I think Roseanne and Carrie Fisher could've reinvented the show. It would be different and very American yet capture the spirit of the original. A young Jenna Fischer would've been perfect for Saffy!
I'm sure they'd be great in a sitcom, but not Ab Fab. You can still make it about vacuous, superfical people, or Hollywood PR people, or has beens, but when you try to remake this? Yuck!
I'm sure they'd be great in a sitcom, but not Ab Fab. You can still make it about vacuous, superfical people, or Hollywood PR people, or has beens, but when you try to remake this? Yuck!
The biggest mistake Hollywood makes when trying to recreate a British sitcom is that they forget the American audience has already seen the real thing (thanks to PBS and several cable outlets) and knows how funny the show premise CAN be.
Well you have to admit it worked in the day....I mean Sanford and Son and Threes Company (don't forget All in the Family)...in my plutocracy it's monkey see monkey do.., your right.... for the most part UK comedy doesn't work in a puritanical country
It's rare when an American remake does well, most don't. But 'Shameless' was remade and did just as well as in England and ended up remaking every series.
Mistake two is when they take a series that relies a lot on the skill and uniqueness of the actors. You can't just "replace" the likes of Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, and certainly not by 2nd or 3rd rate actors.
So many mistakes were made with this but that is par for the course with American remakes of British shows. Firstly, it should have been set in New York. That is the fashion centre of the United States, not Los Angeles. Secondly, the actors should have been older. Half the joke of Eddie and Patsy is that they are past their prime. But of course Hollywood couldn't possibly bring themselves to cast not one but two post menopausal women. Oh, the horror. Thirdly, Eddie and Patsy are not out of touch with current trends. That's their whole thing. Eddie is fully aware of the current trends. To a ridiculous extent. And Patsy has a hand in setting current trends in her role at the magazine (that she never goes to). That's part of the absurdity of the show. That these two drunk and drugged out lay abouts have, in their own way, an undue amount of social influence. Eddie may be an idiot but she runs her own events company (at least I think that's what her company does) and actually does her job well enough to make far more money than she deserves. Patsy is a leech that has been draining Eddie for years and this is often the source of Saffie's displeasure with her. And it's from all of that that the comedy flows. I don't think they understood any of that. Or perhaps in typical American fashion they thought they could take the bare bones of the show and make it their own thing. That never works. If you want to make your own thing then just make your own thing. America did this with the Australian show Kath & Kim and it was similarly dismal.
I think the American casting was pretty well done. Sanders was in her early 30s at the start of the show and Haan was around the same age. They do seem like caricatures though but I could seen them growing into the roles. I agree with with everything else you said. The major fail is the sitcom style filming
@RunnerX13 Agreed, I was going to say.. this wasn't Golden Girl's lol, they were nowhere near post menopausal for the majority of its run. Post menopausal is typically at least 55-60+ Are they post menopausal now? Yes, 30 something years later lol
The characters of Eddy and Patsy are so well played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley that it is impossible to have them reinterpreted by other actors. No one can ever be another Patsy except Joanna Lumley, quite simply this role is made for her 1000% and the same for Jennifer Saunders no one except herself can play Eddy . Any new version would be doomed to failure Ab Fab forever ✨
Exactly they fed off of each other just in sync with each other hysterical communication 😅 just everything with them was at ease with each other not just them ALL the characters were excellent performance
Actually, the mid-90s sitcom Cybill was loosely based on AbFab. The network standards and practices didn't allow them to be as off the wall but the character dynamics of the leads was the same.
I was thinking the same thing. Cybill was a great Americanized version of AbFab without being a direct copy - the mother with two ex-husbands who couldn't quite get her life together, the responsible, independent daughter and the rich, drunk friend played by the brilliant Christine Baranski. Watching this failed attempt makes me glad that Cybill didn't play a carbon copy of Eddie. Kathryn Hahn is great but she shouldn't have just played a clone of Jennifer Saunders. She should have been allowed to make the character her own.
Oh wow I never thought of that, I used to like that show and I can see what you mean now, sometimes a loosely based works better than a try too hard copy
Ab Fab is a product of the 90s and it belongs in the culture (fashion/celebrity/PR industry/magazines still relevant as internet hasn’t taken over…) It belongs in that era. It’s wierd to remake it so far out of its time
I think the biggest problem is the actors all are mimicking the original characters. There is nothing special or unique. It just falls flat. Unfortunate.
Some shows you don't touch. This is one of them. Every character and actor assigned to that character was perfection. The chemistry was perfection. I'm sorry, but the US just can't come close to British humor. We just can't.
imo US can do humor just as well as the UK, just (almost) never on network television. Anything on a major (or aiming for) a major US network has to be as bland and broadly appealing as possible, which is why so many of the jokes are just childishly silly and lacking in any bite.
Thing is those characters really could exist in the UK, 60's rockstars former groupies and such. Why didn't they just take any of the vacuous attention whores from Real Housewives and satirise them?
It only really worked because we already knew that IRL, Saunders was adorable, hardworking and fun, and that Lumley was iconicly stylish, classy, & well mannered. The surprise of them both being so hideously uncouth had the audience immediately engaged. Joanna Lumley a foul mouthed chain smoking alco? OMG! I can't think of an American counterpart that would have worked so well at subverting their own years-long reputaion. Michelle pfeiffer perhaps?
Jennifer Saunders, is not 'hardworking' at all - even she admits that. She's late all the time, procrastinates every project she works on... it's all in her biog AND in Dawn French's accounts of their whole working career. Ruby Wax worked with them on AbFab AND on Girls on Top and constantly refers to how lazy Jennifer is.
As an American, I have to say that the original, British Ab-Fab was a cult classic that ran on an obscure cable channel that no all carriers (regionally) decided to make available - Comedy Central. It was their #1 show until "South Park" came along. Practically everyone had heard of the show, but due to regional cable carriers not airing Comedy Central, much of the USA were never able to see it. It was a time before streaming services. Whenever a friend of mine came to visit, we would watch AB-FAB and they would be aghast. American censors at the time refused to show a variety of items that were routinely part of the British sitcom: smoking, alcoholism, drug use, contraception, explicit references to casual sex, prostitution, etc. For these reasons, when it was revealed that Roseanne was going to make an American version of the show, every American who knew the original was in 100% agreement that American censors would destroy the American version to the point that it wouldn't be funny at all. Your video was quite eye-opening, as I always assumed that "High Society", which did run in the US to very poor reviews and ratings. It was not funny because it had to be censored down to the point that the best the two main characters could do is get drunk at home, not drive, and fall asleep on the floor. The best episode was undoubtedly the obligatory American "Thanksgiving" episode, where the two main characters, who are rich and have never cooked in their lives, try to make Thanksgiving dinner (in America, that's obligatorily baking a turkey), which they do by reading a recipe literally, and truthfully it is funny, as they "dress the turkey" and add 1 cup of Sherry then are told to "reduce it by half". All other episodes were tragic and not worth mentioning, in my opinion. I believe that you should cover "High Society" as a way to compare and contrast British / American censors' sensibilities. Just an idea.
