I am – Hercules!!

This is a weird one. Candace Bushnell, who wrote the book on which “Sex and the City” was based, wrote a new book called “Lipstick Jungle” about high-powered New York career gals.

Word is “Sex and the City” TV-show producer Darren Star (his more recent non-Bushnell projects include “Central Park West,” “The $treet,” “Grosse Pointe” and “Miss Match”) couldn’t land the rights to “Lipstick,” so Star struck out to create “Cashmere Mafia,” also about high-powered New York career gals.

“Lipstick” hits NBC next month. “Cashmere” arrives on ABC tonight and the critics appraise it:

USA Today gives it one star (out of four) and says:

… A thunderingly stupid ripoff of every sexy-woman-in-the-city show ever aired … The stars, all of whom have done better work in better projects, give it their all, but the show is too snide, condescending and unpleasant to be salvageable. …

The New York Times says:

… The four-women-and-a-cocktail conceit is outworn, but “Cashmere Mafia” has some wit and cynical sparkle. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… All is forgiven by keeping in mind that "Cashmere Mafia" is not social satire or even social commentary, but pure social fantasy. Wouldn't it be nice if you and your best girlfriends from college (or, in this case, business school) all rose high and mighty together yet stayed popcorn-night close? Wouldn't it be great to whistle up solutions to every problem by speaking short declarative sentences into a cellphone, then snapping it shut with a satisfied smile? Wouldn't it be terrific to always find restaurant-front parking and instantly appearing cabs, even in Manhattan? You bet it would. …

The Philadelphia Inquirer says:

… It's pretty easy to qualify as worst series of the year when the year is less than a week old, but ABC's yucky Cashmere Mafia sets the limbo bar so low, only the slackest skeevy show could slither under it before the ball next drops Dec. 31. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… It's hard to see this series playing all that well outside the urban jungle. "Mafia" treats marital fidelity as an optional, tradable commodity. And forget expecting guys to watch. Men are portrayed worse in "Mafia" -- they're weak or jealous or cheating or lazy or mean -- than in any Lifetime series. Ignoring all that, shallow "Mafia" entertains in key moments. Otto is particularly well cast and effective at playing the cold shrew with a vulnerable center. Liu sheds her "Ally McBeal" ice queen act, but she still tramples on her fiance with cruel intentions. …

The Orlando Sentinel says:

… a ho-hum knockoff of Sex and the City. … too often the stars grapple with writing that renders their characters silly, stupid or superficial. … A caveat, dear ladies: I couldn't stand Sex and the City, either, but at least that self-involved quartet had panache and a small sense of humor about themselves. This crowd, brought to you in part by S & t C executive producer Darren Star, may look drably fabulous, but they're as dull as the dishwater that none of them has touched since adolescence. …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says:

… not cashmere, perhaps, but a reasonably silky blend. The casting clicks, the writing is better than average and the directing keeps things moving along so briskly you won't dwell on the improbabilities of the plot. …

The San Jose Mercury News says:

… while I have yet to see "Lipstick Jungle" and only two episodes of "Cashmere Mafia," my hopes for the latter aren't very high. … "Cashmere Mafia" has its intriguing moments -- just not enough of them. The early plot lines don't have a whole lot of fizz to them and are pretty predictable. And, surprisingly, Starr has failed to invest them with the kind of clever humor that made "Sex and the City" such an enjoyable experience. The biggest problem is that the women populating "Cashmere" seem to be more caricatures than characters. …

The Boston Herald says:

… seems designed to distract viewers with the heroines’ dazzling wardrobes. But clothes don’t make a woman, nor do they make a show. …

The Boston Globe says:

It's just like "Sex and the City," except, you know, "Sex and the City" was good. "Cashmere Mafia," the new show from "Sex and the City" producer Darren Star, is a strained attempt to build another hit about four peacocky New York women who sip martinis and use the word "penis" as often as possible. Alas, the Cashmere quartet are no more than fashion-bots whose personality traits seem merely to have been clicked and dragged into categories with their names on them. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… the lives of these women are parodies of businesswomen, or perhaps stereotypes. For every moment they spend doing actual work, they spend hours texting one another, getting makeovers and referring to men as subhuman sex objects, more or less. Despite all of that, these women might still be fun to watch if only writer-creator Kevin Wade had provided them with wittier, smarter dialogue. …

Variety says:

… another uninspired hour about women attempting to balance fabulous lives and careers with romance, but other than a lesbian liaison, it all feels about as fresh as "That Girl." Series gets a post-"Desperate Housewives" push before taking up residence Wednesdays, but the first of the dueling "Sex and the City"-like projects to arrive merely fosters appreciation for that earlier hit. …

10 p.m. Sunday. ABC.

Sony has organized a 2Fer sale. Buy two or more and you could get:
* MTV’s complete 2003 “Spider-Man” series for $9.50,
* the complete series of the “The Tick” for $11,
* “Soap” season-sets for $11 each,
* “All in the Family” season sets for $11 each
* “Newsradio” season-sets for $14.75 each,
* “Seinfeld” season-sets for $18 each, and
* “Not Just The Best of The Larry Sanders Show” for $18.75.

Lots of others too. Find 171 titles in the 2Fer Sale HERE!!