`Single in the City' lacks realism.(The Orlando Sentinel)

The problem with ``Sex and the City'' is that it isn't real enough.

Sure, the sentiments are real, the dialogue is believable and the situations faced by the show's four stars are plausible _ but only when collected from the entire dating pool of New York City.

But at its heart, ``Sex and the City'' portrays four gorgeous, well-off New York women who can't seem to find Mr. Right. And when most people look at the women depicted on the show, they have a hard time relating to their problems.

So starting July 7, We, the women's entertainment channel, is trying to out-sex-and-the-city ``Sex and the City'' with its new reality-based show, ``Single in the City.''

As it turns out, the only problem with ``Single in the City'' is that it too is not real enough.

In fact, We's offering may be as far out in left field as HBO's original, and the single women of New York City should probably brace themselves to be robbed of whatever dignity ``Sex and the City'' left them.

``Single in the City'' is an eight-part documentary based around the lives of 11 single women looking for love _ or whatever seems to pass for it these days among urbanites. And as far as I can tell, having never lived in New York longer than it takes to get drunk, spend $400 and berate a homeless man, the show is an accurate portrayal of the city's single scene. As far as I know, ``Sex and the City'' is too. Unfortunately, what passes for reality in our nation's most urban center is easily classified as pop-fiction everywhere else.