Absolutely Fabulous

Fashion icons. Crazy bi*#@es. And it’s true – they were nothing short of absolutely fabulous, if only in their own heads. They were an especially fab fit for fashion fiends who love a good outfit-based visual gag. Airing on the BBC between 1992 and 1996 and again from 2001 to 2005, AbFab was a BAFTA and International Emmy Award-winning British sitcom written by and starring Jennifer Saunders and co-starring Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield, and Jane Horrocks. Edina Monsoon (Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Lumley) had been friends since childhood and were now in a codependent adult friendship bolstered by their immaturity, selfishness, vanity, and love of drugs and fashion. Edina and her daughter, the responsible, conservative, virtuous, and intellectual Saffron (Sawalha), lived in a nice home in London’s Holland Park and were often visited by Patsy, a harsh former model who got her fashion magazine job by sleeping with the publisher. 40-something Edina ran a struggling PR company and was a certified fashion victim, jumping on every trend even though most of them made her look ridiculous. She was entrenched in her own 60s counterculture values and was accustomed to a high standard of living, thanks to alimony from two ex-husbands. Obsessed with fashion and celebrity, she was the perfect mate for the equally shallow Patsy. Patsy, meanwhile, was a chain-smoking alcoholic drug-user with a perpetually cold demeanor and penchant for cruelty toward Saffron, whose sensibility confounded her. The two shared a mutual hatred and pulled no punches when insulting each other. Patsy was also a former Bond girl, which Lumley was in real life, having appeared in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She would later go on to work at Jeremy’s, an exclusive clothing store with a celebrity clientele. Horrocks (Little Voice) played Edina’s poorly-dressed assistant, the aptly-named air-head, Bubble. Guest appearances were made by stars such as Marianne Faithfull, Minnie Driver, Naomi Campbell, Helena Bonham Carter, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Elton John, Christian Lacroix, and Twiggy. Whitfield played Edina’s mother, June. The show has become a cult favorite and continues to win over new fans with its cruel humor, outrageous fashion, and physical comedy. It was placed 17^th on the BBC’s Britain’s Best Sitcom poll.

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