Absolutely Fabulous

Another six new episodes were shown in the UK in September and October 2001 after a gap of five years, probably after the pilot for a new Saunders series ('Mirrorball') with virtually the same cast got nowhere.

The new series was much darker than the earlier ones, and if you thought they were cruel wait till you see these.

That said it is still the funniest thing on. It is shaping up to be a classic like 'Steptoe and Son' - (for our American readers it was remade for you from our scripts as Sandford and Son) and with the same generational battle going on, with the main premise being the reversal of the usual roles, so that the young daughter is the responsible one.

Joanna Lumley, one of the nicest actresses around and an occasional columnist in the 'Times' again invests Patsy with great power dressing, disdainful looks that can curdle milk and horrendous self interest.

Jane Horrocks (who has grown to be a huge star from her original bit part in this show nearly ten years ago) still appears as Bubble in the new series but now has a dual role as an inane but ambitious day time chat queen Katy Grin.

Ruby Wax is again script editor and her influence is obvious in some of the sharper lines, and as in the third series she does a cameo (as a moustachioed post menopausal woman)in the episode about Eddie reaching the 'change'.

Has a huge gay following (well Patsy virtually is a drag queen, a point made several times in the third series)- in the UK gay pubs and clubs scheduled their events not to clash with its 9pm Friday slot on BBC1.

Absolutely Fabulous remains just that, fabulous, and watching it twenty years later, it remains as funny, wild and original as ever. The duo of Patsy and Edina were a creation of pure genius, the wilder they got, the funnier.

Laughs galore, the whole series is littered with classic episodes, my favourites being France and Happy New Year, the one liners in each are perfection.

I've always thought the cast had as much fun making it as we had watching it, there always appeared to be a real closeness there.

Will we ever get the likes of this again, not sure, but I hope so.

Comedy gold. 10/10

Absolutely fabulous is exactly what the title says. i didn't start watching until the third series but as soon as i saw one episode i was hooked. I bought every single series and they are all fantastic and no matter how many times i watch them they never fail to make me laugh. I really enjoy seeing the various ways Patsy and Edina can walk up Eddie's stairs and come down them! And the way they both get out of their cars!

"Absolutely Fabulous" is, without a doubt, one of the funniest shows to ever come across the pond from the U.K.! Apparently, the sitcom's subject matter and flat-out political incorrectness made it too edgy for local PBS stations to run. Instead, the cable channel COMEDY CENTRAL acquired the initial US rights from the BBC in the mid-1990s. The rest is history.

AB FAB (as we fans refer to it with affection) is the saga of Edina Monsoon (Eddy) and her fabulous pal Patsy Stone. Eddy & Patsy do everything in life to excess - drink, smoke, party. While Eddy has a PR firm (she represents LuLu) and a shop, her main income comes from the alimony her two ex-husbands give her. Eddy lives in a nice home in London's Holland Park area with her stuffed-shirt daughter Saffron (Saffy) who is the opposite of Eddy in every way. Patsy, on the other hand, has a flat above Oddbins, a liquor store. Also on hand was Eddy's bubble-headed assistant Bubble and her widowed mother (referred to as 'Gran' by Saffy) AB FAB was an instant hit here in the US - the initial 3 series of 18 episodes (6 eps in 1992, 6 in 1994 & 6 in 1995) were played to the hilt by Comedy Central. Roseanne the comedienne even bought the rights to update the series for US television, but nothing ever materialized. In 2002 Comedy Central, in joint production with the BBC, produced 6 more AB FABS eps. In these new episodes, viewers learned that in this post-9/11 world, Eddy and Patsy hadn't changed a bit. In 2004, the cable channel Oxygen teamed with the BBC and had another series of 7 episodes produced. There were also 2 AB FAB specials produced as well.

Sin is in, Sweetie!!

With the great news that Jennifer Saunders has a new batch of AB FAB episodes ready for us, my enthusiasm for this show is still high. Although I'm probably not the average AB FAB fan, I'm high on British comedy, and I watched this series religiously when it was on T.V. in the mid-90s. This show is awesome. The British know how to make you laugh.

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley play Edina and Patsy, two flower children who still live the high life. Forever drinking, smoking, sexing, and taking drugs; these two spend their free time taking pot shots at celebrities while abusing Edina's straight-laced daughter Saffron (Julie Sawalha). These two are the funniest characters ever conceived in a long time. Filled with incredible character development, excellent scripts, and excellent acting, you won't find a comedy better than this. Ever since this show, I really like it when someone calls me "sweetie"!

And Ms. Saunders hasn't lost her touch, as the first new episode shows that they haven't lost their touch, the show still is a laugh riot. If you're sick of America's attempts at humour, the Brits will cure you of that.