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In the 90′s Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley went where no other sitcom had gone, and none have successfully gone since; into the stunted social lives of two 40-something, substance abusing best friends desperately clinging to youth and trendy irresponsibility. It was classic. More than 10 years later, Absolutely Fabulous remains a staple on BBC America, and now Fox will attempt to bring Edina and Patsy stateside.
Fox is developing a redo of Jennifer Saunders’ enduring Britcom “Absolutely Fabulous,” to be exec produced by Mitch Hurwitz, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum for Sony Pictures TV, Tantamount and BBC Worldwide America.
Christine Zander (“Saturday Night Live”) is set to write the script and will exec produce along with the BBC’s Ian Moffitt and original series creator Saunders. Fox has given Sony a script order with hefty penalty attached.
[From Variety]
AbFab has often been copied, but never duplicated. Variety reports that Roseanne tried to bring the concept to the US airwaves at one point, to no avail, and that the sitcoms Cybil and High Society in the mid-90′s were based on the premise. I watched Cybil when it was on the air and remember enjoying it at the time, but I have very little memory of the characters or storylines, while Edina and Patsy are completely unforgettable.
If Saunders and Lumley are bringing Edina and Patsy to L.A., and it’s rumored they are, then and only then will this have a chance to be worthwhile watching. Jennifer Saunders is brilliant and will be executive producing, so there’s hope for a true AbFab remake, and Mitch Hurwitz was the creator of Arrested Development, which also can only be a good thing. But only Saunders and Lumley can pull off Edina and Patsy, to try to replace them would be criminal.
Written by Ceilidh
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17 Responses to “Fox will attempt to be Absolutely Fabulous in Los Angeles”
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This is where that old saying applies: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
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Agree, Ceilidh. A horrible idea, whether Saunders is exec producing or not. Edina and Patsy drink, smoke, swear, snort and shag their way through the series. How is that possible to reproduce credibly on American tv? Just no.
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If it’s not Saunders & Lumley, it’s not AbFab. The end.
However, they should attempt it on a pay-cable channel. Like HBO – that would be a good home for Patsy & Edwina’s crazy. But what about Saffy?
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Lacroix ! Lacroix ! One of my all time fave shows. Totally agree, unless it’s HBO or Showtime it doesn’t stand a chance and even then without Saunders and Lumley it just won’t be AbFab.
Sometimes one just has to leave it alone.
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The greatest part about AbFab was that it was uniquely BRITISH. There have been a very few British shows that American tele has imitated and were passable. But AbFab? No. Leave it be what it is; a fantastically bitchy. American tele won’t be able to imitate that!
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Cybil was based on AbFab? Noooo…I think not. I remember that show, and while it was amusing, it had nothing at all in common with Edina and Patsy.
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i can’t see an american version being even half as good as the original. jennifer saunders is a great writer and joanna lumley is genius. also, what i loved so much about the show was the british-ness of the delivery – nobody can pull off a line like “it’s called colonic irrigation, darling, and it’s not to be sniffed at” as well as a brit.
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I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’d love to the girls in such a silicone, youth oriented city like LA. On the other hand – FOX? The FCC? They aren’t going to give the series room to breathe.
Maybe if they add more explosions . . .
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No, please no more stealing the best of British shows and ruining them. Okay The Office here is funny, but I still think U.K. The Office was funnier. U.K. comedies are superior for many reasons. The writing staff is small compared to America’s team of writers. America is overly sensitive about being politically correct and offending people, the U.K. isn’t. You could have never had a show here like Father Ted. The Smoking Room (U.K.) featured smoking and gossip in a break room thru most of the show. We couldn’t do that here. American ABFab will certainly not have all the drinking and drug references the original does. Our version would probably have Eddie and Patsy going to rehab at the end! American tv has a majority of good-looking, young characters while in England they have people of all sizes, shapes, ages. AbFab is so brilliant because of Jennifer and Joanna who will do anything for a laugh, strong supporting characters, and good writing. Saunders and Lumley don’t care what they look like, what they wear, the faces they make, etc. It is physical comedy at its finest! American tv caters to religious groups and commercial sponsorship while in England there’s more freedom to poke fun at whatever you like. I’m not saying I don’t love a lot of American comedies only that we shouldn’t try to copy or duplicate tv shows which are far superior with watered down, inferior versions.
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It’s been how many years and my husband and I still can’t say “milk” without saying it like Eddie.
Cybill wasn’t “based” on it but they tried to make the characters slightly edgy and it just came off as forced and stupid.
Maybe they can pull it off, The Office is awesome. At least American shows will give you more than six episodes (and three seasons).
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This makes me sad. I love this show. I still watch it on reruns on BBC America
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I can very well see the American adaptation of it, and I propose younger characters, but still trashy (although it’s not voluntary for them) :
jennifer saunders => Tila tequila and joanna lumley => Heidi Montag
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Frenchie – your post makes me want to cry!! You are joking aren’t you? Please?? How can you even mention those two talent-free boneheads in the same sentence as Lumley & Saunders? *shudder*
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screw fox. let it bomb. long live patsy and edina!!!!!!!!!!!
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When we leave the house we still yell “I’LL BE ON ME MOBILE IF YA NEED ME!”
ROFL.
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NO!! Bad Hollywood- no martini !!
Somethings are not meant to be remade or resurrected. They had their time and it was good. Leave well enough alone for once.
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I read your posts for a long time and must tell that your articles are always valuable to readers.
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