Product Details

• Actors: Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Derek Lyons, Rowland Rivron, Simon Brint
• Producers: Emma Cornish
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: BBC Warner
• VHS Release Date: July 19, 2000
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004WG95
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #505,494 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For Americans not familiar with the comic machinations of the oddball collaborative duo of Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, this video is the perfect introduction. Taken from one season of their British sketch-comedy television series, this video contains a great variety of their work. Dawn French is probably best known in the U.S. for her PBS appearances on The Vicar of Dibley and Murder Most Horrid. In addition, she cowrote the disturbingly funny series Absolutely Fabulous, which is usually associated solely with Jennifer Saunders (who plays Edina).

French and Saunders excel at movie spoofs. Their talent for parody, combined with their excellent eye for wardrobe (notably the million hairstyles of Dawn French), make even their portrayals of Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe realistic. They also include non-parodying sketches, two of the most hilarious being the original Absolutely Fabulous scene and a women's-magazine publisher sketch. Although sometimes their humor includes decidedly English gags and British personalities, the entertaining nature of the show is not truly compromised. Those who are familiar with the show will delight in the duo's talent at its best, and those not familiar will have a great entrée into the fantastically funny, bizarre world of French and Saunders. --Amanda Powter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's to "AbFab" as "Fawlty Towers" is to "Monty Python.", February 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders (DVD)

Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders emerged on the British comedy scene as one of the new crop of performers who began at the "Comic Strip" club. This clan produced great TV comedy throughout the '80s & '90s, much to America's indifference: "The Young Ones (the most successful of the bunch stateside)," "The Comic Strip Presents...," "Bottom," "Filthy, Rich, & Catflap," and "French & Saunders." Then, Jennifer Saunders wrote and starred in a program based on a sketch from a "French & Saunders" show called "Absolutely Fabulous." Of course, it became an worldwide hit and put Saunders on the map. "AbFab" is unquestionably brilliant and Edina Monsoon a fantastic creation but the fact that Yanks love "AbFab" while remaining ignorant of "French & Saunders" is like having people love John Cleese's "Fawlty Towers" while never having seen his work in "Monty Python's Flying Circus." "French & Saunders," being a sketch show, covers a wider range of subjects and humor than "AbFab" and reveals Dawn French as a formidable talent on her own and a perfect compliment to Saunders. Many of the shows parody popular films and musical acts and, while some pieces may be very dry, others are rather vulgar and savage. Personally, I think these shows are greater than "AbFab" in that there is so much more in them - including the full breadth of Saunders talent (both women have an endless stream of diverse characters inside them). Grab this disc and discover what they already know overseas: that French & Saunders are the greatest comedy team of the past 20 years!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Har Ar Yew?, July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: French & Saunders / Gentlemen Prefer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Anyone unfamiliar with this long established comedic duo is in for a treat. Their well crafted use of repetitive humour and uncanny 'spoof' techniques make other lesser parody comedians seem trite. Sets and costumes alone are reason enough to invest in this gem of British comedy, but it is the dialogue and nuance which draws one into their world. A world which lies "somewhere between crap and mediocre". We however know the reality!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilariously funny!, May 6, 2005

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders (DVD)

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are two of the funniest women in British comedy today. (They are the co-writers of the hit show, Absolutely Fabulous!) Their sketch-comedy show, French & Saunders, is rightly considered one of the funniest that the BBC has ever produced. This disk contains some 2 hours and 20 minutes of their hilarious sketches. In it, they parody everything from television experts to home shopping to women's' magazines.

Overall, I found this to be a hilariously funny disk! I watched this with my family, and we all loved it. Is there a funnier French & Saunders video out there? I don't know, but I intend to find out! I love French & Saunders and recommend this DVD to all fans of great Britcom.