@@cinewhirl she's not right for patsy either. Patsy is a stunner but auch older woman and that's part of the joke. Also Eddie needs to be more of a mess
Pasty should've been played by Janis Dickinson. If they'd have also included Grand, Ed's mother, in the pilot there'd have been a lot more to play off of in the apartment scenes
Yay you're back :) another awesome video. I really like Kristen Johnstone, Third Rock from the Sun was great, but yeah she's no Joanna Lumley, they have a totally different energy. This seemed more like 2 Eddies. Patsy's more the bad influence, just calmly making terrible suggestions and smirking as everything goes to pieces. With the original, you got the feeling that Eddie might be able to get her shit together if it wasn't for Patsy, but it felt like these two would be just as lost without each other.
Its a shame because I like the actors playing Edina and Patsy though I don't think the scripts are good, I agree that Patsy is miscast even though I like the actor. The actor playing Saffy really isn't selling it for me, Julia Sawalha was a perfect fit for that character.
There was actually another remake of AbFab that lasted I think a full season. It was a more Americanized version called "High Society" with Mary McDonald and Jean Smart with a larger supporting cast. Here Dot and Ellie are the two women, Dot runs a publishing company she got in a divorce and Ellie is a partying writer (which is sort of hard to buy). Dot has a son this time, and more of it is set in the office, where you still have the flightly (gay male) assitant. There are some episodes online here on UA-cam.
Cybill was the closest we ever got to AbFab. Instead of applying British sensibilities onto a US setting, they took the very smallest essence of AbFab and applied US sensibilities.
It was on in the 90s too, running around the same time as AbFab, so the Brit show hadn`t become too much of a formula to copy. And I think Cybill Shepherd has enough input to do it her way...great,great show. Sometimes better than AbFab...it had Christine Baranski in, so couldn`t fail.
Biggest mistake: making Saffy too soft and "smiley." Not many people realize the UK version was a hit because of Saff's constantly aggressive tone of severity towards Eddie and Pats' debauched inanity (if Saff wasn't her serious character in the UK version, the show would've just been another "The Young Ones"). The power exuding from UK Saffy complements Eddie and Patsy making the best entertainment imaginable! US Saffy's softness allows a blatant power imbalance causing the show to feel just like another "Will and Grace." Poorly executed attempt to show off Saffy's power is only one of the miserable elements of this embarrassing garbage.
And yet... It always felt like the party came to a crashing halt when Saffy entered the scene... but I guess that was the idea... but not a very American idea...
Somehow, in the weird corners of my mind, whenever I try to think of a US aquivalent of AbFab, Cybill comes to mind. The characters are so different, but the dynamics are similar.
I always thought that the show "Cybill" starring Cybill Sheppard and Christine Baranski was an attempt at an american ab fab. It was actually a prety funny show :)
As long as they don't try to do a Hollywood version of Are You Being Served, I'm good.Thise actors were incredibly funny, facial expressions, timing....John Iman& Molly Sudgen can't be imitated. 10:30
I agree that it feels like a skit - a skit about Americans trying to do a British comedy. I like the idea of Roseanne Barr’s version - with Carrie Fisher as the lead, you know the writing and comedy would be completely different - and it would make sense with an American comedy. And I like the idea of seeing Barbara Carrera as Patsy. The show would have a seriousness - more of a dramedy to it -
You've only got to look at how America TV ruined such great UK shows as The Office and Shameless and don't even get me started on how they destroyed Dubstep
A much more satisfying American show for fans of AbFab (and Downton Abbey, weirdly) was Another Period, starring Natasha Leggaro and Rikki Lindholme. So good!
Oh my. I did not know about this until just now, and could have lived the rest of my life without. 🙄 Why anyone would think they could do a successful remake of AbFab…that s absolutely insane. Insane. The original,was just too good to be redone. Honestly.
Kathryn Hahn starred more recently in the Marvel show “Wandavision”, which is also getting a spin-off with her as the main character “Agatha”. Good actress, deserved better than this tripe! Great video as always!
Good critique, thank you. As far as I can see from the clips one vital element is missing: Saffy’s irritating holier-than-thou self-righteousness. The thing about the original was that although Eddie & Patsy were selfish monsters one came to like them more than Saffy because Saffy was such a Blairite-style prig. Every vacuous eco-cause she espoused made one roll one’s eyes and one came to love Patsy and Eddie with their self-indulgent personalities in spite of Saffy. It was a very clever dynamic. To do away with Saffy’s preachy and irritating personality is to render her a dull nobody.
everyone there looked too young. part of absolutely fabulous is the huge age differences. it takes the humour out of it. there is also a 20 plus year difference between each of the cast, especially Patsy, whom remembers the 60's and looks like it. where the American patsy, barely remembers the 90's, so it would never work
It was never ever going to work. That original energy and those characters are just so early 90s and absurdly British! The whole London 'zeitgeist' scene was captured brilliantly. The 'class' tiers in the UK aren't the same as the US either. One of the best British comedy shows ever produced ❤
@@travisr82 totally. I really disliked the newer series- it just seemed so forced and I legitimately got second hand embarrassment from some of the scenes. And Saffy having a baby with that absolute caricature of a partner was just so far from the original that it never even deserved to be called Absolutely Fabulous. It was lightning in a bottle at a very specific time and the originals will always remain incredibly funny.
