'Sex and the City' Begins Final Fling

L O S   A N G E L E S, Jan. 3 -- If "Sex and the City" puts its fans in the mood for anything these days, it might just be a good cry.

The final episodes of HBO's series about four high-flying NewYork women start airing 9 p.m. EST Sunday, and after that it's goodbye to Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. In six seasons, the pals have run through men like disposablerazors while keeping a tight grip on their friendship, provokingdebate about how they stack up as symbols of contemporarywomanhood. The series became one of HBO's trademark shows, the kind it canrightly claim isn't duplicated by the broadcast networks. It's not just the cable channel and devotees who are reluctantto see the end of the comedy-drama based on Candace Bushnell'sbook. The cast is feeling a bit blue as well. "It's just really sad," said Cynthia Nixon, who playslawyer-mom Miranda. "We all have emotional moments and a lot ofnostalgic moments on the set nowadays." As the end of shooting approaches, "we keep having the lastcoffee shop scene, Stanford's (Willie Garson) last day, all ofthese last scenes," said Nixon. Shooting was scheduled to end inFebruary. Kristin Davis, who plays newly married (for the second time)Charlotte, was employing her own avoidance technique. "I'm trying to create a list of things that will be good aboutit (ending), so when I feel sad I have that list," she said. "Andthe list is small, including not having to have my hair driedstraight every day." Both Nixon and Davis said they would have happily continued withthe show. But Sarah Jessica Parker, the series' star and anexecutive producer, has said she believes it's best to quit whileit's still beloved. The cast is tight-lipped about how the finale will play out,partly because they're not quite sure. Each was only given scriptpages concerning her character, and multiple endings of the finalencounter for the friends were shot. Plot leaks had occurred and executive producer Michael PatrickKing wanted to clamp down, according to Davis: "He started gettingreally paranoid."