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Absolutely Fabulous - Complete Series 4

Absolutely Fabulous - Complete Series 4

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $23.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Honey, sweety, darling !!!
Review: Bali, Stoli and nothing but humor. This is the funniest television show of our time. The British knew what they were doing when they brought this gem back. Eddie and Pats are the Brits version of a single Lucy and Ethel. The returns of Eddie's daughter Saffron, gran,Eddie's whacky assistant Bubble, Justin and Marshal are also wonderful to see as well. In addition to the new characters Katy Grin and Lady Candy are nice touches. The fact that Eddie had put down her Lacroix, who gives a cameo in the Paris episode, for a little more toned down style like Burrberry is a nice change. The episode when they go to the Manson concert is hilarious! Though it doesnt have the pazazz it had before it still beats out anything on television today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT comeback
Review: I admit, I thought these girls had wrung the last bit out of their theme and were OVER. Well, I was wrong. This round is so fresh and funny and downright SMART. No need to tell you what's on it since the other reviews do; (i wouldn't want to spoil it for you personally) but I even recommend this to people who haven't seen the show before -- they set it up so well you don't need to have seen the previous episodes. Not sure why someone got the same extras on both DVDs though -- I didn't!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AbFab Forever!
Review: I am a huge Jennifer Saunders fan and I thought that these episodes of AbFab are just as amazing as the first 3 seasons. I think some might be daunted when watching these new episodes of AbFab because there are a few things that have changed in the series, but what did you expect? The characters are still just as shallow as they have ever been. Besides, a series can not stay the same forever or it would just be the same old thing all the time and become boring. You can't compare the first 3 seasons of the show to the 4th because there has been a 5 year hiatus. Ideas change, the world changes and television changes. I think by changing things a bit Jennifer Saunders has created more trouble and more laughs for the characters. The jokes are just as dry, witty and humorous as the first episodes and I applaude her for that.

Plus, the dvd has an amazing selection of extra features like the commentary from Jennifer Saunders where she tells how she got inspiration for the jokes and episodes. The out-takes are absolutely hilarious and filled with funny moments from the cast. Also, one of the best features is the full length pilot episode of "Mirrorball" which was going to be Jennifer Saunders' new series on the BBC. It has the entire cast of AbFab playing different characters, and it is fun to see their wide range of acting abilities. Plus, the episode was actually quite funny. There is a lot of slapstick comedy in it. So, all in all, I would absolutely recommend buying this dvd collection. It is a must have for any AbFab fan.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Its Fabulous...Good Thank You....
Review: I cant say anything else besides how much I love it...Absolutely Fabulous is my FAVORITE show of all time and it will always be...There are a lot of things that I didnt understand in the show but with the Commentary with Jennifer and Director Jon Plowman, It helped me out a lot...I can stop watching 'Fish Farm,Small Opening,and Parralox' They are the best ones out of the entire series..But I think that it would be better if the whole 'goth' thing stayed throughout the whole episode of Fish Farm...I cannot wait to get the DVD Collection series 1-3!!! Well Done Jennifer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More Great British Humor from Saunders & Lumley!
Review: I fell in love with "Absolutely Fabulous" the first time that I ever saw it and couldn't get enough.

Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) live in a world free of responsibility where shopping, drinking, affairs, high fashion and the 1960's sexual revolution are the highest virtues. Saffron (Julia Sawalha), Edina's daughter, lives in the real world of practicallity, education and accountability; and attempts to keep Edina & Patsy from going totally out of control, but usually fails.

The combination of these diametrically opposed personalities is totally hilarious and fun as you ponder just how far Edina & Patsy will go as well as seeing just how much more conservative Saffron will become.

I highly recommend the purchase of the this 2-DVD set of the fourth season. If you don't have the first three seaons, I would highly recommend getting the 4-DVD set of the first three seasons also.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AbFab at its best
Review: I realize I may be in the minority, but I love series 4, so much so, actually, that I'm tempted to call it my favourite series (but then I remember some of the too-brilliant-for-words earlier episodes and just can't make up my mind).

The truth is, if you are expecting AbFab to pick up exactly from where it left, you'll be better off not getting your hands on series 4, because half a decade has passed and the world just isn't the same anymore. What was cool, fashionable and modern before, is now old and dated, at least for the likes of Edina who only live to keep up with the latest trends. There definitely is a huge visual contrast to what the show used to look like, but don't let that get on the way. Edina and Patsy are still at it, crazier (and also more desperate) than ever; experimenting with parralox, dieting with detox, popping pills, going after men, all the while trying to avoid getting old.

All I can say is give it a go and see what you think. I think it's absolutely fabulous.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jennifer Saunders still sizzles as Ab Fab's creative genius
Review: I waited 6 months from the time I first saw the new episodes (and watched them many times since) until now to write this review with some perspective. Ab Fab takes repeated viewings to fully comprehend what is going on all around, to the side of, and behind the main action. It was worth the wait.
To try and compare this series with the original 3 is like trying to compare yourself with who you were 5 years ago. Two different animals. Alike, yet compellingly different. So it is with Ab Fab.

