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.
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
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.
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 ~
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.
AbFab is bloody arwful. Convicted murderers should be forced to watch 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.
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.
Hmmm, no. I think it’s more because Julia Sawalha is gorgeous, and no amount of dowdy clothing can hide the fact.
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.
Counterexamples:
Seinfeld.
Married with Children (although I never liked that one either)
In addition, I’ve always loved Black Adder and Black Books, which are both certainly short on likeable characters.
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.
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
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.
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).