I don’t think this will fly, given that there was already some North American exposure to the original, but Kristen Johnston is an inspired bit of casting.
I want to see who they’ll cast as Bubble. Hands down my favourite character.
How are we going to show people smoking, drinking, and doing drugs while seducing teenage boys on American television? Once they cut out all the stuff that made Ab Fab hilarious, there won’t be anything left.
Dang, I miss Ab Fab.
Something I’ve frequently wondered about the original.
Wasn’t Cybil more-or-less an American AbFab?
I don’t think a show based on such a drug- and sex-heavy but consequence-free premise is going to fly on American TV.
The 90s show Cybil, starring Cybil Shepherd, was also an Ab Fab remake. It got watered way down, but it had a few good moments.
Wasn’t Saffy only 15/16 when Ab Fab started?
On the show, yes, but don’t forget that she had an older brother, Serge.
That would be nice. I’d even like to see how the two of them ended up with a baby.
-Joe
Yeah I agree Cybil was a version of Absolutely Fabulous. Just the mother in *Cybil * was a bit more responsible and the daughter a little less together. Mary Ann was a non-drugged out version of Patsy.
They also tried another version of “Ab Fab” with Jean Smart playing the “Patsy” role
Me too… I also liked Cybil.
And Jean Smart. Wasn’t there a brief-lived show where she was married to John Larroquette?
Preach it. But only with the original characters; not some Americanized, changed version.
Steptoe & Son still holds up well today, though.
Absolutely. They all worked great together, and anybody else would be a disappointment.
Well you see, when a man and a lady love each other very much…
I was only an occasional watcher of the original show but it seems to me that the time for doing a new American version has come and gone. The British AbFab eps produced during the 90s were about a couple of now-middle aged post-war “Boomers” still carrying on like they were still 21 and desperately trying to convince themselves and everyone around them that they were young and relevant. That was funny back then but it’s now 15 years later and doing the same thing would come across as awfully dated. Sure, you could make the main characters Gen X but it wouldn’t work as well because people from that age group aren’t as associated with self-absorption, vanity, and obsession with hedonism as the stereotypical “Boomer” is.
Don’t make me stab you.
(Note to administration: That was not a threat.)
I’ve never seen it. For all I know it could be better than the adaptation. But Sanford was still an immensely popular and groundbreaking series. I was just trying to address the idea that adapting a British show was in itself foolish (which I inferred from the OP).
As for Ab Fab, I agree that for it to work in the here and now, it would probably have to be changed so much it wouldn’t be Ab Fab anymore. But there’s a tiny chance it could be something worthwhile in its own right.
I understand “All in the Family” was a watered down version of “Till Death Do Us Part” because Archie Bunker wasn’t nearly as abrasive and offensive as his British counterpart, but that doesn’t stop him from being widely considered one of the greatest sitcom characters.
Exactly. British sitcoms are unashamedly bad. They don’t care at all who they offend. How could they possibly have Patsy not smoking cigarettes let alone a joint? No more selling Saffy into white slavery. I can hear the moral preachers now. It won’t matter who they cast, it will be a watered down version of the real thing. They shouldn’t bother.
Just me but I never liked All in the Family or Archie Bunker.