Product Details

• Actors: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks
• Format: Box set, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Number of discs: 6
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: June 4, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000068GS6
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #114,252 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Comedy > British > Absolutely Fabulous

Customer Reviews

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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Fabulous Collection, November 17, 2002

By	Busy Body (London, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Throughout the Nineties, we've seen some superb British sitcoms. The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family instantly spring to mind, but in my mind Absolutely Fabulous will always stand head and shoulders above the rest. The show was phenomenally popular and was at its peak in Season 2, where viewer ratings regularly topped 15 million - beating Coronation Street and EastEnders to the top spot on quite a few occasions! If you've never seen Absolutely Fabulous (and shame on those of you who haven't!), here's a brief summary;

Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) is a middle-aged typical British woman who works in the fashion industry. She's obsessed with her weight, smoking and drinking. Her best (and only real) friend is Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley). She's considerably older (although she insists she's still in her early forties) and is exactly the same as Edina. The woman is noticeably taller and thinner, whilst Edina is short and chubby. Eddie's daughter, Saffron (Julia Sawahla) or "Saffy," for short, is possibly the most sensible and well-mannered young adult you're likely to come across in your lifetime! Saffy is half Eddie's age, yet is as responsible as an adult, while Eddie is always out with Patsy getting drunk - acting like a kid. Basically, Saffy acts like the mother while Eddie acts like the spoilt little brat. This factor is the show's strong point that makes it so addictive and watchable. Eddie's mother (June Whitfield) and Eddie's brain-dead office assistant Bubble (Jane Horrocks) also shine as the show's co-stars. To fill the time slots, the show has serious filler moments to set up for the episode's final big joke. Just when you think things may change for the better, they are reverted back to their good old ways! Series 1 has some superb episodes, but is the worst of the four in my opinion. The standout episode from Series 2 for me was "Poor." In this hilarious episode, Eddie's ex-husband has threatened to withdraw his financial support for Eddie and Saffy. Eddie must now cut back on some of the luxuries that she "needs" on a daily basis. They are forced to go shopping at a supermarket (shock!) instead of having their food specially delivered by Harrods. Whilst driving to the supermarket in their car, Eddie and Patsy cause mayhem in the streets when they try and reverse in the middle of the road. A car comes along and the female driver hoots the car's horn, so Eddie and Patsy get out of the car and start hitting the woman's car with their handbags and calling her offensive names! On another visit to the supermarket, Eddie and Patsy are stopped in the road by pedestrians crossing a zebra crossing. The two wacky women start telling them to shift it because it's a road and they shouldn't be walking across it! When they arrive at the supermarket, they walk in and shout "Hello?!" expecting assistance! The final outcome of the episode lands them in court and paying in a way they never though possible - an absolutely superb episode and definitely the best episode of Ab Fab ever! Series 3 was another superb season of Absolutely Fabulous and contains the splendid episode "Happy New Year" in which Patsy's sister Jackie arrives at Eddie's on New Year's Eve. When Jackie reveals that she's 72 at the end of the episode, Patsy's only response is, "72?! How old does that make me then?!"

After a seven-year absence, Absolutely Fabulous returned in August 2001 for Series 4. My favourite episode from this season is "Fish Farm." The episode begins with Eddie and Patsy arriving in the kitchen dressed in their mosher-gear; they've just been to a Marilyn Manson concert. The sight of Eddie wearing all that black stuff and Patsy with a fake eyeball is a hideous sight, though not a surprising one as any avid viewer of the show will know the duo will do anything to fit in with the in-crowd. Patsy gets her headphones caught in her hair, so Saffy is forced to try and remove it. The greatest one-liner of the episode has to be Patsy's wicked comment to Saffy, "Don't sit too close...and keep your, your...HAIR away from my face!" Saffy replies with, "My hair isn't anyway near your face!" "Your FACE hair!" replies Patsy. You will never know how much I laughed when I first heard that line - I was literally wetting the kecks! Other superb episodes of Series 4 are "Parrolox," "Paris," "Small Opening" and "Menopause."

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

There's one word for Absolutely Fabulous: genius. Actually, I could think of about a million but they wouldn't fit on this review! Jennifer Saunders is a Goddess and I sincerely hope she decides to stretch the show out of a few more years. I've never seen a comedy with such humour, wit, pop-culture references (along with mickey-take), strong character development and superb one-liners. If you haven't seen Absolutely Fabulous yet (and it'll be a minority of the population who haven't), you're life is just not complete. At last, every single episode of this classic comedy sitcom is available for the first time on DVD - don't miss out! Buy it now from Amazon!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh wow, darlings! An AB FAB marathon!, August 9, 2002

By	Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Settle back with the Bolly and Japanese finger-food, and enjoy a whopping AB FAB marathon - all 24 episodes of the entire 4 seasons!

