High Society

I was thrilled that Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell were going to do a sitcom probably inspired by the British comedy, Absolutely Fabulous, about two upper class spoiled New Yorkers. Faith Prince was terribly underused and under-rated. She was supposed to be huge after her triumphant performance in Guys and Dolls opposite Nathan Lane but Smart and McDonnell did what they could with a terrible script. I was hoping that the show would last longer than it did which was only a few episodes. Both actresses are accomplished veterans of the sitcom genre that they should have used their experiences to make this show better. Maybe the idea of two rich and spoiled divorced women are reminiscent of The First Wives Club. I didn't care for that much neither.

This show was the first of the 3 big network's attempts to translate the British phenomenon "Absolutely Fabulous" for American tastes (read: less vulgarity, less foul language, NO overt drug-taking, less drinking, etc.) that actually reached the screen ("Cybill" is often reported as being an "AbFab" spin, but the two have very little in common to acknowledge its British cousin as an influence); its quick failure ensured that it would also be the last. Mary McDonell & Jean Smart made for a great comedy duo and shared a good deal of chemistry, but they were surrounded by a lackluster supporting cast and amusing but often messy writing that too quickly relied upon a one-liner than dialogue that could flesh out a character, no matter how funny that one-liner may have been. Yet another interesting attempt to adapt a British program to American tastes.

I'm a huge Mary McDonnell fan and absolutely love the comedic timing and chemistry she has with Jean Smart. I wish there was at least another two more seasons of the show. I just love the outlandish and craziness of the characters. I don't necessarily think that the supporting cast was weak. I felt like they sit in nicely with the two main characters.

I went out of my way to find the existing 13 episodes on YouTube and have watched them probably three or four times at this point. I wish I had discovered the show when it was on TV in the 90s, but it reminds me of Absolutely Fabulous crossed with Designing Women.

Often-compared to "Absolutely Fabulous," but really nothing like it, "High Society" should have been an enormous hit. Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell had remarkable chemistry together and the writing was top-notch, which should have been enough to keep the series afloat. Wrong. Some people had a hard time picturing Smart as anything but her homely character from "Designing Women," despite the fact most of her roles have been closer to Ellie than Charlene. Critics trashed it. Even actor John Schneider trashed it in an interview on TNN (then he subsequently ended up on "Veronica's Closet"). In several reviews, the characters in "Society" were criticized for laughing at their own jokes. Yet a few years later, Megan Mullally was hailed on "Will and Grace" for doing that same thing. Take the two characters from this show and roll them into one and you have "Will and Grace"'s Karen Walker, complete with Dott's look and Ellie's last name. Personally, I think this was one of the funniest sitcom of all time - too bad it was so closely compared to AbFab that very few people remember it!

I never was a big fan of Absolutely Fabulous....so maybe that's why I liked this one so much! Although when they got rid of the Val character, it was a death blow to the show - I still have one of the episodes on tape because I enjoyed it so much. This was the episode where Stephano quit and Val took over the office. I've watched this with numerous friends numerous times and no one has hated it (as the person before me claimed). I'm unsure if this is because he may have only seen one episode. Anyhow, I had a feeling this would not make it because it was over the top and not a great fit for Murphy Brown (more like something that would go well with Will & Grace). Perhaps when the Gay network is up and running, they will put this on again.