So men behaving badly is one of the staples of the British sitcom. But in 1992, we saw that concept flipped on it's head. If Absolutely Fabulous wasn't the first show with women behaving badly, it was certainly the biggest. Britcoms had always had strong female characters who were often just as funny as the men, but with Absolutely Fabulous, we saw female characters in roles and situations usually attributed to men, and I think that that's a really noteworthy thing. This show showed that women could be irresponsible, and crass, and it was pretty cool to see stuff like this in the mainstream. I think this show did change how women were portrayed in Britcoms, and that's really awesome.
But the show itself isn't a favourite of mine. I really admire it's edginess, and how it broke new ground, but honestly it's not one that I've ever been too enthusiastic about. Jennifer Saunders is a very funny woman (Joanna Lumley is too), but honestly the humour here never really appealed to me. There's nothing wrong with the show, it's really clever and raucous in a way that most shows weren't at the time, but for me it's always been one that I respect and admire more than I actually enjoy.
Absolutely Fabulous is a fairly landmark Britcom. It's a very good show. But it probably wouldn't be one of my favourites. There isn't anything it does wrong, it just isn't something I'm a huge fan of. But I really appreciate it, because it showed that female oriented comedy if this nature can work, and work well. It's portrayal of the fashion industry also seems fairly accurate, but I'm fairly clueless there. I definitely think it deserves it's place in best sitcom lists, because it did a lot that was new and different, and I think it's pretty cool for that. Hugely influential, just not a personal favourite.
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