FASHION - Eddy and Patsy are at odds just how to party at their next celebrity fashion show.

FAT - Eddy's arch-rival "The Stick" is coming back into town, and Eddy needs to lose weight...fast!

FRANCE - Eddy and Patsy decide that a rustic trip into the Paris vineyards is just what the doctor ordered...

ISO TANK - Saffy bars Eddy from her College Open-Day, but Eddy has a few tricks up her Lacroix sleeves...

BIRTHDAY - The acursed day has arrived..Eddy's 40th birthday. Saffy has invited Eddy's two ex-husbands and their new spouses for a sit-down lunch...there's bound to be trouble!

MAGAZINE - Eddy has a new man, and Patsy has to go to work...things are really weird!

HOSPITAL - Eddy's ingrown toenail is causing her grief, and Patsy needs a facelift for her "Hello! Magazine" photoshoot. It's time for a trip to the hospital.

DEATH - Eddy's father is dead...but is it art?

MOROCCO - Marrakech beckons, with its delights of under-age sex and dead-cheap drugs. Eddy and Patsy are beside themselves with exitement.

NEW BEST FRIEND - Max and Bettina come to stay and Eddy simply must have clean surfaces!

POOR - Eddy is fuming! Her ex's have cut her off and now she will be poor! Things are becoming dire...

BIRTH - Saffy has a man! Eddy is armed with her Cosmo sex-quiz for some long-overdue bonding...

DOORHANDLE - Eddy needs to renovate her kitchen since Patsy set alight to the last one. She has found a doorhandle she quite likes...

HAPPY NEW YEAR - Patsy's ultra-glam sister Jackie is in town, but will she still be the drug-pushing old slag Patsy talks about?...

SEX - Eddy and Patsy decide to have an orgy...

JEALOUS - Claudia Bing is making Eddy's life a misery, she needs a P.R. award to make her feel better...

FEAR - Saffy has moved out and Eddy feels like her walls have collapsed. Patsy is going to move to New York, things will never be the same again...

THE END - Eddy moves into a commune, but before she goes completely bonkers she'd better rescue Patsy from New York...

PARRALOX - Eddy is due to appear on "Richard and Judy", and Patsy has just the thing to make her look fab...

FISH FARM - Eddy toys with the idea of playing Lady Chatterley to her hunky gardener...

PARIS - Patsy is all set to resume her modelling career with a lavish shoot in Paris...

DONKEY - Eddy discovers a lone muscle in her arm during her detox diet...

SMALL OPENING - Saffy has written a play called "Self-Raising Flower", all about her upbringing...

MENOPAUSE - Eddy and Patsy join Menopausals Anonymous...

starring Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks.

guest starring Dora Bryan, Helen Lederer, Richard and Judy, Twiggy, Celia Imrie, Michael Greco, Dale Winton, Stephen Gately, Lady Victoria Hervey, Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull, Kate O'Mara, Gary Beadle, Miranda Richardson, Naomi Campbell, Christian Lacroix, Lulu, Kathy Burke, Ruby Wax and Josie Lawrence.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous![.], February 20, 2003

By	Jason Ostrowski "HomeTheaterGuy" (Morristown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I started to write a really long review describing the brilliance of Absolutely Fabulous thanks to the key writer Jennifer Saunders. How there's nothing on our stations that come close to it. Then I realized that not everyone will get it! Sure, Saunders doesn't pull any punches when busting on everyone from The Queen to Madonna. How she shows the world how silly we can be when going threw our mid-life crises! And how honest she portrays her character, Edina Monsoon, a twice divorced upper-middle class single parent (and I use the word parent lightly) who just wants to party, party and party! That's it and nothing else. Anytime she gets an attack of reality, her best friend Patsy, played by Joanna Lumley, yanks her back into the little world they created where they exonerated themselves of all responsibility. All I can tell you is 2 things:
1) Absolutely Fabulous is the most entertaining satire I have ever had the privlidge to watch. I've seen every episode so many times, I've lost count, and still laugh in all the spots I laughed the first time. They never get old or tired.
2) The extras (and I'm not an extras guy) are as entertaining, every disc shows bloopers and outtakes from that season. They also included the original skit that Jennifer Saunders did, with her then partner in comedy, Dawn French. You get to see how the show came about and it is worth it! The last great extra is a skit that Saunders wrote for a Variety Show using the entire cast of ABFAB. It's fun to see the whole cast playing in different roles.
That's it, that's all I can say about this. If you are a fan of Absolutely Fabulous, you must get this. If you are a fan of funny shows, than you must get this, or If you are just looking for a breath of fresh air and want to take a chance on something that could be that... This is it![.]