F

Flavorwire

Absolutely Fabulous

Television

The 12 Best Non-US Sitcoms of the Past 30 Years

By Tom Hawking on

You may well have been following Vulture’s ongoing Sitcom Showdown™, if only to ask quite how in god’s name anyone ever thought Sex and the City was funnier than 30 Rock. If so, though, you may well have noted that consideration for the best-sitcom-of-the-last-30-years crown was limited to US-made shows. But there have been plenty of English-language sitcoms from outside this country that have been just as good, if not better, than most of the Vulture list. Here are some of our… Read More

Television

10 Fictional TV Duos We’d Like to See Team Up Again

By Emily Temple on

This week we heard a delightful bit of news: apparently, Beverly Hills, 90210‘s Kelly and Dylan — um, excuse us, Jennie Garth and Luke Perry — are rejoining forces to develop a new sitcom, currently being shopped around to networks. Could it be a post-spinoff spinoff? Or a whole new show? Whatever it is, we’ll probably watch it. Inspired by this re-coupling of a classic TV pair, we’ve put together a list of fictional TV duos that we’d really like to see team up again, no matter what the project. Come on, you guys. If Kelly and Dylan can be in it for the long haul, so can you. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we read about a real-life Home Alone experience. We tried to figure out if Steve Jobs looked like a mountain lion. We looked back at the Olympics’ opening ceremonies throughout the years. We spotted 30 amazing Stanley Kubrick cinemagraphs. We watched the Ab Fab… Read More

Television

15 TV Kitchens We Covet

By Judy Berman on

As we may have mentioned, we are pretty excited to see Absolutely Fabulous back on TV. We missed Patsy and Edina, we missed Saffy, we missed Gran, and we especially missed Bubble, Eddy’s walking acid trip of an assistant. But it wasn’t until we read Tom & Lorenzo’s great blog post about the show’s return that we realized we had been longing for more than just the characters. As they note, Eddy has one hell of a kitchen, and it feels great to watch the cast sip coffee and chug champagne in it again. The Monsoon kitchen and 14 others that we wouldn’t minding owning are after the jump. … Read More

Television

TV’s Greatest Dysfunctional Families

By Judy Berman on

It’s been almost a decade since Jennifer Saunders graced us with a new episode of Absolutely Fabulous, much to the dismay of fans around the world. But thanks to the magic of the BBC, where it’s never impossible to revive a great show, Patsy and Edina are finally back. To celebrate AbFab‘s 20th anniversary (yes, that makes us feel old), the original cast reunited for three half-hour specials — and the first one airs Sunday night, on both BBC America and Logo.

Having seen the first one, we can safely say that Saunders hasn’t lost her touch. Among other developments, we learn that one of the characters is in prison — and while it’s probably not who you’d think, nothing we could learn about the three generations of Monsoon women would shock us at this point. So, as an homage to one of our favorite dysfunctional families on the small screen, we’ve rounded up ten more we wouldn’t want to see on Thanksgiving but can’t stop watching on TV. … Read More

Television

10 Foreign TV Shows That America Ruined

By Emily Temple on

Now, before you get crazy, we’re not going to say The Office. In fact, there have been many television shows, including the aforementioned classic, that were adapted from foreign versions and have done great in America, or even been improved upon — American Idol began as the UK’s Pop Idol, Sanford and Son was originally a British hit called Steptoe And Son, and of course, the Columbian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea was remade as the great Ugly Betty. But for every successful American remake of another country’s show, there are five failed attempts — some of which are so bad they never even saw the light of day. Click through to see our list of ten foreign TV shows (yes, they’re mostly British originals, but that’s the trend in life as well as in our list) that America remade and totally ruined, and let us know your own major remake disappointments in the comments. … Read More

Film

Jennifer Saunders Is Making an ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ Movie

By Judy Berman on

Absolutely Fabulous fans are already waiting with bated breath for the three new TV specials that will air in early 2012. But it looks like that isn’t the only great news creator/star in store for admirers of Eddy and Pats, who have been MIA since 2005. Yes, folks, it is happening: Jennifer Saunders is writing… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Yesterday, Mitchell Hurwitz told an audience at the New Yorker Festival that Arrested Development may be returning to the small screen as soon as next fall; according to Inside TV, producers are currently in talks with both Showtime and Netflix about “airing a limited number of original episodes that will update fans… Read More

Television

New Episodes of ‘Ab Fab’ Will Air This Year

By Caroline Stanley on

The BBC reports that in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary, Absolutely Fabulous will return to TV later this year with three new specials. All of the original cast members are reportedly on board, and the 2012 London Olympics will be involved in at least one episode’s plotline — which should prove interesting.… Read More

Television

The 10 Best TV Spin-offs of All Time

By Judy Berman on

When you think of TV spin-offs, what shows come to mind? Baywatch Nights, the ridiculous, supernatural Baywatch sister show that starred The Hoff as a detective? Joey, the unwatchable series about the least interesting character on Friends? How about Soul Man, the short-lived Home Improvement spin-off about Mike Weber (Dan Aykroyd, at a career low), the Taylors’ priest?

Sure, these shows were all terrible ideas, horribly executed. There are so many awful spin-offs out there that Entertainment Weekly‘s roundup of the 15 worst is just the tip of the garbage barge. Amid all the crap out there, it’s easy to forget that some of the greatest TV series of all time began as characters and concepts on other programs. Check out ten of our favorites and allow us to convince you that “spin-off” doesn’t have to be a dirty word after the jump. … Read More