American television is in a bit of a bind. After the writers' strike of 2008 and the current recession, the TV biz is hurting for viewers and desperate for hits. And seemingly sure-fire hits are hard to come by. Quality has nothing to do with it, or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Eli Stone would be monster hits. So, what is a network programmer to do? Find yourself a "known quantity" and either knock it off, or do an official adaptation.
So, FOX is planning on remaking the cult hit British series, Absolutely Fabulous. The problem is, they've tried it before. ABC incorporated AbFab characters Patsy and Edina into an episode of the last season of Roseanne (a season now mostly written off as "fantasy"). And CBS tried a knockoff called High Society with Jean Smart. The idea never caught fire.
The problem is, the characters of AbFab are utterly irredeemable, drug-addled, caustic characters. Hilarious, but way outside the American mainstream. Any attempt to bring them to network television is doomed to fail, unless the network is ballsy enough to depict them as they were in the British series.
But I'll reserve judgment, until I've actually seen the show. For now, as a break from all of the oh so serious political posts on this blog, I bring you some frivolity. First up, the Absolutely Fabulous tribute from the Pet Shop Boys:
And a great rant by Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) on taxing only stupid people. . .
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