A few years ago, there was much talk (which fortunately didn’t come to fruition) that there was going to be an American version of the British comedy “Absolutely Fabulous.” While on the set of “Babylon 5” at the time, I noted that Claudia Christian–when just hanging with the crew–had a lot of the same mannerisms as Jennifer Saunders, and told her that–if the show were a go–she should make a serious push for it. Claudia immediately launched into a spot on, full blown Jennifer Saunders impression, repleat with twitches and “Sweetie Darlings.”
So Ariel and I are now playing the “Shrek II” video game on X-Box. And I’m being all impressed that they got all the original voice actors for the game, until I read the credits in the instruction book and discover that it’s a group of actors doing some amazingly spot-on imitations of the originals.
And who’s voicing “Fairy Godmother,” originally voiced by Jennifer Saunders?
Yup. Claudia Christian.
PAD
• 
PAD,
Would you recommend the Sherk II game? My son loved the movie. We both love video games and are looking for some we can play together.
Thanks in advance!
I always considered “Cybill” (starring Cybill Sheppard and Christine Baranski) to be an Americanized version of “AbFab”–especially considering how toned down a US “AbFab” would have to be for network television–and, really, why would a cable network need an American “AbFab” when the original got plenty of airplay on the Comedy Central (and can still be seen on both Oprah’s Oxygen Network and BBCAmerica)?
Granted, there were a number of distinctions between “AbFab” and “Cybill”, but Patsy and MaryAnn were definitely soul sisters. I think those two women would’ve either killed each other if they met or would’ve gotten along fabulously–most likely, they would spend the afternoon cleaning out every store then spend the evening hitting every bar (Bubble would likely not be able to tell the difference between them, either).
Well, nice to see that quiting B5 and posing nude for Playboy hasn’t hurt her career!
Peter:
Do you know what the rest of the B5 cast has been up to since the show ended, besides maybe attending Richard Biggs funeral?
And will there be a Cowboy Pete’s TV Roundup on the Alias finale, or any of the summer shows?
Sci-Fi looks like it has a good Friday night line-up coming with both Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, plus Monk is scheduled to return soon.
Any thoughts?
A few years ago, there was a french attempt at adapting AbFab as a motion picture, starring Josiane Balasko and Nathalie Baye (Leo’s mother in “Catch me if you can”), two pretty good actresses.
Bottom line is: you never beat the real McCoy.
Yeah what about DeadZone and She Wolf of London and other TV shows you can review.
Oh and a quick question if anyone knows. I love reading the Buffy and Angel novels, but there has been no new Buffy novels that deal with what went on after the series finale and with the way Angel ended I would find it doubtful that just any old writer would finish up the series cliff hanger. Any idea if Joss Wheadon has put a stop to novels that attempt to continue after his series ended, or that no one has just attempted it yet?
I tried to watch “AbFab” on Comedy Central a while back. I am still mystified by its apparent popularity. What is so entertaining about watching a couple of drug-addled middle-aged women stumble around and mumble incoherently?
I couldn’t tell if any of the few episodes that I watched had anything resembling a plot or whether we were just supposed to laugh at them fall over each other. Maybe there was a plot. Not being able to understand a word said by either of the main characters, I couldn’t tell.
I just don’t get it.
Any idea if Joss Wheadon has put a stop to novels that attempt to continue after his series ended, or that no one has just attempted it yet?
Don’t know if Mutant Enemy has posed any such restrictions. But, Dark Horse’s Tales of the Vampires (with their “Tales of…” line being written by folks associated with the shows) featured a post-finale Buffy & Dracula story. And, the grapevine has it that Joss is currently considering continuing the Buffy-verse in comics.
Eerily, I was just reading this article, about how Claudia is moving to England so she can find work after getting pretty much shut out by Hollywood.
OK, so I can’t remember how to post a link. Here’s the text:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/8810882.htm?1c
A link to the story that doesn’t require registration can be found here.
I loved Claudia’s work on B5, especially anything she was threatening to kill someone for some minor infraction or another.
I bet she’d do great if JMS wrote a sitcom about her life with Marcus on that alien planet.
One Colt, is that you Dave L. ?
Wasn’t there an AbFab American translation on CBS for about a quarter of a season about a decade back? I don’t recall the name, but it starred Mary McDonnell and Jean Smart, and cast them as a slightly more upscale drunkard duo. More Dean Martin than Courtney Love, I mean.
