Am I the only person who hates AbFab?

[Yorikke]

I'm not sure I've met anyone who even mildly dislikes the show, and I managed a video store which rented the tapes for about 6 years. I think it's the worst shit ever put on television. When I first heard about it, I thought, "Wow! That sounds really cool!" First time I saw it, "What a disappointment!" Second time, "Boy, this sucks!" Third time, "Guess it's not a fluke, this really is as bad as I thought." I've seen a total of those 3 full episodes and several 5-minute bits here and there.

It's shockingly unfunny to me.

Anyone else?

hrh

[vl_mungo]

No. You are wrong. The rest of the world is right.

[Neurotik]

No, the show is terribly unfunny. I could never understand why Comedy Central kept running it and even have marathons and such for it.

[Menocchio]

I'm with you. I never saw the appeal and I'm terribly easy to please and non-judgemental about tehse things.

[Flymaster]

AbFab is the most hideously unfunny show ever made. You're very right about that.

[Smeghead]

I'm with you. I love British comedies in general, and people kept telling me how much I'd love AbFab. I've seen several episodes now, and haven't even cracked a grin.

[bobkitty]

::raising hand::

No, wait. That's not enough.

::jumping up and down::

Not quite.

::waving both arms in the air while jumping up and down and screaming::

Closer.. it'll have to do. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate this show. I sat through an entire season of it for reasons far beyond my control and related to my employment (there should be a law about that, kinda like sexual harrassment) and never, not once, ever laughed. In fact it made me vastly uncomfortable.

Ugh.

[Eliahna]

I don't get it either.

[FairyDust]

First of all, there is nothing wrong with wanting to tone and strengthen one's abdominal muscles. Second, why on earth would an exercise video appear on Comedy Central. . . oh, wait a minute . . . . . . . . . . .

Seriously, folks, I haven't see any episodes of AbFab. But I did see one funny sketch by French and Saunders that I enjoyed years ago.

[Michael Ellis]

It's very very unfunny.

[Smeghead]

Originally posted by FairyDust
But I did see one funny sketch by French and Saunders that I enjoyed years ago.

The French and Sauders stuff is hysterical. They did a LOTR parody not long ago that had me rolling on the floor. They were also great on "The Young Ones" - they both played bit parts a few times. It's just AbFab that's dull.

[FairyDust]

Originally posted by Smeghead
The French and Sauders stuff is hysterical. They did a LOTR parody not long ago that had me rolling on the floor. They were also great on "The Young Ones" - they both played bit parts a few times. It's just AbFab that's dull.

I'd love to see that LOTR parody by French and Saunders. Haven't seen 'The Young Ones', but some of my friends raved about it.

The one sketch in which I did see French and Saunders was near the end of this video:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0212887

They played Silurians in a Dr. Who sketch.

I guess I'll pass on renting any of the AbFab videos.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Half of the time I love it, half of the time it irrotates the hell out of me. It depends on my mood.

[Governor Quinn]

In my experience, it seems that, sadly, the most popular of the Britcoms tend also to be mediocre. "Are You Being Served", for example, was fairly annoying to me.

[Zap_Rowsdower]

I do not understand the appeal of this show either. When I was in grad school a friend was telling how great it was. She even gave me a tape telling me that they had a great "anti-technology" rant, about cell phones and the internet, etc.

I found it to be incredibly dull and not the least bit funny. I have seen a few French and Saunders shows in bits and pieces, and it is much more entertaining.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

It had its moments, very few, but they were there.

I had a thing for Saffron, though. I guess it's the old "smart girl in glasses" thing.

[DAVEW0071]

I had heard that this was The Funniest Show in the History of Broadcasting, so I was all set to bust a gut.

I was so disappointed. Just shallow, nasty people sniping at each other and getting drunk and self-absorbed.

Yeccch.

[Smeghead]

Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky
I had a thing for Saffron, though. I guess it's the old "smart girl in glasses" thing.

