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American "Ab Fab" Is Not Happening

Posted by Jake Kalish

 

Fox has passed on the American Ab Fab  after viewing the pilot episode. Why can't we Americans seem to get this right? Alison Waldman of TV Squad has a theory:

The fact is that even with Jennifer Saunders on board to work on the American version, Absolutely Fabulous was an essentially British show. It was also a show of its time, the '90s. Eddy and Patsy's antics were outrageously topical, including all the arcane British references to pop culture, drugs, booze, fashion, PR and cosmetic surgery.

Have to respectfully disagree. British references can easily become American references - think British Office/American Office - and '90's references can easily be updated. Plus, "pop culture, drugs, booze, fashion, PR and cosmetic surgery" - that's all still around, last time we checked. It's probably more prevalent, too. No, it seems the biggest problem to solve, besides the need to get really good writers, is that Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley were so damn good. 

Still, we can think of 3 American comediennes who'd be great in an American Ab Fab...

1. Amy Poehler - much better fit than Parks and Recreation.

2. Margaret Cho - at long last, turned loose on TV.

3. Chelsea Handler - She's already practically doing it an American version of Ab Fab on her show, and with books like Are You there, vodka? It's me, Chelsea.

And there are others, like Jane Krakowski, maybe Elizabeth Perkins, even Julia Louis-Dreyfus if we could get over the Seinfeld thing. So maybe this shouldn't be such a Rubix Cube for us over here in the States. We should be able to figure this out. Still, perhaps a great show is best left alone.

PREVIOUSLY:

American "Ab Fab": Is This Going To Work?

Kristen Johnson May Join The New, American "Absolutely Fabulous"

Margaret Cho: "Bisexual Doesn't Cover It" [VIDEO]

Chelsea Handler vs. Tori Spelling Is A Real Mismatch [VIDEO]

 

 


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Keith said:

"...even Julia Louis-Dreyfus if we could get over the Seinfeld thing."

What "Seinfeld thing" Kalish? In case you hadn't noticed, she's been on that "Old Christine thing" for like 4 years now. Oh, what's that? She also won the Best Actress in a Comedy Emmy for it??? OK, so it doesn't have the viewership of So You Think You Can Dance... way to go America. The show may be inferior to both The Office and Parks and Recreation, if only because the slapstick sitcom with LFN is so... well, so Seinfeld.

Regardless, the show has been nominated-for and won several other awards and frankly I think it does quite well for having absolutely no buzz or marketing. Plus the character is less Elaine and more Michael Scott (or David Brent perhaps?).

Speaking of "Parks..." Can we talk about the real star of that show, Aziz Ansari?

May 17, 2009 12:20 PM

About Jake Kalish

Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights https://www.amazon.com/Santa-vs-Satan-Compendium-Imaginary/dp/0307406709/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208807460&sr=8-1

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Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

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Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

Nicole Ankowski has lived in Ohio, Oakland, and on the high plains of South Dakota, but is now proud to call Brooklyn home. She wrote for alternative weekly papers in the first two states, and tried to learn Lakota in the last. (The vowels can be tricky.) She just earned her MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Beeswax literary journal. She is unable to resist good writing or bad TV.

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