Sex and the City is considered to be one of the greatest television shows of all time. It’s remembered for so many things like the memorable scenes between its four main costars (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon), the fashions, the fabulous outings and of course the men that came and went. The relationships these guys had with Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda were a pivotal part of the show’s success as its fan base were glued in on a weekly basis to see if each of the women could make it work with their counterparts. Most if not all of the men on the show had the good and bad in them, with some being more the former while others the latter. Question is… who did we hate and love the most?
Check out our rankings of the SATC boyfriends and husbands below beginning with the worst and ending with the best. The focus here is just on the series and not the 2 movies that came out years later.
10: Samantha and Richard Wright (James Remar)
There was legitimately nothing redeeming about the hotel king that broke Samantha’s heart into pieces. Samantha vowed to never fall in love in the earlier seasons of the show but that changed after she met Richard where the two blossomed into a relationship with one another. Her paranoia about him possibly cheating on her due to his womanizing ways was proved to be factual when she caught him with another woman in his apartment. Samantha dumped him (she still used his lavish home for one of her parties after they split) but then briefly took him back while she was dating Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) although it thankfully turned out to only be a one-time thing.
9: Carrie and Jack Berger (Ron Livingston)
This was a relationship doomed from the start. Carrie and Berger met each other when she was promoting her first ever book. He was a fledgling writer while her career in the industry was soaring. This became the center of their problems which she only made worse when taking him to a Prada store and buying him a very expensive shirt that he of course couldn’t afford. Not only that, but their chemistry didn’t really work well with one another on screen and it came really as no surprise that he chickened out on her later on when things continued to worsen between them by breaking up with her on a post-it note. ON A POST-IT NOTE. The nerve.
8: Charlotte and Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan)
Here’s an example of getting everything that you ever wanted and having it backfire in your face. Charlotte’s goal was to find a financially successful husband to spend her life with. She dated a bunch of guys who had that qualification but ran into issue after issue with them along the way. Cue Trey, who she met after her cab almost ran over him. He was on paper everything she ever wanted… except he couldn’t get it up and was one of the biggest mommy’s boys to ever been seen on television. Trey wasn’t necessarily a bad guy, they just weren’t a good fit even after the two reunited at the beginning of season 4. Their split turned out to be the best thing that ever happened for Charlotte as she met her 2nd husband as a result (more on that later).
7: Carrie and Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov)
Aleksandr pursued Carrie after they met at a art exhibit and legit turned her life upside down to the point where she agreed to move to Paris with him. Big mistake, Carrie, huge (Pretty Woman reference FYI). They were polar opposites in terms of what they wanted out of the relationship and her move to the City of Lights turned out to be a complete catastrophe that ended up with him accidentally slapping her. In true Hollywood style, she stormed out and found herself in the arms of someone that had an impact on our leading lady throughout the course of the series.
6: Carrie and Mr. Big (Chris Noth)
When you first watched the show you thought that Mr. Big was the one responsible for why his relationship with Carrie continued to fail. Looking back on it all this time later you realized that she was just as much to blame for their issues as he was. Big was similar to Richard’s character in that he romanced many kinds of woman without ever really getting serious with any of them. So her breaking up with him in season 1 because he didn’t introduce her to his mother as his girlfriend really didn’t make any sense. Then they got back together in season 2 but she left him again because he had to move to Paris for a bit and didn’t listen to him trying to reason with her over how they could make it work. Then they slept together multiple times while cheating on their significant others in season 3 which ended really, really badly. Things stood at a standstill for seasons to come, kind of like Ross and Rachel on Friends, before they finally sealed the deal at the end of the series. Is he a good or a bad guy? Meh, that’s open to interpretation.
5: Miranda and Dr. Robert (Blair Underwood)
Dr. Robert was perfect not only on paper (like Trey) but overall for the ever-so-complicated Miranda. He was the first guy to really sweep her off her feet after years of back and forth with Steve (David Eigenberg). He even bought her a cookie cake with the words “I Love You” splashed across it! What couldn’t he do? Sadly, for Robert, Miranda and Steve fell back in love, leaving him heartbroken. Well, for a minute, as Steve later discovered him canoodling with two very hot women.
4: Samantha and Smith (Jason Lewis)
Smith shook up Samantha’s world for all the right reasons. His persistence in wanting to be with her was admirable even though she was adamant on that not happening especially after what Richard did to her. He stuck by her during her cancer diagnosis by shaving his iconic hair and remaining faithful to her while they were away even though she insisted on him getting it on with someone else. He was, as the rest of this list proves, one of the good guys that we rooted for on the show.
3: Carrie and Aidan (John Corbett)
Oh Aidan. He was so right for Carrie yet so wrong all at the same time. They got together in season 3 where he was so good to her that she literally started panicking over why there were no problems in their relationship. Then, of course, she cheated on him with Big which blew up in her face when she confessed her sins to Aidan moments before Charlotte’s wedding to Trey. He dumped her, rightfully so, then got back together with her the following season. They got engaged, even though she was feeling pressured by him to set a date and them moving in together. Things ended again, for good, and he ended up having a kid with someone else. Aidan was great, he was kind, he really didn’t do anything wrong to Carrie besides love and want to be with her. They just ultimately weren’t a match.
2: Miranda and Steve (David Eigenberg)
Miranda and Steve were ultimately one of the most frustrating relationships on SATC. What started out as a one night stand turned into something so much more even though she was kind of set in her ways of being on her own and not needing a full-time kind of guy. Then he got her pregnant, he tried to propose to her with Aidan’s old ring for Carrie (didn’t work) and they spent the rest of the series being on and off again. Steve remained an amazing guy regardless throughout as he truly was in love with Miranda amid all her issues. The door opened for them again when they decided to leave the people they were with where the two found their happily ever after.
1: Charlotte and Harry (Evan Handler)
Proof that nice guys do in fact win. Harry became Charlotte’s divorce lawyer after the first guy distracted her for being too damn handsome. Charlotte was initially disgusted by Harry’s behavior but turned a new leaf after calling him the best sex she’s ever had. Her doubts about how they looked as a couple from the outside only hurt their relationship as he left her right before he got down on one knee. They rekindled at a Jewish singles mixer (she converted for him) and the rest is history.