Cashmere Mafia features actress Lucy Liu as Mia Mason, a woman who puts her career ahead of love in a competitive and steamy work environment.

Lucy Liu feels sorry for you.

If you're a man, that is.

And Liu doesn't even mean it in a condescending way. The star of the new series Cashmere Mafia, which debuts Sunday on ABC and also on E! affiliates in Canada, is being quite genuine.

"We are in a different time now and I think men in some ways are a little bit confused," Liu said after it was pointed out that her character in Cashmere Mafia, Mia Mason, puts her career ahead of love in a competitive and steamy work environment.

"I mean, not in a bad way," Liu added, getting back to how confused men are. "But there was a time when men were expected to open the door and pay for dinner and do all of those things, and now they don't really know what to do.

"They don't want to be chastised for not opening the door, but at the same time, some women can open the door on their own, and it's not something that they appreciate or expect. Are men supposed to be men and pay for dinner, or should they let the woman pay for dinner?"

Hey, we'd let a rabid badger pay for dinner, but perhaps we're not the kind of high-achieving male to which Liu is referring.

"It's a difficult connection for men to understand," Liu said of 21st-century sexual politics, especially as it pertains to co-workers. "Where are we right now? I think our show will address that.

"In this particular case, my character is up for the competition, you know? It's not really gender-related. It's about two people who are up for the same job. But I think if the audience saw Mia back down and say, 'I should let him win because he's a man,' I don't know what would happen to me. People might throw eggs at me on the street."

Of course, Cashmere Mafia isn't merely about Mia. As yet another attempt at the next Sex and the City, Cashmere Mafia also stars Frances O'Connor as Zoe Burden, Miranda Otto as Juliet Draper and Bonnie Somerville as Caitlin Dowd.

That's right, four of them. And how many women were in Sex and the City again? How convenient!

The sexy, ambitious women in the Cashmere Mafia clan reside in New York and have been friends since business school. Predictably, all of them are trying to balance their careers with their personal lives.

And naturally, it's their valuable friendship that keeps them centred. All together now: Awwwww!

Whether Cashmere Mafia connects with the Sex and the City crowd remains to be seen. At first glance, none of these characters is as quirkily lovable as any of the Sex and the City soulmates.

"Everything Lucy is speaking to is really what differentiates this show in a big way from Sex and the City," said executive producer Darren Star, referring back to Liu's comments about men, women, romance and rivalry.

"I mean, this is a show that examines women from the point of view of women in business and the particular challenges they face as career women. And Sex and the City is a comedy about sex."

Uh-oh ... did Mr. Star just criticize Sex and the City? Blasphemy!

"I mean, (Sex and the City) is much more than that," Star stammered. "But the shows are looking at women from two different points of view."

Look, do you want to be the next Sex and the City or not? Make up your damn minds!