CBS | 13 episodes | Sitcom
WHO'S IN IT? Jean Smart, Mary McDonnell, David Rasche
SYNOPSIS: High Society, inspired by the British TV show Absolutely Fabulous, revolves around two New York City women - Ellie a foul-mouthed trash
novelist who smokes and drinks heavily and her best friend,
Dott, who publishes Ellie's books via her publishing house (having won it in a
divorce settlement). Dott is a mother with a preppie college-aged son, Brendan, who is regularly subjected
to the relentless sexual advances of Ellie. At the publishing house, the women work with a flamboyant gay male
secretary named Stephano and sleazy Peter, who co-owns the company.
The show's ratings were strong, but with the network wanting to tone
down the show and apparently Roseanne Barr threatening a lawsuit (she had
recently obtained the rights to create an American version of Absolutely Fabulous),
rather than continuing past the initial 13 episode order, the producers and
network mutually agreed to call it quits.
VERDICT: I originally saw all episodes of the show when it was broadcast on BBC2 in
the late 90s and it left quite an impression (they also showed Jean Smart's
other one-seasoner, Style and Substance). The similarities with Absolutely Fabulous are that the two central characters - women of a certain age - act in
an outrageous, drunken, campy, and decadent manner, without either
really having a grasp on reality or giving a crap about what anyone thinks
of them.
In the pilot episode, the women's former college friend, Val, arrives after
she decides to leave her philandering husband, and later reveals that she's
pregnant and needs someone to help her through her pregnancy - "Haggish
impregnated suburbanite taken in by stunning socialites!" (Val was later
written out of the series without explanation after the sixth episode). The Washington Post commented on the show: "Female characters on the show act like drag queens -- men playing women --
and mean drag queens at that, since the portrayals are mighty unflattering.
The whole thing plays like a misogynistic nightmare"
CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? Over-the-top with some funny one-liners, beyond the difficulties it faced
I can't imagine that it would have continued for a long time
otherwise.
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