Chris,
I have recently talked to both Joss and Dark Horse, and with Joss having total control of his characters, and with sales of “Buffy” literature having dropped precipitously after the TV finale, it is extremely unlikely that many novels/comics will be produced by writers other than the J-man himself, for both creative and financial reasons.
Marco: the show you’re thinking of was called “High Society”.
Has anyone here seen the original sketch that AB Fab came from? Back on the French & Saunders show Jennifer was the mother (of course) while Dawn played the daughter. I recall seeing it for the first time and thinking, what a great sketch, neat idea by turning around the mother/daughter relationship.
Responding to various comments:
Bruce Boxleitner has turned up intermittently as “The Chairman” on the syndicated action series She Spies.
While I don’t know specifically about Buffy novels, a writer with published titles in the Angel line has reported that there are to be no more Angel tie-in novels following the series’ conclusion; a book she’d been approved to write was cancelled out from under her after news of the show’s demise was announced.
To Chris, John C. Bunnell, et.al:
It has been my experience that when a publisher is doing a book series on something that is no longer in production, they usually are not allowed to do anything POST last known episode, like when Boulevard Books had the license for Quantum Leap, BB was not allowed to even acknowledge there even was a finale. Trust me, I asked.
The only exception to this rule that I am aware of is Pocket with the Star Trek series.
Meanwhile, I would like to see QL, Buffy/Angel, and a whole host of other shows continue on in the print media, whether comic book or otherwise.
Just think of the possiblities…
Isn’t Quantum Leap coming back next season or something with a new leaper and Scott Bacula somehow involved?
Isn’t Quantum Leap coming back next season or something with a new leaper and Scott Bacula somehow involved?
Yeah. It’s called Enterprise: The Nazi Years.
You knew SOMEone had to make that joke…
OK people, Ab Fab is a British comedy and therefore doesn’t need a bunch of pretty people (‘Friends’) to deliver funny jokes.
For those who wanted to know about the orignal sketch that inspired the show, yep it was French and Saunders who did it first and unsurprisingly titled it ‘Mother and Daughter’. Hilarious if only for Jennifer Saunders hamming it up big time.
Pity those of us in Britian having to explain our sense of humour to the rest of the world!
So many of the great British sitcoms are continually “adapted” for American audiences and fall far short of the original. I think there have been at least 3 or 4 versions of Fawlty Towers over the years, and I am just dreading the Americanized version of “The Office.” I think it comes down to the fact that many of the British shows are created by the performers who tailor the characters to their strong suits, while American sitcoms are created by writer/producer types whoc come up with a concept that is beaten to within a marketable inch of its life by network executives.
I can’t think of a good satire like Yes, Prime Minister, a show with the verbal wizardry of Black Adder, anarchy unleashed in Bottom and the Young Ones, or as off the wall as League of Gentlemen. Instead, we get a very expensive animated show with Siegfried and Roy’s lions-WTF?
It’s always encouraging when shows like Curb your Enthusiasm, the Sopranos, Deadwood, Oz, etc. hit it relatively big-singular visions of their creators-and obviously, JMS’ Babylon 5 would fall into that category, as well as Whedon’s Buffyverse. I guess, in a lot of ways, HBO is our BBC.
On a personal note, been a big fan of Claudia since the Hidden, she’s an absolute stunning beauty who I think has a largely untapped talent for comedy-if somebody could come up with the right vehicle for her, it would be great.
I agree, that the majority of the adaptaions of British shows to an Americanized version, fail miserably (and not just sitcoms, don’t forget that horrible version of Cracker here in the states)
but there is the rare exception.
Don’t forget that All In The Family was based on the British show Til Death Do We Part.
I believe the reason that AITF suceeded and why most adaptations don’t, is that for the majority of the British classics (Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, AB Fab, etc…) the main character is usually,…. well, a bášŧárd!
I read a Rowan Atkinson interview once, and he said that he believes that American audiences can’t accept a show with an unsympathetic lead character.
OK people, Ab Fab is a British comedy and therefore doesn’t need a bunch of pretty people (‘Friends’) to deliver funny jokes.
Well, first they would need to deliver funny jokes.
The only exception to this rule that I am aware of is Pocket with the Star Trek series.
Doctor Who, which has continued in both novel and audio format over the years since the show’s demise, and through the TV movie and introduction of the 8th Doctor.
Technically, with these novels and audios, the “status quo” doesn’t change a whole lot – some new companions, mixing of Doctors and companions, but nothing really shattering.
