For over 30 years they have been TV’s favorite Bollinger-eating fashionistas.
But Joanna Lumley, 78, and Jennifer Saunders, 66, almost didn’t get the chance to play the roles that defined their careers in Absolutely Fabulous when a BBC comedy boss said he “didn’t find drunk women funny.” .
In a new BBC documentary, Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out, the comedy’s producer, John Plowman, revealed: “We did the pilot and I saw Robin Nash, who was the comedy director at the time, and I said, ‘What do you think? ?’
“And he said, ‘I’ve never found it very funny when women are drunk.'” And I thought, ‘Well, that’s it, it’s over.’
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders almost didn’t get the chance to play the roles that defined their careers in Absolutely Fabulous when a BBC boss said he “didn’t find drunk women funny”.
‘But we did it at night. The audience was wonderful and my most memorable memory was that at the end I saw Ben Elton (comedian) and he said, ‘Well, I’ve seen the future of comedy and that’s it.’
Absolutely Fabulous aired for five successful seasons from 1992 to 2003 and one movie, with a ton of A-list guest stars including Tom Holland, Emma Bunton and Rosie Huntington Whitley.
But speaking in the documentary, which will air on Thursday, the show’s main star, Joanna Lumley, said: “I remember a Times TV review when the first episode came out and it said: ‘Sorry, no, this isn’t going to work and en It’s not funny. Drunk women are not funny.
‘Bye, this is the end of that show.’
His co-star and creator of the comedy, Jennifer Saunders, added: “I remember she also said, ‘Beware of the comedy where the writer takes the lead role.'” I thought, ‘Oh!’
Jane Horrocks, Lumley, Saunders and Nadia Sawalha reunite for new BBC documentary, Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out
Joanna said: “I remember a Times TV review when the first episode came out and it said, ‘Sorry, no, this isn’t going to work.’
His co-star and creator of the comedy, Jennifer Saunders, added: “I remember she also said, ‘Beware of the comedy where the writer takes the lead role.'” I thought, ‘Oh!’
Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times.
Absolutely Fabulous follows Edina Monsoon, played by Saunders, an alcoholic, drug-addicted PR mogul, and her best friend Patsy, Saunders, as they spend their time in a haze of drunken selfishness.
The show is credited with a groundbreaking influence on female comedy by breaking the mold of female roles.
Speaking to the Radio Times yesterday, Ms Saunders said:
“For a start, it was on BBC2, which in those days was more like Channel 4 – you could push the boundaries a little bit.”
‘There were no great expectations. Some executives were not very impressed that the women were drunk.
“But the show got an audience.”
Meanwhile, Jane Horrocks, who played personal assistant Bubble, added that the cheeky nature of the show attracted scorn from some at the time.
She explained: “Looking back, it was brave that it was a pretty much all-female cast. And ‘boyish’ behavior wasn’t normally approved of – I don’t think people had seen women doing that before.
But Jennifer was quick to add that they were never intended to be trailblazers at the time, adding that it wasn’t a “conscious thing” and that Eddie and Patsy “were never written as role models.”
And although Patsy became one of the most iconic female characters in British comedy, Joanna revealed that she almost turned down the role.
After receiving the script, the actress thought it was “the funniest thing in the world” and headed to the BBC to meet the show’s creator, Jennifer. The sun.
While Patsy became one of the most iconic female characters in British comedy, Joanna revealed she almost turned down the role.
‘I thought it was a total loss, we didn’t know each other and I didn’t know what she wanted. I called my agent and said, “I don’t think Jennifer wants me, can you get me out of this?”
Meanwhile, Jane also almost missed out on being in the sitcom after originally auditioning for the role of Saffy, with Jennifer feeling she was “not right” for the role.
However, after receiving little instruction on the character or how to read the role, she felt she was a “waste” and believed Jennifer “didn’t want her”, and later told her agent to get her out of the role. the pilot
She explained: “I thought it was a total loss, we didn’t know each other and I didn’t know what she wanted.” I called my agent and said, “I don’t think Jennifer wants me, can you get me out of this?” and they said, “It’s just a pilot, do it, it may not take off.” I almost stopped being Patsy.
The actress went on to say that being cast on the show gave her the opportunity to expand on the roles she had previously taken on, with the former Bond Girl often being cast as the “pretty girlfriend or the sad victim.”
Meanwhile, Jane also almost missed out on being in the sitcom after originally auditioning for the role of Saffy, with Jennifer feeling she was “not right” for the role.
However, he felt that the actress was “too good” to let go and wrote the role of Bubble especially for her.
Even though the comedy is hugely popular these days, the female-led show took a while to get used to when it first hit screens more than three decades ago.
Tom Hollander, who played Saffy’s boyfriend Paolo, said of Ab Fab: “I went to rehearsal and I remember thinking, ‘This is a matriarchy, this is quite nice, everything is done by women and there’s Joanna Lumley handing out Rothmans.'” “. I remember there wasn’t much formal rehearsal, just a lot of people being very funny, an intimidating level of people being hilarious and outdoing each other.’
Despite the ‘best times’ they had filming the iconic show, creator Jennifer ruled out reviving the show or writing another movie.
‘Many people say that we can’t get away with Ab Fab today, with its smoking, its drinking, its drug use, its jokes about weight problems, its alcoholism and its abortions with knitting needles. I don’t agree’
Meanwhile, Meera Syal, who played Suzy Menkes, noted that the “magic” comes from the show coming from the “female gaze,” adding that Jennifer’s voice was “authentic.”
Despite the “best times” they had filming the iconic show, creator Jennifer ruled out reviving the show or writing another movie.
And while the surprising antics are unlikely to go down well with today’s audiences, producer Jon Plowman disagrees.
He told Radio Times: ‘A lot of people say we can’t get away with Ab Fab these days, with their smoking, their drinking, their drug taking, their jokes about weight problems, their alcoholism and their needle abortions. of knitting I don’t agree.
‘There has been debate about whether political correctness is killing comedy. But that argument is often made by comedians who aren’t funny and blame PC. Some things are never fun, like hitting. Comedy should always shock.”
Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out airs Thursday October 17 at 9pm on Gold.
