It's time for the battle to really begin: Lipstick Jungle [1] premieres tonight on NBC, bringing us the year's second crop of high-powered career women in fabulous clothing dealing with the problems of the well-heeled and wealthy. As I mentioned, I gave Lipstick a slight edge [2] over Cashmere Mafia [3] based on the first couple of episodes of each; I thought Lipstick was the more serious and somewhat better-acted of the two. It has a ways to go before it's SatC level, but I'm willing to stick with it.

I've already shared some of what Brooke Shields and Candace Bushnell had to say [4] about the show, but in honor of tonight's premiere, I wanted to toss a couple of other moments from our conversation out there:

• Shields wanted to play Wendy from the moment she first read the book, but by the time the show was actually casting, she'd found out she was pregnant. Luckily for her, Bushnell and co. decided to make some changes to the show, and by the time they were ready to shoot the pilot, she was free again.
• The three leading ladies really are friends in real life. "I remember being on Friends and thinking oh, I want to know that they’re all really friends in real life," Shields said. "We’re with each other for long, long, long days and we have to share so much that it’s nice to really respect not just the talent but the person."
• For the record, Candace Bushnell's top five female-focused TV shows of all time are I Love Lucy, Murphy Brown, Mary Tyler Moore, Judging Amy, and — surprise! — Sex and the City.

Will Lipstick Jungle join that list? I can't wait to get your thoughts tomorrow. For now, you can check out a preview if you .

Photo courtesy of NBC [5]