This is what happens when accounts and business majors from Tufts run the creative well. You get magnificently bad ideas like this. Any idiot could have told them that an American remake of Absolutely Fabulous wouldn't work for any number of reasons, the main one being that Jennifer Saunders inspired, off-the-rails creation was lightning in a bottle; it wasn't something you could mass produce on an assembly line like white bread. It spoke to the culture of the moment with a very distinct, unique voice and anything that tried to duplicate that was doomed to the knock-off bin. (God forbid they should seek out similarly creative talent and see what they were working on. Too Asset-Averse. I'm sure there's a Cost/Benefit Analysis out there somewhere prohibiting that...) BtW, I don't blame the actress involved here (who have all been brilliant elsewhere). They were hired to do a thankless job and were doing it. This hangs entirely on Executive Row. As Usual.
IMO, the sitcom Cybill was about the closest you'd get to an Americanized version of AbFab. It had a similar dynamic with Cybill Shepherd as the titular character who never seemed to get things right, Christine Baransky playing the Patsy role, and Alicia Witt as Zoey playing a good foil. I liked it a lot, but nothing beats the original! CBS' American Standards and Practices division would never have given a green light to 3/4 of what Patsy and Edwina did..
As an American who loves the original AbFab, it's just not humor in an American context/framework. What's funny in the original comes off as tacky and tawdry in an American context. "Funny trashy" isn't American.
Oh lord that’s awful. I’m firmly of the belief that some shows and films should never be touched again or “remade”. This is one example. AB fab is just too unique. You can’t replicate that or even come CLOSE to thr chemistry and natural connection of the original cast. Wish these studios would stop their obsession of trying remake, reboot etc
Personally I would love to watch the series as I'm a fan of the actresses. However, seeing your footage of the pilot the only thing I can see is that the actors are trying to copy the UK actors (specially the wardrobe and antics) which puts me off - but I guess this is a directors or producer's influence. If they were more their own characters it may have worked better. But I'm just a TV watcher and no expert and still would have liked to see where it goes.❤
It would have worked better if this was set in New York and if they could do a posh New York accent. Calabasas is a suburb so it doesn’t work in that setting and I liked when Edina wore clothes three sizes too small and for a younger person. The thing about it is a posh American accent went out of style in the 90’s so actors don’t know how to do it anymore.
As a lifelong fan of AbFab & an American, I had no clue about this. It would have been awful. I like both the main actresses in the pilot, just not this. No replacing the real Eddie & Pats! If I remember correctly, I think Rosanne bought the rights to make an American version of the show in the 90's as she was still a powerhouse in the industry, but it was too vulgar for American TV to air. It never got made.
Wow I never knew about this. They did make a good attempt I think. Only this Saffy is way too kind. I think the the original series is much funnier, also because of the ridiculous side characters like Bo and Bubble. The movie has some funny moments. But overal it´s just OK. Just like this pilot actually.
IMO this cast is really good Kathryn Han is very good. Too bad didn’t make it, British humor is very funny if you can understand the accent. I watch 8 of 10 cats and it’s brilliant 😊
The US did a recreation of the Australian sitcom Kath and Kim too and it was horrible as well. Sometimes the US writers and directors don't really understand the nuances of another countries comedy style and some of the day to day differences that affect the meanings of what has happened, said or done.
As an American, I can say that I've never heard of it, either the Australian version or the Amerian remake, the Paul Hogan Show however, did get a bit of a cult following in the USA albeit years ago. The British AB-FAB was a cult classic here, so the American version was truly unnecessary.
@@philambrez It actually went further than the US Ab Fab did and lasted 17 episodes/one season. But as I said it can be hard to translate the comedy style because the original show uses Australian slang, idioms, urban legends and stereotypes...the US version is based in the US with US people so the weirdness and peculiarities of the Australian series needs to be understandable for the US peculiarities. Sometimes these things don't make much sense to another country.
But do you want an actress that IS Patsy or an actress that is so NOT like Patsy? I'm thinking Mary Tyler Moore, Candice Bergen, Faye Dunaway, but then the show would have to have been in the 1980s.
For what its worth I think pretty much all the problems come down to the writing. I don't know the Saffy actress but i'm positive then other two could have done a fine job with the British scripts. Of course there is no reason why you would just recreate the original scripts.
I don't know, I love Kristen but she's SUCH a different style to Joanna Lumley. Eddie and Patsy both had pretty posh accents and wardrobes in the UK, which made the insanely trashy things they did that much funnier. The whole lewk is all wrong. The writing for Saffy does seem awful in the US one - right from the first scene in the UK, she's giving as good as she gets, sassing her mum. Poshly.
It wasn’t going to work because the original already had a huge fan base in the US. US remakes of British shows only worked when they weren’t already known. All in the family was successful because the US audience didn’t know about the original, Til Death Do Us Part. The Office was unknown in the US which was probably one of the reasons why the remake was successful. The same thing happened in the UK when they tried to remake The Golden Girls, That 70’s Show, and Married With Children.
It won two golden globes, so I think the Office was fairly well known in the US at the time. It was just a concept that could work anywhere, as everywhere has office culture
You make a lot of great points about the humour. It's so easy just to take aim at the critical elements without acknowledging the things that work or that may work in context for the American audience. These comparisons are really interesting. Although I didn't religiously watch Ab Fab, I watched enough of it to get the dynamics, I wonder if they softened Saffy's personality so that she didn't come across as instantly bitchy in the pilot. Although Saunders and Lumley can be very expressive with their faces and voices. They dialled it up to 11 and lost the subtle moments.
Yeah, they softened a lot of the edges of the original. Patsy in particular is much less selfish and vindictive in this version. Its similar to how they changed the office, American sitcoms just find it difficult to contain unlikeable people
you moaned about not knowing an area so the joke wafted over you with Nery a titter.. sure the show looked pretty bad, thought it was nice to see sally back and as hot as ever, anyway the area joke in the episode is hardly bespoke to this show the original is rife with eddies snobbery about her london abodes fashionable trendy locale and is mentioned many many many many times, and those unfamiliar would find it as puzzling as you did for the yank version,, in short dont pick flaw in one show that the original had in spades
Yeah I get that, I was more explaining why I didn't personally find that joke funny - whereas someone from the area probably would find it funny. Just explaining my thought process
no i got it, but your video is about why this show is horrid, to pick out something the original was just as guilty of and not pointing it out smacked unjustly to my ears.. but i never knew this even existed so props for that anyway, and i agree sally is gorgeous and all but hardly the toff snobbish alckolic dug abuse kind, strange choice@@cinewhirl
In 1995 CBS tried to make their own version with Jean Smart and Mary McDowell, it only lasted 13 episodes. They had the talent, but not “the lightning in the jar” that the British version had. So difficult to do British ideas in America, when Americanized it loses that magic. Not all get bleached out, shows like shameless, kept their edge and did well.
