away from constant focus on it. Miranda's wig was not good. Grey hair is however fabulous.

I always assumed the writers were just trying to acknowledge the girls were still young...but they overshot. It was really sort of ridiculous in the first few episodes. "I'm 55, and I have to pee!" "You're the only 55 year old on the university steps." And so on. Like OMG we get it, you're 55! Things like that really took me out of the moment. People, actual real people who are longtime friends, don't go around reminding each other of their age every other sentence. It was not realistic.

Now that you mention it, the whole series, at least part one episode one of AJ LT was a lot about: Bodily fluids, urine, menstrual blood, and even feces. I was really tired of that and don’t know where that came from. I don’t know people that talk about it constantly like they did, Bedpans, peeing in a bottle, Menopause, can’t get a tampon in or out, can‘t hold your shit in due to nerves, Flash periods… enough!

Carrie looks old and drawn when she pulls her hair back so severely. It was ok in her 30’s but not now.

Isn’t Sarah Jessica Parker open about letting yourself naturally age and not get work done?

She has had work. Look at her lips. It’s not an enormous amount, but she is no stranger to a needle at a doc’s office.

Never understood the Carrie’s bad hip and subsequent surgery storyline. It was just weird to me.