Presumably this will continue with the new show and 9th Doctor next year.
I believe the reason that AITF suceeded and why most adaptations don’t, is that for the majority of the British classics (Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, AB Fab, etc…) the main character is usually,…. well, a bášŧárd!
This might be true. I mean, Bean, when it comes down to it, is pretty ruthless. The Red Dwarf Posse certainly has their moments.
But I wouldn’t say all the classics have a bášŧárd. 🙂
Posted by RJM:
I agree, that the majority of the adaptaions of British shows to an Americanized version, fail miserably (and not just sitcoms, don’t forget that horrible version of Cracker here in the states)
but there is the rare exception.
Don’t forget that All In The Family was based on the British show Til Death Do We Part.
Yes, and don’t forget about ‘Three’s Company’ which was a long-running hit show, and was also based on a British sitcom.
There are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, the Americanized versions just aren’t very good. NBC’s version of ‘Coupling’ for example was absolutely abysmal.
Jerome,
I thought 20th century fox owned Buffy?
Joe V.
Uh, the eighth Doctor’s continuing adventures in the novel series and the audio range has been *absolutely* earth-shattering. In the audio range, the Doctor (played by Paul McGann) picks up companion Charley Pollard as a companion, a decision that spells doom for all of time and space as he has created a major paradox. His struggles to mend the timelines and preserve the life of a companion who’s fallen in love with him results in his exile to the Divergent Universe, a dimension of existence where none of the rules of time apply and the Doctor is truly out of his depth.
The novel range has the Doctor engaging a terrifying group of foes called Faction Paradox, and is forced to remove their influence through measures that result in the destruction of his home planet, Gallifrey. The horror of his actions causes him to experience amnesia and be stranded on Earth in the nineteenth century, where he lives to the twenty-first century, a hundred years for his amnesiac self to rediscover his purpose, abilities, hopes, and dreams, if not his very identity. He then resumes his adventures in his TARDIS, in a universe where all the laws of time are no longer being enforced, and all bets are off. The Doctor must cope with the laws of science breaking down without Time Lords to keep the universe logical and easily quantified, and he enters a conflict involving the collapsing multiverse and a mysterious individual named Sabbath, sometimes the enemy and sometimes an ally.
The Doctor also loses his second heart in the midst of all this and becomes merely human, at least physically.
Not earth shattering? The eighth Doctor’s adventures in audio and print have been some of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever told.
Joe V.,
I meant the COMIC license. Sorry about that. Again, they stated that sales dropped dramatically once the finale aired (unfortunate, you would think fans would be MORE hungry for written material once the show ended, of course few fans realized the comic even existed, which is a shame since they were really telling some great stories at the end of the run and filling in gaps along the way).
Anyway, as stated earlier, with the future film/TV plans for Buffy and Angel still in wet cement that doesn’t look to harden anytime soon, it is increasingly unlikely there will be many books or comics in the immediate future, and certainly none that don’t have Joss’s fingerprints all over them.
Trek is obviously a different case since A.) Paramount has denigrated the books as being “fiction” (funny, i didn’t think the shows took place in real life, but I digress) and B.) At the present moment, it doesn’t look like any of the characters from any of the previous four shows (Enterprise still, unfortunately, is on the air) will be experiencing any further adventures on the big or small screen. Sucks for the franchise, but great for lovers of the books, be they PAD’s New Frontier, The Season 8 and Beyond DS9 books, etc.
I just read the news that Bryan Hitch is doing design work for the new Who series. I love his Authority and Ultimates work, and I think this bodes well for an “updating” of the series.
Ok….so if Claudia is moving, I guess whatever is happening with B5 that JMS has been mum on for a bit she isn’t being a part of? Or was she not considered? Or maybe she just moving on? It’s too bad, I’d like to see her in a B5 movie, so I can wash the frell of story line that was Tracy Scoggins’ Lochley from my mind…
Indeed RJM, ‘Cracker’ is NOTHING without the spectacular Robbie Coltraine.
Got to say though, I find the best thing about the UK detective and cop shows (aside from the wit that permiates them all) is that they don’t carry guns (cos the police here don’t, as it’s not considered necessary). It makes chasing down the bad guy so much more suspensful when they can’t just shoot him from 50 yards… 🙂
Peter, if you’re reading this, has someone hacked into your email? I sent you an email a day or two ago about the derivation of the phrase “the good of the many…” and the response I got (which DID come from your email address) not only had a different Subject Line of “hello” (odd, since usually you keep the Subject Line the same when responding to email), but Hotmail’s virus scanner indicated there was a virus in the file.
