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.
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.
If High School Musical were to graduate and enroll in community college, we’d imagine the results would look a lot like last Thursday’s season premiere of Community. Bright pastels and overenthusiastic choreography ensued as the good ol’ Greendale study group sang promises of a “more fun,” “less weird,” “mainstream dream” of a third season. If Community‘s musical intro accomplished anything, it reminded us just how enjoyable our favorite comedic actors can be in brief, unnecessary musical numbers. Check out Joel McHale’s croons, a couple cartoons, and other bursts of unexpected song after the jump.
Everyone loves “strong female characters.” From Jane Eyre to Veronica Mars, they’re so urgently desired and highly praised that they’ve practically become a brand: tough, intelligent women who can probably both beat you in a physical fight and outsmart you in a battle of wits. What’s not to like? But in an essay for last weekend’s New York Times magazine, Carina Chocano says she’s had enough of them. In fact, she argues, these “tough, cold, terse, taciturn” ladies have become so pervasive that we’re now suffering from a dearth of weak female characters — complex, well-written women who happen to also be meek, feminine, neurotic, or otherwise imperfect. Although we’re big fans of strong female characters, we have to admit that some of the most fascinating women in literature, film, and TV would never fit that description. Ten of our favorites are after the jump.
It’s been a rough few weeks for fans of quality TV. When AMC and Matthew Weiner finally worked out a deal to keep Mad Men going, we learned that Weiner is planning to end the show after only three more seasons. And now, because of Alec Baldwin’s big mouth (which, lest we forget, has gotten him in trouble before), we’re not sure whether or not 30 Rock will stop production next year. Instead of going into premature mourning, we’ve decided that this may well be for the best. Although many great TV series keep going for years after they’ve lost their magic, some wise showrunners make the noble decision to forsake a reliable paycheck and quit while they’re ahead. We look at ten shows that did just that after the jump.
We weren’t sure what to expect on Sunday’s Big Love finale. With only 70 minutes to tie up one of TV’s most tangled plot webs, the show was going to need a Joseph Smith-worthy miracle to finish up without seeming incomplete. And, thankfully, one of our favorite series actually pulled it off — but not without pulling the trigger on a few of its central characters. Now, it goes without saying that we should be happy to see TV’s villains die. But it struck us, watching this demise, that sometimes we enjoy seeing characters we were probably supposed to be rooting for meet their maker. After the jump, we round up seven TV deaths we shouldn’t have enjoyed but secretly loved. Spoilers abound throughout the post, but don’t scroll past page one if you don’t want to know which Big Love characters return to Heavenly Father.
So your husband has been lying to you for years about his identity, your dad just died, and a man who isn’t your husband just proposed to you. Oh, and did we mention that someone shot Kennedy? Yes, Betty Draper, you are living proof that sometimes it really is hard being so beautiful. Luckily for you, however, you’re not alone. More endorphin-deprived housewives after the jump. Interestingly, most of them come from HBO series.