The one thing I know about Calabasas is they enacted the strictest anti smoking laws in the country several years ago (I live in San Diego and I remember briefly hearing about it when it happened)
I can't believe they made this... I mean I followed your steps ... I watched the pilot and cameback... (and I'm glad I did because your commentary was very coherent btw) and I'm astounded at how pointless this was.... Me and my brother started watching this show together and the original has not failed to make us laugh hysterically
Yeah someone mentioned it in the comments. But in 1995 there was an American Sitcom HIGH SOCIETY which was a US version of Absolutely Fabulous! Mary McDonnell is the Eddie role (Dott), owner of a Publishing Company and Jean Smart in the Patsy role (Ellie), but she was the writer of Trashy Romance Novels. In a gender reversal Dott has a Republican SON named Brandon. It's a bit cringy because Ellie keeps hitting on the under 18 son 😬. It was an UNOFFICIAL version of Ab Fab but you can tell what the show was trying to emulate. It ran for about 12 episodes. It was okay for what it was but they weren't allowed to go as far as the British Series went with the comedy and outrageous fun. And it would always be a PALE IMITATION...
You forgot to mention, as appearing in your video, the wonderful comedic actor of stage,screen & radio the late,great June Whitfield, who played Eddie's mother in 'Ab Fab!
Hollywood doesn't get the subtleties and nuances of British humour!. Utter crap!. Same utter failure occured when they tried copying Red Dwarf!..... Nuff said!.
ABC network execs: "Hey - we're making another attempt at Fawlty Towers but this time we're not changing anything!" Cleese: "Wonderful! Let me know if I can help!" Execs: "No, no - we've got it and we're sticking with your formula. Well, we did eliminate ONE character but that's it." Cleese: "Oh... who did you eliminate?" Execs: "That annoying manager guy." TRUE STORY.
Absolutely Fabulous was lightning in a bottle. You can’t just remake that.
agree!
I think Roseanne and Carrie Fisher could've reinvented the show. It would be different and very American yet capture the spirit of the original. A young Jenna Fischer would've been perfect for Saffy!
I'm sure they'd be great in a sitcom, but not Ab Fab. You can still make it about vacuous, superfical people, or Hollywood PR people, or has beens, but when you try to remake this? Yuck!
I'm sure they'd be great in a sitcom, but not Ab Fab. You can still make it about vacuous, superfical people, or Hollywood PR people, or has beens, but when you try to remake this? Yuck!
Even Absolutely Fabulous couldn't remake Absolutely Fabulous...
Didn’t Roseanne Arnold buy the rights to Absolutely Fabulous for Sandra Bernhardt to play Edina?
The biggest mistake Hollywood makes when trying to recreate a British sitcom is that they forget the American audience has already seen the real thing (thanks to PBS and several cable outlets) and knows how funny the show premise CAN be.
Well you have to admit it worked in the day....I mean Sanford and Son and Threes Company (don't forget All in the Family)...in my plutocracy it's monkey see monkey do.., your right.... for the most part UK comedy doesn't work in a puritanical country
Yeah, it's quite odd when the original is widely known
It's rare when an American remake does well, most don't. But 'Shameless' was remade and did just as well as in England and ended up remaking every series.
Mistake two is when they take a series that relies a lot on the skill and uniqueness of the actors. You can't just "replace" the likes of Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, and certainly not by 2nd or 3rd rate actors.
@@kiragoe
The US office was also a huge success as well.
So many mistakes were made with this but that is par for the course with American remakes of British shows. Firstly, it should have been set in New York. That is the fashion centre of the United States, not Los Angeles. Secondly, the actors should have been older. Half the joke of Eddie and Patsy is that they are past their prime. But of course Hollywood couldn't possibly bring themselves to cast not one but two post menopausal women. Oh, the horror. Thirdly, Eddie and Patsy are not out of touch with current trends. That's their whole thing. Eddie is fully aware of the current trends. To a ridiculous extent. And Patsy has a hand in setting current trends in her role at the magazine (that she never goes to). That's part of the absurdity of the show. That these two drunk and drugged out lay abouts have, in their own way, an undue amount of social influence. Eddie may be an idiot but she runs her own events company (at least I think that's what her company does) and actually does her job well enough to make far more money than she deserves. Patsy is a leech that has been draining Eddie for years and this is often the source of Saffie's displeasure with her. And it's from all of that that the comedy flows. I don't think they understood any of that. Or perhaps in typical American fashion they thought they could take the bare bones of the show and make it their own thing. That never works. If you want to make your own thing then just make your own thing. America did this with the Australian show Kath & Kim and it was similarly dismal.
I think the American casting was pretty well done. Sanders was in her early 30s at the start of the show and Haan was around the same age. They do seem like caricatures though but I could seen them growing into the roles. I agree with with everything else you said. The major fail is the sitcom style filming
Eddies thing is PR. She PRs things. People, places. LULU!!!
Agree with everything, especially about living in New York. That was the obvious choice.
@RunnerX13 Agreed, I was going to say.. this wasn't Golden Girl's lol, they were nowhere near post menopausal for the majority of its run. Post menopausal is typically at least 55-60+ Are they post menopausal now? Yes, 30 something years later lol
Perfectly said. I’m so glad you typed it all so I didn’t have to.
American producers probably wanted more sex appeal, which is hilarious because Joanna Lumley is an absolute smoke show during the AbFab years.
I think of Edina’s rant in court in front of the judge that there should be a tax on stupid people quite often these days.
That was one of the most iconic episodes
Same.
The characters of Eddy and Patsy are so well played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley that it is impossible to have them reinterpreted by other actors. No one can ever be another Patsy except Joanna Lumley, quite simply this role is made for her 1000% and the same for Jennifer Saunders no one except herself can play Eddy . Any new version would be doomed to failure
Ab Fab forever ✨
Exactly they fed off of each other just in sync with each other hysterical communication 😅 just everything with them was at ease with each other not just them ALL the characters were excellent performance
Actually, the mid-90s sitcom Cybill was loosely based on AbFab. The network standards and practices didn't allow them to be as off the wall but the character dynamics of the leads was the same.
