The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle

Before doing that...Let´s FOCUS on the Title's Content & Context ...This is one TV personality You REALLY DON'T want to rub the wrong way! When she has a run-in with someone...ANYONE... She is OBSESSED with coming out ON TOP!

OK...NOW Let's talk about that character assassination most "Vyle"! It's fair to say that we Americans fall into 2 categories: Those who don't particularly care for British humor; and those whose appetite for it is simply insatiable! Would you care to venture a guess as to where I fit in?

YES!, from the country that gave us "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "Benny Hill", we present a veritable panacea for that pandemic feeling Americans have been grumbling about in a chorus that has grown constantly more vociferous in recent years: "American comedies just don't seem to be that funny anymore!"...Unless you find chronic flatulence amusing, because a kind of "I never met a fart joke I didn't like!" mentality, more often than not, prevails here in the USA! Mr. And Mrs. John Q. Public, we proudly present, Ms. Vivienne Vyle! You'll love her one minute, loathe her the next!

She's one TV talk-show host who can instantly discern crass, exploitative, manipulative, ratings-driven interview situations from serious, balanced, well-grounded, give and take, the-truth-must-be served interviews!... And she never flinches an instant...in taking the cheap shot!... Going for the jugular! 6 episodes of 29 minutes each (Unlike their American counterparts, here the half hour shows are just that! Sure beats 23 minute ones!) Usually I can't countenance the little explanative blurbs associated with each title, because they're so far from the truth. In this case, it's rather spot on! The "humour" (British spelling, mind you!) is so wretchedly invective, so perfunctorily twisted! The interaction between Jennifer Saunders and Miranda Richardson is fiendishly inspired! 8.5********

ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

I love Jennifer Saunders, and as others have indicated, I think people were probably expecting Ab Fab going into this and were disappointed when they didn't get it. If you simply view this show with no expectations, it is genius... Saunders and Miranda Richardson are absolutely hilarious in this cynic's wet dream... I love a show where the heroes are vile villains. I'm American, and I have to sometimes google things to make sense of the Britishisms scattered here and there, but the same can be said for Ab Fab or any British show. But it's worth it. I just got the DVD. Eagerly awaiting series 2. and 3+....

I adore AbFab, and have enjoyed Jennifer Saunders in just about everything she's done. So I really wanted to like this show. But I can't; it is much too excruciating a spectacle. Perhaps if it had been packaged as raw drama, it might have had its moments of brilliance. But presented as it is as "from the creators of AbFab", and echoing the AbFab narrative in more ways than one, it goes off the rails almost instantly. Simply put, it assumes that because AbFab won accolades for cruel jokes, angry rants and portrayals of addiction, then by extension -- more cruelty, more anger and more addiction will yield the mother of all comedies. It doesn't. "Watching a car crash" is a tired cliché, and yet so apt here: I was drawn in, yes, and at the same time not tickled or intrigued even for a second. Just pulled into masochistic voyeurism of no redeeming qualities.

I would tend to be very open minded about anything with a cast and production team with this pedigree, and I wanted to like it. On the whole, I DO like it, but it is too dark for my taste. Having said that, I cannot ignore the craftsmanship in the production. It has subtlety which you would not expect from the subject material. I can recognise the depth that has been put into the writing, direction and acting, and for that, I applaud it. Miranda Richardson is frightening stark and awful in her interpretation - a skill she has always been able to project. It is her darkness that gave me the most discomfort...a credit to her. I sense it is something that I may want to watch a few times to really grasp.

Watch it...it is a scary (and funny) indictment of modern television.

This series will definitely have its detractors, but I'm sure that both Jennifer Saunders and Tanya Byron already knew that going in. Still, they are holding up a mirror ...

Sometimes it's incredibly brutal and tragic; sometimes shockingly so. Take a look around at our world. If you're honest about what you see, you'd see this show as an indictment of media corporations and the celebrities they produce for worship, true that. However, you'd also see regular, vulnerable people who don't even try to communicate anymore unless there's some bit of technology between them and others, be it television or the Internet or their celphones. A character says 'association by disassociation' and I think that's such an accurate and succinct description of the contradiction that many of the more vicious daytime talkshow hosts thrive off of.

Meanwhile, we're all still here together: wanting to connect with others and struggling with our own difficulties wherever they find us.

This show is brilliant. I'm actually surprised that it made it this far. Yes, there is hilarious comedy in there, too, but this is not garden variety satire merely for the sake of laughs. And Jennifer Saunders' amazing portrayal and that of her supporting cast is only heightened by the outstanding writing and direction. There were so many moments that literally took my breath away.