SATC<\/em> movie, with the Poughkeepsie remaining conveniently hidden off-screen, but the finale\u2019s close-up put the show in uncharted waters. And in true Bradshaw style, I couldn\u2019t help but wonder \u2026 what actually goes into creating a spectacle like this? So I tracked down the man responsible, prop master Michael Cory. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/p>\nSlate: How did you first learn about the poop? Did you see it in the script, or did someone tap you on the shoulder and whisper: \u201cWe need poop. Lots of poop.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nMichael Cory: <\/strong>Michael Patrick King is very specific, so it was a scripted moment. After we get the scripts, we have a meeting with all the department heads and go through the episode. And I do remember the conversation with him about it. I remember him talking about how it had to be gross and he wanted to see \u201cfloaters.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat did you make the poop out of? <\/strong><\/p>\nWe knew it had to be a very specific \u201clactose-intolerant cheese-plate disaster\u201d type of poop\u2014with the floater element. The floating pieces that you see most on the show were basically modeling clay that we stashed in the toilet bowl, so they\u2019d be the first thing you see. The rest, I mixed in a giant bucket\u2014it was made out of a bunch of bran muffins, some vanilla ice cream, oatmeal, and chocolate syrup, a lot of water, and labneh\u2014like, a yogurt. And we didn\u2019t mix it too much, because we wanted it chunky.<\/p>\n\n\nHBO<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWho was involved in selecting it? Did you have to present Michael Patrick King with different options for him to choose from, like he was Goldilocks?<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is the type of stuff MPK loves\u2014he writes it, so it\u2019s in his head. And he gets a delight out of awkward moments and putting people in uncomfortable positions for the sake of humor. So I mixed one bucket and showed it to him. And he loved it, so then I mixed two giant buckets, which were brought to set.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve been online over the past week, you\u2019ll have seen that the poop has become A Thing. People have been posting a lot about it \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat, like it\u2019s a metaphor for the whole show?<\/p>\n
Well, yeah, some people have said that. Is that hurtful to hear?<\/strong><\/p>\nNo! I love working on that show, and I love everybody involved with it. And it\u2019s such an institution that people have attached their own feelings to it. I moved to New York at the height of Sex and the City<\/em>, but a lot of people on AJLT<\/em> have been working on it since the original series, so we know it\u2019s something that people care deeply about. And we know that a good portion of people watching the show are hate-watching it, rage-watching it, or looking to it for some sort of catharsis.<\/p>\nOften, the job of props is to be subtle. But with the poop, it was so front-and-center\u2014is that more fun?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy team always gets a kick out of bodily fluid jokes, or poop jokes. We did poop in Season 2 when Miranda was dating the audiobook narrator, and she stepped in cat litter, but this was a much<\/em> less subtle moment.<\/p>\nIs there a difference between \u201cseason finale\u201d poop and regular episode poop? <\/strong><\/p>\nWe try to put the same level of effort and tension into everything we make\u2014even if we don\u2019t know if something is being filmed\u2014because it\u2019s about building the world for the show and for the actors, too. So it doesn\u2019t matter whether it\u2019s the food they\u2019re eating at Thanksgiving dinner, or the books they\u2019re reading, or poop. To me, it isn\u2019t any different.<\/p>\n
The SATC<\/em>-verse isn\u2019t new to toilet humor, but I think this is the first and only time we\u2019ve ever seen human feces on-screen. It\u2019s still pretty unusual to see that on TV, right?<\/strong><\/p>\nWell, I think with the cable TV networks before, you were limited in what you could show. But with the rise of streaming, that\u2019s changing things.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got to say, I\u2019m pretty glad it wasn\u2019t one of the main characters\u2019 poop \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nYeah, there\u2019s some things you don\u2019t need to know.<\/p>\n
What do you think Carrie Bradshaw\u2019s poop would look like? I bet it would look very chic.<\/strong><\/p>\nIt would be, like, rabbit pellets.<\/p>\n
With some little Manolo Blahnik diamonds on them \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nAnd weirdly, suede-blue?<\/p>\n
Yup, suede-blue rabbit pellets of diamond-encrusted poop. In some ways, poop is the great equalizer, right? We all do it. Even Carrie Bradshaw<\/em> has to do it \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nOh totally. And if you have kids, when they do their first poop, it\u2019s like when they do their first art\u2014they want to show it to you! I had a friend when I moved to New York who wanted to do a video series that was just wealthy people on the Upper East Side picking up their dog\u2019s poop. And we did that in Season 1 of AJLT<\/em>\u2014one of the first scenes was Charlotte picking up Richard Burton\u2019s poop with a Burberry dog-poop bag.<\/p>\nOn both AJLT<\/em> and The White Lotus<\/em>, which you also worked on, you must have worked on quite a few prosthetic penises. Are they more or less challenging than poop?<\/strong><\/p>\nDefinitely more. It\u2019s a lot more complicated, and we often rely on specialists\u2014sculptors who specialize in that area. And also special effects too, to help with things like matching with the actor\u2019s exact skin tone. On The White Lotus<\/em>, there was that scene where Patrick Schwarzenegger gets an erection while he gets a massage. We were in Thailand making things on the fly. That was made out of a biking tube. We literally had a bike bump and someone was under the platform pumping it up, out-of-shot!<\/p>\nIn the AJLT<\/em> finale, what did the poop represent in the story, to you?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere\u2019s obviously a wider metaphor there, but I also think it\u2019s admirable how Carrie stays with Miranda as she cleans, and is quite nonchalant about the whole thing.<\/p>\n
And when Miranda\u2019s girlfriend, Joy, turns up and she hugs her while she\u2019s still wearing the gloves?! I screamed.<\/strong><\/p>\nThat\u2019s something that would fall into the category of what we call \u201cshoe leather\u201d\u2014it\u2019s an industry-jargon term for things a normal person would do but would take too much time to do on-screen, or would interrupt the scene. Taking off of the gloves would probably fall into that, but when they hug I think you can see Miranda is trying not to touch her with them.<\/p>\n
This will be a memorable addition to the \u201cpoop on TV\u201d canon. How does that feel to be part of the Poop Cinematic Universe?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s just another thing to make my parents proud.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n