I did too, come to think of it. Except she was looking really haggard in the later episodes.

[CBCD]

I think the show is really funny. I have watched all the episodes many times. I laugh & laugh & laugh at the same jokes every time.

On the other hand, my 13 year old daughter HATES the show, and yells at me if she finds me watching it. She thinks the characters are stupid drug-taking drunks who have no morals, and it is not the kind of thing she wants her mother watching. What more could a mother ask for?

[Exapno Mapcase]

The first season was the best, and then it got worse with every new season. It was basically a one-joke show about a particular culture in a particular place and time and the longer it tried to stretch that joke over the most fleeting fashions, fads, and slang, the thinner the joke got. The new episode set in New York was a disaster.

Jennifer Saunders also kept giving herself more and more of the lines without understanding that on the show her character is not the funny one. There's a reason stars need someone to sit on them when their egos get out of hand.

[Miller]

I seen all the actors from this show be wonderfully funny under other circumstances, so I have to assume the total lack of humor in this show to have been a fluke. Much like its popularity, as near as I can tell.

[Yorikke]

Wow! In my years at the vid store, I receiced many an astonished stare when I said how much I hated the show. It's great to know that I'm not alone. I feel like Jerry Lewis is singin' right at me...

hrh

[ratty]

I think the problem with the show is the same problem that all the 'Saturday Night Live' spin-off movies have. Certain things just don't have lasting comedic punch. I think 'Absolutely Fabulous' might have been hilarious as a 10-minute sketch, but stretching it to an entire show for several seasons was just too much. The whole 'comedy' point of the show seems to be that the writers are expecting shocked laughter at the outrageous actions of the characters. Or maybe they were trying to make some sort of ham-handed social commentary? I'm not sure. Either way, the joke got real old real fast.

[darksight]

Originally posted by cazzle
I don't get it either.

I’m convinced that people who don’t like the show simply don’t get it. Once my dad popped in on me while I was watching AbFab and laughing hysterically he sat there for a few minuets and then said what are you laughing at? I realized that it would take longer than it was worth to explain all the humorous references being made.


How could I explain the white powder under Pats nose?
He didn’t even understand how the Kitchen got burnt down.
I think the show is Hysterical ~

[Banger]

I watch Comedy Central often, including when doing other things (like posting on some stupid internet message board). As such, I have seen most of the episodes of Absolutely Fabulous.

I don't think it is very funny.

The show has a lot of physical comedy, but it is not very funny. Physical comedy may be considered by some to be low brow, but there are some people who have a talent for it, and others who don't. For instance, Jerry Lewis (in his heyday) and Jim Carrey are great physical comedians. Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are not.

The show also lacks a good comedic dialog. One of the most frequently used avenues for comedic dialog involves Eddie, Patsy and Saffron for a matching of opposites comedy (the drugged up and trendy Eddie and Patsy vs. the intellectual and unstylish Saffron). Although this has worked in some sitcoms (e.g., smart and virginal Diane vs. dumb and promiscuous Sam in Cheers), I have never found any of the "opposites" dialogs in Absolutely Fabulous to be funny.

Of the British comedies I have seen, the ones I have enjoyed are Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, some of Rowan Atkinson's work, and most recently Black Books. Of course, most of the shows listed here have a heavy physical comedy element to them, but they all have had for the most part funny dialogical elements too.

Unfortunately, I have never found the physical comedy and dialog of Absolutely Fabulous to be very funny.

[blowero]

AbFab is bloody arwful. Convicted murderers should be forced to watch it.

[Smeghead]

Originally posted by darksight
I’m convinced that people who don’t like the show simply don’t get it.

I hate hate hate that argument, but I won't hijack the thread. Suffice it to say that I get it just fine. I catch all the little references, and I undestand the jokes. I just don't find them funny.

[Banger]

Originally posted by Smeghead
I hate hate hate that argument, but I won't hijack the thread. Suffice it to say that I get it just fine. I catch all the little references, and I undestand the jokes. I just don't find them funny.

