“Absolutely Fabulous” Coming to America
Okay, people, we’ve already had this in the states…….TWICE!
Both shows debuted in 1995. One was called High Society and aired on CBS. The series was about two New York City women and was full of outrageous, campy, and decadent situations.
The Characters:
Ellie Walker (Jean Smart), a successful author of trashy romantic novels.
Dorthy ‘Dott’ Emerson (Mary McDonnell), her best friend and publisher.
Brendan Emerson (Dan O’Donahue), Dott’s preppie, College Republican Son
Val Brumberg (Faith Prince), the women’s small-town former college friend and Dott’s boarder.
Stephano (Luigi Amodeo), the flamboyantly gay male secretary at their publishing house.
Peter Thomas (David Rasche), their sleazy publishing partner.
The storylines were centered, surprisingly, around the notion of family, when not wrapped up in the situational comedy that came from Ellie and Dott’s campy antics. Val became something of a mother figure to Brendan. Stephano, who seemed to be more a member of the family than a secretary, was always in the market for a new boyfriend. All these tied into a very short lived sitcom that had a vague feeling of Absolutely Fabulous (Ab Fab).
The other show was Cybill, which was about a faded television actress named Cybill Sheridan, her two daughters, Rachel and Zoey, and Maryanne, her drunk friend. Also featured were Cybill’s two ex husbands, one of which lived over the garage. With most of the humour coming from Maryanne’s substance abuse, you can clearly see the influences of Ab Fab, as well as the frank depictions of female sexuality. For more info on the cast and show, see TV.com‘s summary. The substance abuse was Ab Fab all the way.
Powered by Zoundry Raven