High Society

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 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.

AbFab was successful in England. In fact, it was successful in America! Americans LOVE AbFab. So of course it made sense to try try try to make an American AbFab. AmFab, perhaps? But it just couldn't work. It could never work. Americans like to see themselves in a certain light. Sure, we drink. But the people we want to WATCH drinking are either funny southern/mountain folk, or angry violent urban youth... not middle-aged wealthy moms. Middle-aged wealthy moms have a pretty wide berth here, of course, but it just doesn't go that far. High Society may have offered less of everything we didn't want, but how could you really have anything resembling AbFab if you couldn't construct a situation where, say, Patsy wakes up in a garbage barge, and it's COMPLETELY RIGHT!?!

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!

Did any other reviewer watch these shows and the Original ABFAB episodes??? I totally understand american's not having seen the abfab episodes when they orignally aired(as getting british tv in the 90's was limited to certain markets, actually still is, bbc/sky, ect don't license to broadcast there shows until a year later or so, meh). It's easy to see waht they copied and stole to create this series. Rosanne actually bought the rights to make a US version. Should have sued this show. if you take a reviewer now and show them abfab then show them this series they can easyly tell what's been stolen. bah......