I also don't like that argument. I once posted reviews on amazon.com frequently (before the amazon.com people inexplicably butcher-edited a review I posted), and all too often I saw reviews claiming that others didn't "get" the book, or that to understand the book one needed an "open mind".

I don't wish to make my agreement with the cited post to be imputed upon the cited poster, so bear in mind that I noted my agreement to one aspect of that post and added my own peeves.

[Futile Gesture]

Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky
I had a thing for Saffron, though. I guess it's the old "smart girl in glasses" thing.
Hmmm, no. I think it's more because Julia Sawalha is gorgeous, and no amount of dowdy clothing can hide the fact.

Originally posted by
DAVEW0071
Just shallow, nasty people sniping at each other and getting drunk and self-absorbed.
I think that's the point.

This just proves what I've always said about the difference between British and US TV comedy. US tastes just don't like shows that don't have any genuinely likable people in them. There always has to be the ordinary, good person with the humourous, depreciating view of life. AbFab, on the other hand, is full of unlikable, selfish people who are totally oblivious to the humour around them.

[Menocchio]

Originally posted by Futile Gesture
This just proves what I've always said about the difference between British and US TV comedy. US tastes just don't like shows that don't have any genuinely likable people in them. There always has to be the ordinary, good person with the humourous, depreciating view of life. AbFab, on the other hand, is full of unlikable, selfish people who are totally oblivious to the humour around them.

Counterexamples:
Seinfeld.
Married with Children (although I never liked that one either)

[Smeghead]

In addition, I've always loved Black Adder and Black Books, which are both certainly short on likeable characters.

[Otto]

It's worse for me. I don't like the show and I'm gay. If word spreads I could be forced to surrender my membership card.

[Zap_Rowsdower]

Originally posted by Otto
It's worse for me. I don't like the show and I'm gay. If word spreads I could be forced to surrender my membership card.

Great, there goes another perfectly good stereotype down the drain.

[Yorikke]

Originally posted by Otto
It's worse for me. I don't like the show and I'm gay. If word spreads I could be forced to surrender my membership card.

Y'know, it never occurred to me that, since I worked in a neighborhood in San Francisco that was approximately 30% gay, and all of my gay personal friends love the show, maybe that was a factor in hearing nothing but positive reviews.

The same with "Tracy Takes On...", the Tracy Ullman sketch comedy series. Ugh, what garbage. But all the gay customers loved it...

hrh

[Caffeine.addict]

I dislike this show. I found it to be rather tedious with the characters over the course of a few seasons becoming increasingly caricatured. My wife loves this show so I've been forced to watch a few episodes of it over the years.

I don't think that my dislike of this show is due to the lack of likable characters. I liked Black Adder which doesn't have any truly likable characters.

[Smeghead]

Originally posted by Smeghead
In addition, I've always loved Black Adder and Black Books, which are both certainly short on likeable characters.

I also forgot The Young Ones, which I liked enough to buy the DVDs, and which pioneered the concept of unlikeable main characters.

[Futile Gesture]

Originally posted by Smeghead
I also forgot The Young Ones, which I liked enough to buy the DVDs, and which pioneered the concept of unlikeable main characters.
But doesn't this confirm what I'm saying? I'm not commenting on your tastes alone. The examples you give are all UK shows. If they were popular with mainstream US tastes there would have been American versions. But there isn't.

And I am aware that there are American comedies like "Married With Children", but these are very much the exception. (I don't count "Seinfield", they're idiots, but not unlikable.) There is, however, a whole raft of UK comedies I could quote where the main characters are genuinely unpleasant.

Curiously, for all "Married With Children" is similar to UK humour, I never cared for it. It always seems to be mean-spirited and spiteful to me. The viewer is invited to laugh with the Bundys' unpleasant view of life, rather than at it.

To address the OP; AbFab is funny, but rather over hyped. Jennifer Saunders' best work is always with Dawn French (and vice versa).