Take two burned-out female Brits living on lingering fumes from the '60s, toss them into the '90s, add a strait-laced teenage daughter more intent on studying than partying, and you've recreated Absolutely Fabulous, the British sitcom that has stormed Comedy Central.
Let's face it, one person can stand only so much British television fare, but Absolutely Fabulous is absolutely different. Where else do you get a show in which the main characters, Edina and Patsy - a fashion publicist and fashion editor, respectively - disguise their cocaine spending as invoices for wicker baskets, wind up in a sex scandal with an MP, fall down drunk nearly every episode, and sell Edina's daughter, Saffron, into temporary white slavery in Morocco.
With only 12 episodes under its belt, and another 6 scheduled for production, Absolutely Fabulous is the closest thing to a successful UK comedy hit in the US since East Enders or Monty Python. If you have a free half-hour, there's absolutely no better way to blow it than following along as Patsy and Edina fumble their way through another day of modern life.
Absolutely Fabulous, on Comedy Central.
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Absolutely Fabulous