I was thinking the same thing. Cybill was a great Americanized version of AbFab without being a direct copy - the mother with two ex-husbands who couldn't quite get her life together, the responsible, independent daughter and the rich, drunk friend played by the brilliant Christine Baranski. Watching this failed attempt makes me glad that Cybill didn't play a carbon copy of Eddie. Kathryn Hahn is great but she shouldn't have just played a clone of Jennifer Saunders. She should have been allowed to make the character her own.
There was also 'High Society' which was another knockoff: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Society_(1995_TV_series)
I liked Cybill - it was no ab fab, but I liked it
Oh wow I never thought of that, I used to like that show and I can see what you mean now, sometimes a loosely based works better than a try too hard copy
Christine Baranski is just about the only other actor who can come close to doing a character like Patsy.
Ab Fab is a product of the 90s and it belongs in the culture (fashion/celebrity/PR industry/magazines still relevant as internet hasn’t taken over…) It belongs in that era. It’s wierd to remake it so far out of its time
Agree 💯
I loved abfab but it’s not funny now
@@KknightstarIt's still hilarious af
@@13blackcatzzz as set in the 90’s yes, as set in the present not so much
@@Kknightstar It makes it even funnier now.
I think the biggest problem is the actors all are mimicking the original characters. There is nothing special or unique. It just falls flat. Unfortunate.
Some shows you don't touch. This is one of them. Every character and actor assigned to that character was perfection. The chemistry was perfection. I'm sorry, but the US just can't come close to British humor. We just can't.
American humour: little boy kicks grown man in nuts. Hilarious.
imo US can do humor just as well as the UK, just (almost) never on network television. Anything on a major (or aiming for) a major US network has to be as bland and broadly appealing as possible, which is why so many of the jokes are just childishly silly and lacking in any bite.
"All in the Family" and "Sanford & Son" would tend to disprove your theory.
"All in the Family" and "Sanford & Son" would tend to disprove your theory.
"All in the Family" and "Sanford & Son" would tend to disprove your theory.
Thing is those characters really could exist in the UK, 60's rockstars former groupies and such. Why didn't they just take any of the vacuous attention whores from Real Housewives and satirise them?
this was filmed in 2009/8? did housewives exist then?
Real Housewives is already a satire...
They did exist in the UK. Jennifer Saunders character was a barely disguised pastiche of PR agent Lynne Franks - who was an absolute horror!
It only really worked because we already knew that IRL, Saunders was adorable, hardworking and fun, and that Lumley was iconicly stylish, classy, & well mannered. The surprise of them both being so hideously uncouth had the audience immediately engaged.
Joanna Lumley a foul mouthed chain smoking alco? OMG! I can't think of an American counterpart that would have worked so well at subverting their own years-long reputaion. Michelle pfeiffer perhaps?
Jessica Walter!
Cybil Shepherd.
Megan Mullally
You nailed it, and I have everyone here beat! Christine Baranksi!! She’d be perfect.
Jennifer Saunders, is not 'hardworking' at all - even she admits that. She's late all the time, procrastinates every project she works on... it's all in her biog AND in Dawn French's accounts of their whole working career. Ruby Wax worked with them on AbFab AND on Girls on Top and constantly refers to how lazy Jennifer is.
As an American, I have to say that the original, British Ab-Fab was a cult classic that ran on an obscure cable channel that no all carriers (regionally) decided to make available - Comedy Central. It was their #1 show until "South Park" came along. Practically everyone had heard of the show, but due to regional cable carriers not airing Comedy Central, much of the USA were never able to see it. It was a time before streaming services.
Whenever a friend of mine came to visit, we would watch AB-FAB and they would be aghast. American censors at the time refused to show a variety of items that were routinely part of the British sitcom: smoking, alcoholism, drug use, contraception, explicit references to casual sex, prostitution, etc. For these reasons, when it was revealed that Roseanne was going to make an American version of the show, every American who knew the original was in 100% agreement that American censors would destroy the American version to the point that it wouldn't be funny at all.
Your video was quite eye-opening, as I always assumed that "High Society", which did run in the US to very poor reviews and ratings. It was not funny because it had to be censored down to the point that the best the two main characters could do is get drunk at home, not drive, and fall asleep on the floor. The best episode was undoubtedly the obligatory American "Thanksgiving" episode, where the two main characters, who are rich and have never cooked in their lives, try to make Thanksgiving dinner (in America, that's obligatorily baking a turkey), which they do by reading a recipe literally, and truthfully it is funny, as they "dress the turkey" and add 1 cup of Sherry then are told to "reduce it by half". All other episodes were tragic and not worth mentioning, in my opinion.
I believe that you should cover "High Society" as a way to compare and contrast British / American censors' sensibilities. Just an idea.
I couldn't agree more Phil, did you watch the Only Fools and Horses U.S remake? also on this channel, that was pretty shocking also
Great take. As another American I agree
There's no way an American version could have pulled off the darker stuff like the coat hanger jokes
Oh yeah, I didn't delve into that side of it too much, but a lot of what Patsy says in particular is way darker in the original than this one!
@@cinewhirl she's not right for patsy either. Patsy is a stunner but auch older woman and that's part of the joke. Also Eddie needs to be more of a mess
Well said. The humor was so dark that sometimes you wouldn’t quite catch it on the first viewing. It was a tremendous show.
@@patricksawyer8272 it was so well done
Yeah - MAYBE if it was on HBO or something... the ORIGINAL HBO.
Pasty should've been played by Janis Dickinson. If they'd have also included Grand, Ed's mother, in the pilot there'd have been a lot more to play off of in the apartment scenes
Yeah, it felt like it was missing a character
Janice would have been PERFECT casting for Patsy.
Yay you're back :) another awesome video. I really like Kristen Johnstone, Third Rock from the Sun was great, but yeah she's no Joanna Lumley, they have a totally different energy. This seemed more like 2 Eddies. Patsy's more the bad influence, just calmly making terrible suggestions and smirking as everything goes to pieces. With the original, you got the feeling that Eddie might be able to get her shit together if it wasn't for Patsy, but it felt like these two would be just as lost without each other.
Thank you! And yeah, good points I think you're right
That clip was pretty freakin hilarious 😂🙌🏼😂🙌🏼
Its a shame because I like the actors playing Edina and Patsy though I don't think the scripts are good, I agree that Patsy is miscast even though I like the actor. The actor playing Saffy really isn't selling it for me, Julia Sawalha was a perfect fit for that character.
