I hope no one gave you The Rules for Christmas, girls, because I'm afraid that the idea that men could be brought to heel, like dogs, is completely over. There is a triumphalist whiff of testosterone in the air — the toxic bachelor, formerly known as the cad, the rake, the bounder and the ladykiller, is back in town.

Carrie's brother Peter (John Barrowman) is an attorney whose glamor-boy aura and family mystique obscures his professional achievements. His best friend, Gil Chase (Justin Lazard), is a sleazy, love-'em-and-leave-'em stockbroker, accurately described in the pilot as a "toxic bachelor."