I am – Hercules!!

“It’s written by drag queens, isn’t it?” – Tina Fey, speaking of “Sex and the City.”

Ms. Fey’s offhanded comment on Dennis Miller’s HBO show has colored forever my perception of Samantha’s excitement over Fleet Week and her joy over her boyfriend’s “perfect dick,” to say nothing of Carrie’s comment about “baby’s first drag show.”

HBO premieres the fifth season opener 9 p.m. Sunday.

TV Guide says:

It's “Fleet Week” in Manhattan as the Emmy-winning comedy sets sail on its fifth season. Only eight new episodes are scheduled this summer, owing to Sarah Jessica Parker's pregnancy, a development that will not be incorporated into Carrie's storyline. After giving Richard the heave-ho, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) navigates an ocean of eligible sailors, while Charlotte (Kristin Davis) casts off her inhibitions and tries to land one of her own. Carrie, on the other hand, begins to wonder if her one true love is New York City. In another part of town, new mother Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) struggles with some unsettling problems of her own, of the navel variety.

The Hollywood Reporter says:

"Bonus" episodes shown in May, all of them with the show's trademark hilariously bawdy humor, nonetheless revealed more heart and tenderness than skin. The new season continues in that direction, seamlessly mixing ribald comedy with sensitive drama, ratcheting the series to the next level.

USA Today says:

Sex continues to offer one of TV's most appealing stars in Parker and some of TV's most cynically witty exchanges. ("Are you going to make fun of everything?" "No, I'm not that quick.") Still, there's no question the two episodes of Sex made available for review are less freewheeling than some may like. This is a mellower, sweeter Sex, without some of the highs, but also without many of the vulgar lows.

Entertainment Weekly says:

The first two episodes I've seen of season 5 stand among the best the series has produced, since they brazenly address nearly every complaint any viewer or critic has suggested about ''Sex'' after all these years … Fortunately, creator Darren Star, exec producer and show runner Michael Patrick King, and the show's writers and directors never forget that one of ''Sex'''s artistic models is '30s and '40s screwball comedies, and so they maintain a rapid-fire pace, with quick scenes and ceaseless, ribald chatter.