Cleaned-Up 'Sex' Ready for Primetime

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday September 30, 2003 12:36 PM EDT

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Carrie and company are about to have their mouths washed out with soap.

Basic cable network TBS announced Monday that it will air an edited version of pay-cable HBO's "Sex and the City" starting next June, the Associated Press and Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.

Superstation TBS is buying syndication rights to air episodes exclusively for 15 months. After that, the Tribune Co. has a deal to air the episodes on its stations across the country, says the newspaper. (TBS, which like PEOPLE, is part of Time Warner, is based in Atlanta.)

"Sex," the first cable show to win an Emmy for best comedy series, debuted on HBO in 1998 and stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Kristin Davis. Fans are already mourning the fact that the series will say goodbye early next year.

In preparation for syndication, producers of the show (who include Parker, 38), have filmed alternate scenes so a less racy "Sex" could be utilized outside of pay cable. TBS will reportedly emphasize the show's comedy when it advertises that "Sex and the City" will join its prime-time lineup, alongside "Seinfeld" and "Friends" reruns.

The episodes will be also shortened from how they appeared on HBO in order to accommodate time for commercials, says AP.

"There is an enormous, untapped audience out there that has never seen 'Sex and the City,' which makes it completely new to more than half our audience," TBS chief operating officer Steve Koonin said in a statement.