Or was the virus indicator simply a result of some defect in the file?
Just wanted to make sure.
Can you tell me what was in that file, or where I can get it online? (Or resend it?)
Thanks again.
Luigi Novi
Notes for things since my last message.
1. To Craig J. Ries and Ibrahim Ng:
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, in this neck of the woods I haven’t seen a “new” Doctor Who novel in several years, so thanks for the update. Thought they put the books on hold and was unaware of the audios. Thanks again!
2. To Rob and Grev:
Sci-Fi Channel (owned by Universal) is working on (completed?) a Quantum Leap movie reuniting Scott Bakula (on loan from Paramount) and Dean Stockwell (who is working for Bellasario on JAG, also a Paramount production). Whatever the ending for Sam Beckett and Al, the movie is ‘open ended’ in case ratings warrant continuing with a new Leaper.
3. To Luigi Novi:
I was on the receiving end of a similar e-mail last month.
Peter, Glenn, and (presumbably) the folks at AOL are working to get whoever the ‘Wat Bastawd’ is even as you read this.
Take care everyone.
Lee.
“Peter, if you’re reading this, has someone hacked into your email? I sent you an email a day or two ago about the derivation of the phrase “the good of the many…” and the response I got (which DID come from your email address) not only had a different Subject Line of “hello” (odd, since usually you keep the Subject Line the same when responding to email), but Hotmail’s virus scanner indicated there was a virus in the file.”
I’ve run virus scans on my computer six ways from Sunday with the most up-to-date programs available, and it comes up clean. What has happened is that someone managed to replicate my e-mail address (it’s not just me. Someone sent me bogus e-mail replicating ebay’s e-mail address.)
I’d take Hotmail’s word for it that there’s a virus attached to the fake e-mail.
PAD
Okay thanks. Did you get my email, though?
And should I save that infected email for your investigations, or should I just delete it?
And since we’re on the subject, anyone here know the derivation of the axiom “The good of the many outweighs the good of the few”? I was under the impression that ST II did not originate it, but that it came from a philosopher or something. Chris Claremont even had Collossus attribute it to Lenin at the end of the “Fall of the Mutants” storyline.
Anyone know?
Not earth shattering? The eighth Doctor’s adventures in audio and print have been some of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever told.
Alright, I presumed incorrectly. 🙂
Unfortunately, in this neck of the woods I haven’t seen a “new” Doctor Who novel in several years, so thanks for the update
IIRC (somebody I’m sure will correct me if I’m wrong… again 😉 ), there were distribution problems with the novels State-side, but that has since been resolved.
But Ab Fab does have funny one-liners in it!
Luigi:
While I don’t know about the origin of the current version (“The needs of…”), based upon the set up in Star Trek 2, I was under the impression that it was a modern version of Charles Dickens’ ending from ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.
Thanks, Lee. That provides a new lead that I can use. 🙂
,b>I read a Rowan Atkinson interview once, and he said that he believes that American audiences can’t accept a show with an unsympathetic lead character.
Blackadder had sympathetic characters – Percy and Baldrick. Even Edmund in Blackadder goes Fourth. Sure, Percy and Baldrick have done a few bad things here and there but mostly because they are so stupid they could get outsmarted by canned trout.
But, the fact that the Red Dwarf characters are so sympathetic really does help it. Even the least sympathetic one, The Cat, has his moments. Not many, but a few.
And as for unsympathetic characters…. what about Fallen Angel? Every fiber of my mind tells me that Lee deserves what she gets and I shouldn’t care what happens to her. Yet I do. I felt the same way about Tommy Managhan. It is a sign of good writing when you can take the most twisted type of characters in the world, and make us care anyway.
I read a Rowan Atkinson interview once, and he said that he believes that American audiences can’t accept a show with an unsympathetic lead character.
That seems to be a common feeling, but were the characters in Seinfeld all the sympathetic? They were shallow, self-centered, opinionated, rude, and at times barely able to perceive other people as individuals.
That seems to be a common feeling, but were the characters in Seinfeld all the sympathetic? They were shallow, self-centered, opinionated, rude, and at times barely able to perceive other people as individuals.
Well, Putty was… sort of. But the fact that the weren’t really sympathetic was the point of the last episode.
Even DS9’s characters aren’t all sympathetic… at least all the time. At least Quark was honest about it.