Jennifer Saunders has wisely tweaked the characters with slight growing pains, small doses of mortality and post millenium lives. Everyone has moved forward, albiet at different speeds. Yet all the old excesses and mannerisms, like old friends, have followed. Deja vu with a hiccup.
I give this 5 stars because it is still the only thing on television that makes me laugh OUT LOUD. Except for French & Saunders, but she's in THAT also. Coincidence?
Vintage Jennifer Saunders genius.

Brief episode rating:
1.) SMALL OPENING ep.5 - This was the one I was waiting for. The whole "is it a bee?" bit kills me. Hysterically funny, as good as ANYTHING done in the past! One laugh after another.
2.) MENOPAUSE ep.6 - Another laugh riot for the collection. "Stand on the bloody bin bags". Again, as good as anything done in the past.
3.) FISH FARM ep.2 - The more I watch this...the better it gets. The Marilyn Manson bit is a classic for the ages.
4.) PARIS ep.3 - Mother and daughter bonding. Average, but with some good laughs.
5.) DONKEY ep.4 - Another diet for Eddy and, Patsy showing forehead?! A bit predictable but more good laughs.
6.) PARRALOX ep.1 - They can't all be the best. Too much, too fast. There are still some good laughs.
BONUS: All the extras are outstanding. Commentary by J.S. , the MIRRORBALL special, outtakes, guide to the guest stars, photos, etc.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I wanted to see the old gang all together again. When I heard about this season I ordered it ASAP. However it wasn't up to the same standards as the first season. The characters are all the same, yet not as good as the first time. Perhaps the only worthwhile episode was the one called "Paris". This episode reminded me of the original series more than the other 5 episodes.

If you want to see the gang again get it. If you want to laugh and smile like the first time, you will be disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not the Ab Fab peak of greatness, but still funny
Review: I'm an "Ab-Ophile", plain and simple. I was ecstatic when Season 4 surfaced on BBC America. Some of the spark is missing, but Eddy and Patsy are still in full addiction swing. This season gives you:

PARALLOX: Eddy's Mother discovers the delights of the internet, Eddy herself has a guest appearance on Morning television (once scoffed by Patsy in Season 2's episode "Poor"), and Patsy is getting injections to freeze her wrinkles, which of course does not go according to plan.

FISH FARM: Patsy and Eddy go moshing at the Marylin Manson concert, and Eddy's dishy new gardner (played by Helena Bonham-Carter's cousin Crispin)is making the moves on her. Egged on by Patsy, Eddy becomes a flirting Queen (sort of).

DONKEY: Spurred on by "Sex and the City", Eddy is finally going to achieve the thinness she's always wanted (well, almost). Armed with water and red meat, Eddy enrolls herself in a gruesome military exercise regime. Meanwhile, Patsy wants to try life without her signature hairstyle.

PARIS: Could it be? Eddy and Saffy bonding over cafe au laits and croissants? Indeed! Eddy convinces Saffy to "bare all" on top of the Eiffel Tower, and Patsy tries to revive her modeling career.

SMALL OPENING: Saffy's play, "Self Raising Flower", is the story of her life with Eddy and Patsy. When it opens at the local theatre, Eddy is worried she'll be portayed as a bad Mother, which it does. But who would have thought she'd be more popular than ever?

MENOPAUSE: Patsy making tarts, pies and dressed up like Donna Reed? And being gracious and motherly to Saffy? Did the 4 Horsemen just ride by? No, but Patsy has discovered the joys of hormone replacement therapy. Unfortunately, her levels are too high, and Saffy begins to miss the carefree days of the boozing parasite she once knew. Guest appearances by Twiggy, Dale Winton and Leigh Lawson.

Not the funniest of the series, but still has laughs in store for you. VHS boxed set shows eppys in widescreen format, and DVD does not, which is very irritating. Still, I'm happy I have my own!


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Almost Fabulous
Review: If you're a fan of the original three seasons of ABFAB like me then this fourth season might feel like a bit of a let down. It seems that all the characters have been changed in slight ways that somehow messes with the magic formula created originally. Saffy seems a bit more aggressive, Edina more cruel, patsy more alive and Gran more ditzy than ever. edina seems to have been beaten down and is ready to do things that she never wouls've dreamed of doing in the first series (dieting) and Patsy has lost that far off, dazed drugged out aspect and is now playing a dominatrix, trying to be a model and other such asprations. It makes for some funny situations, but it's doesn't quite feel like ABFAB. In no way are these shows bad, just not as fabulous as the originals.

The DVD itself has terrific production qualities. The picture is widescreen and colors are bright and crisp. The menus are easy to navigate and there is pleny of bonus mterial. OF that bonus material, "Mirror Ball" is the best. It's a pilot for a series Jennifer Saunders was working on that features all the actors of ABFAB, but in different roles and in a different setting. it's quite fun to see them doing different charactes for a change. Too bad it never got picked up. My only qualm with the DVD is that the text on the character bio screen (as well as a few others), is terribly hard to read. This is a consistant problem with DVDs and why the makers of these things don't realise that we actually might want to read what they've put so much time and effort into is beyond me.

For die hards, this set can't be missed, but people who are new to the show should check out the original three seasons first. Remember that sin is in darling.


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