To be fair I did like the rolling down the hill 😅 I’d love to know more about the French film remake!
Haha same, okay I'll stick it on the list!
Eddy falling out of cars was brilliant 🤣🤣🤣🤣 try doing that now THATS funny 😆
There was actually another remake of AbFab that lasted I think a full season. It was a more Americanized version called "High Society" with Mary McDonald and Jean Smart with a larger supporting cast. Here Dot and Ellie are the two women, Dot runs a publishing company she got in a divorce and Ellie is a partying writer (which is sort of hard to buy). Dot has a son this time, and more of it is set in the office, where you still have the flightly (gay male) assitant. There are some episodes online here on UA-cam.
As far as I could find out, that show shares a similar premise/inspiration but is not strictly a remake
High Society was funny!
Cybill was the closest we ever got to AbFab. Instead of applying British sensibilities onto a US setting, they took the very smallest essence of AbFab and applied US sensibilities.
It was on in the 90s too, running around the same time as AbFab, so the Brit show hadn`t become too much of a formula to copy. And I think Cybill Shepherd has enough input to do it her way...great,great show. Sometimes better than AbFab...it had Christine Baranski in, so couldn`t fail.
Biggest mistake: making Saffy too soft and "smiley."
Not many people realize the UK version was a hit because of Saff's constantly aggressive tone of severity towards Eddie and Pats' debauched inanity (if Saff wasn't her serious character in the UK version, the show would've just been another "The Young Ones"). The power exuding from UK Saffy complements Eddie and Patsy making the best entertainment imaginable! US Saffy's softness allows a blatant power imbalance causing the show to feel just like another "Will and Grace." Poorly executed attempt to show off Saffy's power is only one of the miserable elements of this embarrassing garbage.
And yet... It always felt like the party came to a crashing halt when Saffy entered the scene... but I guess that was the idea... but not a very American idea...
Somehow, in the weird corners of my mind, whenever I try to think of a US aquivalent of AbFab, Cybill comes to mind. The characters are so different, but the dynamics are similar.
Cybill was inspired by Ab Fab apparently, so you are right on the money!
I always thought that the show "Cybill" starring Cybill Sheppard and Christine Baranski was an attempt at an american ab fab. It was actually a prety funny show :)
As long as they don't try to do a Hollywood version of Are You Being Served, I'm good.Thise actors were incredibly funny, facial expressions, timing....John Iman& Molly Sudgen can't be imitated. 10:30
Look up the US remake attempt called "Beans of Boston" if you haven't seen it.
I agree that it feels like a skit - a skit about Americans trying to do a British comedy. I like the idea of Roseanne Barr’s version - with Carrie Fisher as the lead, you know the writing and comedy would be completely different - and it would make sense with an American comedy. And I like the idea of seeing Barbara Carrera as Patsy. The show would have a seriousness - more of a dramedy to it -
You've only got to look at how America TV ruined such great UK shows as The Office and Shameless and don't even get me started on how they destroyed Dubstep
Miscast. Hollywood always picks actors who are popular not right for the roles. Impossible to fit mis cast.
A much more satisfying American show for fans of AbFab (and Downton Abbey, weirdly) was Another Period, starring Natasha Leggaro and Rikki Lindholme. So good!
I believe another American pilot was made, starring Jean Smart.
Oh my. I did not know about this until just now, and could have lived the rest of my life without. 🙄 Why anyone would think they could do a successful remake of AbFab…that s absolutely insane. Insane. The original,was just too good to be redone. Honestly.
Sorry but Brit humour cannot be replicated...
Kathryn Hahn starred more recently in the Marvel show “Wandavision”, which is also getting a spin-off with her as the main character “Agatha”.
Good actress, deserved better than this tripe! Great video as always!
Good critique, thank you. As far as I can see from the clips one vital element is missing: Saffy’s irritating holier-than-thou self-righteousness. The thing about the original was that although Eddie & Patsy were selfish monsters one came to like them more than Saffy because Saffy was such a Blairite-style prig. Every vacuous eco-cause she espoused made one roll one’s eyes and one came to love Patsy and Eddie with their self-indulgent personalities in spite of Saffy. It was a very clever dynamic. To do away with Saffy’s preachy and irritating personality is to render her a dull nobody.
Yeah exactly, each character in the original was really at the extreme of their personality
American remakes are always sh*t
One important thing the remake didn't have from the original show: jokes
everyone there looked too young. part of absolutely fabulous is the huge age differences. it takes the humour out of it. there is also a 20 plus year difference between each of the cast, especially Patsy, whom remembers the 60's and looks like it. where the American patsy, barely remembers the 90's, so it would never work
They were all around the same age at the start, early 30s and 40s
What? Joanna is only 12 years older than Jennifer (1946 and 58).
Jennifer is only ten years older than Julia
You'll never be able to capture Pats and Eddie in a bottle again...😢
It was never ever going to work. That original energy and those characters are just so early 90s and absurdly British! The whole London 'zeitgeist' scene was captured brilliantly. The 'class' tiers in the UK aren't the same as the US either. One of the best British comedy shows ever produced ❤
Even the original didn’t survive outside the 90’s
@@travisr82 totally. I really disliked the newer series- it just seemed so forced and I legitimately got second hand embarrassment from some of the scenes. And Saffy having a baby with that absolute caricature of a partner was just so far from the original that it never even deserved to be called Absolutely Fabulous. It was lightning in a bottle at a very specific time and the originals will always remain incredibly funny.
This is what happens when accounts and business majors from Tufts run the creative well. You get magnificently bad ideas like this. Any idiot could have told them that an American remake of Absolutely Fabulous wouldn't work for any number of reasons, the main one being that Jennifer Saunders inspired, off-the-rails creation was lightning in a bottle; it wasn't something you could mass produce on an assembly line like white bread. It spoke to the culture of the moment with a very distinct, unique voice and anything that tried to duplicate that was doomed to the knock-off bin. (God forbid they should seek out similarly creative talent and see what they were working on. Too Asset-Averse. I'm sure there's a Cost/Benefit Analysis out there somewhere prohibiting that...)
BtW, I don't blame the actress involved here (who have all been brilliant elsewhere). They were hired to do a thankless job and were doing it. This hangs entirely on Executive Row. As Usual.
Different show I know but Abfab was dreadful..GHOSTS US however was WAY better than the UK version
IMO, the sitcom Cybill was about the closest you'd get to an Americanized version of AbFab. It had a similar dynamic with Cybill Shepherd as the titular character who never seemed to get things right, Christine Baransky playing the Patsy role, and Alicia Witt as Zoey playing a good foil. I liked it a lot, but nothing beats the original! CBS' American Standards and Practices division would never have given a green light to 3/4 of what Patsy and Edwina did..
As an American who loves the original AbFab, it's just not humor in an American context/framework. What's funny in the original comes off as tacky and tawdry in an American context. "Funny trashy" isn't American.
Oh lord that’s awful. I’m firmly of the belief that some shows and films should never be touched again or “remade”. This is one example. AB fab is just too unique. You can’t replicate that or even come CLOSE to thr chemistry and natural connection of the original cast. Wish these studios would stop their obsession of trying remake, reboot etc
That was really interesting. It had its moments when they were out in the wild. I expected it to be worse, but it define pales against the original
Katherine Hahn is Brilliant.
She singlehandidly saved WANDAVISiON….
Glad she got her redemption in Hollywood.
Personally I would love to watch the series as I'm a fan of the actresses. However, seeing your footage of the pilot the only thing I can see is that the actors are trying to copy the UK actors (specially the wardrobe and antics) which puts me off - but I guess this is a directors or producer's influence. If they were more their own characters it may have worked better. But I'm just a TV watcher and no expert and still would have liked to see where it goes.❤
Their fashion is so bad and tacky! Absolutely Fabulous had amazing clothes.
Felt Cybill Shepherd’s show with Christine Baranski was rather Ab-Fab.
Oh wow! No no no lol!!!! You can't remake Ab Fab. This is a painful watch.
It would have worked better if this was set in New York and if they could do a posh New York accent. Calabasas is a suburb so it doesn’t work in that setting and I liked when Edina wore clothes three sizes too small and for a younger person. The thing about it is a posh American accent went out of style in the 90’s so actors don’t know how to do it anymore.
As a Southern California resident, I can tell you that Calabasas is considered the country to LA folk. The Kardashians live there
Im in the US and I actually remember laughing alot at the original...they had great comedic timing and use of subtelty.
As a lifelong fan of AbFab & an American, I had no clue about this. It would have been awful. I like both the main actresses in the pilot, just not this. No replacing the real Eddie & Pats!
If I remember correctly, I think Rosanne bought the rights to make an American version of the show in the 90's as she was still a powerhouse in the industry, but it was too vulgar for American TV to air. It never got made.
Cybil from 95 to 98 was also a (loose) remake of Ab Fab.
Rosanne Barr owned the American rights. The original "remake" was called High Society and stared Mary Mcdonall and Jean Smart and was on in the 90s.
Calabasas is the birthplace of the Kardashians - that's all you need to know about it!
Another waste of time. Hollywood never learns, they no longer have any original ideas.
Don't waste your money or time. Ab Fab is perfect and can't be remade.
they cant do comedy they spoil everything and copying everything 😊
I think roseanne attempted to get a us remake off the ground many years ago
Americans don't get British humour it never works
Wow I never knew about this. They did make a good attempt I think. Only this Saffy is way too kind. I think the the original series is much funnier, also because of the ridiculous side characters like Bo and Bubble. The movie has some funny moments. But overal it´s just OK. Just like this pilot actually.
This should send chills to your nether region, who remembers Rosanne Barr bought the rights to AbFab, and fortunately didn't do anything with it.
Love it mate! Great video. Would be VERY interested to hear about the French remake!
And also a Red Dwarf episode...
Thank you! And cool, I'll add it to the list (red dwarf is already on it!)
When the tv series _Cybil_ was on, I thought that was an attempt at an American version of _Absolutely Fabulous._
At least for the first season.
It was definitely heavily inspired by ab fab that's for sure
IMO this cast is really good Kathryn Han is very good. Too bad didn’t make it, British humor is very funny if you can understand the accent. I watch 8 of 10 cats and it’s brilliant 😊
If you can understand WHICH accent?? There are hundreds of British accents all over the UK. Most of them are very understandable, surely?
I always thought Cybil was a remake of ab fab
That looks like a horrible adaptation.
The US did a recreation of the Australian sitcom Kath and Kim too and it was horrible as well. Sometimes the US writers and directors don't really understand the nuances of another countries comedy style and some of the day to day differences that affect the meanings of what has happened, said or done.
As an American, I can say that I've never heard of it, either the Australian version or the Amerian remake, the Paul Hogan Show however, did get a bit of a cult following in the USA albeit years ago. The British AB-FAB was a cult classic here, so the American version was truly unnecessary.
@@philambrez
It actually went further than the US Ab Fab did and lasted 17 episodes/one season. But as I said it can be hard to translate the comedy style because the original show uses Australian slang, idioms, urban legends and stereotypes...the US version is based in the US with US people so the weirdness and peculiarities of the Australian series needs to be understandable for the US peculiarities. Sometimes these things don't make much sense to another country.
@@stevenbalekic5683I’m cringing now just thinking about the “my marriage is over - OVUR” translated joke
Let’s face it the yanks cannot do comedy without patronising the viewer, with the possible exception of veep
Yes, but what will the New British writers be allowed to write under Sharia law?
AbFab cannot be redone. Period.
The US did the same thing when they tried to remake our Kath and Kim, it didn't work,it was a complete flop
Agreed. Kath and Kim is brilliant
americans absolutely destroying british comedy yet again
Dear lord that’s not Patsy, that’s Bubble on steroids!!!
Yes, if Bubble had a few more IQ points.
I'm more annoyed by the fact they pronounce 'Herbal' 'erbal'
That’s how it’s pronounced in the US. To us Americans, it sounds weird to hear the “h”, as if it’s the name Herb.
The 2016 movie of AbFab is without doubt the worst movie ever made,luckily i only wasted £3 on the DVD.8 years later i still miss that £3
It didn't meet my expectations but wouldn't say it was the worst movie ever!
There was a French film version in 2001 called “Absolument Fabuleux” which was basically a ninety minutes version of the best parts of the UK series
Carrie Fisher, though. She would have been terrific as Patsy (I nearly wrote 'fabulous). Probably had enough smarts to walk away in good time.
But do you want an actress that IS Patsy or an actress that is so NOT like Patsy? I'm thinking Mary Tyler Moore, Candice Bergen, Faye Dunaway, but then the show would have to have been in the 1980s.
That's a good point. I think Carrie Fisher would be a great writer for the show. Maybe play Eddie?@@HC-cb4yp
Wow, never knew, so thanks! Boiling it right down, it needed Jennifer, Joanna and the rest, the cast just isn't right. Shame!
For what its worth I think pretty much all the problems come down to the writing. I don't know the Saffy actress but i'm positive then other two could have done a fine job with the British scripts. Of course there is no reason why you would just recreate the original scripts.
I don't know, I love Kristen but she's SUCH a different style to Joanna Lumley. Eddie and Patsy both had pretty posh accents and wardrobes in the UK, which made the insanely trashy things they did that much funnier. The whole lewk is all wrong. The writing for Saffy does seem awful in the US one - right from the first scene in the UK, she's giving as good as she gets, sassing her mum. Poshly.
It wasn’t going to work because the original already had a huge fan base in the US. US remakes of British shows only worked when they weren’t already known. All in the family was successful because the US audience didn’t know about the original, Til Death Do Us Part. The Office was unknown in the US which was probably one of the reasons why the remake was successful. The same thing happened in the UK when they tried to remake The Golden Girls, That 70’s Show, and Married With Children.
It won two golden globes, so I think the Office was fairly well known in the US at the time. It was just a concept that could work anywhere, as everywhere has office culture
@@cinewhirl ok, but I’m right about the other shows.😉
I need to do more research on those other shows, but they are all on the list for me to look at!
You make a lot of great points about the humour. It's so easy just to take aim at the critical elements without acknowledging the things that work or that may work in context for the American audience. These comparisons are really interesting. Although I didn't religiously watch Ab Fab, I watched enough of it to get the dynamics, I wonder if they softened Saffy's personality so that she didn't come across as instantly bitchy in the pilot. Although Saunders and Lumley can be very expressive with their faces and voices. They dialled it up to 11 and lost the subtle moments.
Yeah, they softened a lot of the edges of the original. Patsy in particular is much less selfish and vindictive in this version. Its similar to how they changed the office, American sitcoms just find it difficult to contain unlikeable people
you moaned about not knowing an area so the joke wafted over you with Nery a titter.. sure the show looked pretty bad, thought it was nice to see sally back and as hot as ever, anyway the area joke in the episode is hardly bespoke to this show the original is rife with eddies snobbery about her london abodes fashionable trendy locale and is mentioned many many many many times, and those unfamiliar would find it as puzzling as you did for the yank version,, in short dont pick flaw in one show that the original had in spades
Yeah I get that, I was more explaining why I didn't personally find that joke funny - whereas someone from the area probably would find it funny. Just explaining my thought process
no i got it, but your video is about why this show is horrid, to pick out something the original was just as guilty of and not pointing it out smacked unjustly to my ears.. but i never knew this even existed so props for that anyway, and i agree sally is gorgeous and all but hardly the toff snobbish alckolic dug abuse kind, strange choice@@cinewhirl
In 1995 CBS tried to make their own version with Jean Smart and Mary McDowell, it only lasted 13 episodes. They had the talent, but not “the lightning in the jar” that the British version had. So difficult to do British ideas in America, when Americanized it loses that magic. Not all get bleached out, shows like shameless, kept their edge and did well.
Yes. High society.
The one thing I know about Calabasas is they enacted the strictest anti smoking laws in the country several years ago (I live in San Diego and I remember briefly hearing about it when it happened)
I guess that explains that joke then!
Are you going to look at "Red Dwarf" and "Life on Mars"? And the other way around, the British try at "That 70s Show"..."Days Like These"?
They are on the list!
I can't believe they made this... I mean I followed your steps ... I watched the pilot and cameback... (and I'm glad I did because your commentary was very coherent btw) and I'm astounded at how pointless this was....
Me and my brother started watching this show together and the original has not failed to make us laugh hysterically
I remember the French Version. Absolute fabuleux, it was so so horrible....kinda like my spelling😅
1. I live in the US and IDGAF about Calabassas, either.
2. This cast is fire. I am a big fan of Kathryn Hahn. They deserved much better.
Why would I want paste when I have a real gem?
No Bubble? The assistant looked far too normal. Bubble was a brilliantly funny airhead. And of course, no June Whitfield.
Yeah someone mentioned it in the comments. But in 1995 there was an American Sitcom HIGH SOCIETY which was a US version of Absolutely Fabulous! Mary McDonnell is the Eddie role (Dott), owner of a Publishing Company and Jean Smart in the Patsy role (Ellie), but she was the writer of Trashy Romance Novels. In a gender reversal Dott has a Republican SON named Brandon. It's a bit cringy because Ellie keeps hitting on the under 18 son 😬. It was an UNOFFICIAL version of Ab Fab but you can tell what the show was trying to emulate. It ran for about 12 episodes. It was okay for what it was but they weren't allowed to go as far as the British Series went with the comedy and outrageous fun. And it would always be a PALE IMITATION...
You forgot to mention, as appearing in your video, the wonderful comedic actor of stage,screen & radio the late,great June Whitfield, who played Eddie's mother in 'Ab Fab!
They left out two of my favorite characters: Bubbles and Eddie's Mother.
PUH-LEASE! You CANNOT improve upon PERFECTION. Just Watch the Original!
Hollywood doesn't get the subtleties and nuances of British humour!. Utter crap!. Same utter failure occured when they tried copying Red Dwarf!..... Nuff said!.
shame..
both leads are quality actresses.
😊
it’s truly cringeworthy.!
what were they thinking.!?
🤔 😜🤣😂🤣
✌🏻🇦🇺🌏🤘🏻
ABC network execs: "Hey - we're making another attempt at Fawlty Towers but this time we're not changing anything!"
Cleese: "Wonderful! Let me know if I can help!"
Execs: "No, no - we've got it and we're sticking with your formula. Well, we did eliminate ONE character but that's it."
Cleese: "Oh... who did you eliminate?"
Execs: "That annoying manager guy."
TRUE STORY.
No im sorry you can not re make AF with different people it’s just NOT the same it’s a CLASSIC 👏🏻👍🏻🙌🏻
The closest sitcom to Abfab is High Society with Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell.