History Series / AbsolutelyFabulous

* SpecialGuest: Among those who made guest appearances were Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter, [[Music/TheSpiceGirls Emma Bunton]], Creator/MinnieDriver, Creator/AdrianEdmondson, Creator/BrittEkland, Creator/WhoopiGoldberg, Creator/RichardEGrant, [[Music/{{Blondie}} Debbie Harry]], Music/EltonJohn, Creator/MarkKermode, Creator/NathanLane, Creator/RobertLindsay, Creator/MirandaRichardson and Creator/KristinScottThomas.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: A shared look rather than a verbal remark, but at one point Edina and Saffron make the same snarky comment about Patsy in unison, and then stare at each other in horror.

* ThoughtYouWereDead: In "Cold Turkey", [[spoiler:it looks like Jackie does Patsy in and when Eddy and Saffy go to pick Patsy up, they are informed that she died. They enter the room to find a covered body...]] [[spoiler:then Patsy emerges from another room and reveals that Jackie overdosed on heroin the night before.]]

* IWasNeverHere: In "Door Handle", Saffron helps Patsy with a brief breast self-exam. Gran walks by the door, looks wide-eyed at what they're doing and moves on without a word.

The Emmy- and [=BAFTA=]-award winning series grew out of a ''Series/FrenchAndSaunders'' sketch featuring [[WackyParentSeriousChild an obnoxious, partying mother and her sober, responsible daughter]], which became the basis for Edina's and Saffron's characters. It aired on-and-off-again from 1992 to 2016, where it culminated in TheMovie, which Saunders has said is the absolutely final GrandFinale.

A French film adaptation, ''Absolument fabuleux'', starring Creator/JosianeBalasko as "Eddie" (the film's verion of Edina) and Nathalie Baye as Patsy, came out in 2001.

Came 17th in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.

* ActorAllusion: Patsy Stone appeared in a series of Franchise/JamesBond porn parodies as Honey Lovetrap. Joanna Lumley was an actual Bond Girl.

* BigYes: In the episode “Fat”, Edina lets out one after Patsy tells her that Penny, an old acquaintance who used to mock her for her weight, is now blind.

** The series was at least partly born out of a French and Saunders sketch of this reversal.

** Eddy and Patsy appear in a {{Halloween episode}} of ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' in 1996. Eddy and Patsy meet Roseanne and Jackie at a high-profile cocktail party in New York. Upon hearing about Roseanne's multi-million dollar lottery winnings, Eddy wastes no time in becoming Roseanne's PR agent and talking her into funding a plan to clone Jackie Kennedy using the method from ''Film/JurassicPark''. ItMakesSenseInContext...[[note]]Roseanne had (at the time of airing) acquired the rights to produce an American adaptation. This also makes the episode look like a PoorlyDisguisedPilot; looking like Roseanne flew over Jennifer and Joanna to play Eddy and Patsy to see if the show's humor would fly in America.[[/note]]

* DietEpisode: In "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fat]]", Eddy decides she's fat and try to lose weight before a model friend of hers comes to visit. The episode mostly consists of her trying to take diet pills and failing miserably at exercising.

** All the Myth/ClassicalMythology makes sense after seeing all the {{Flashback}}s about Patsy's mother.

* TheGhost: Edina's son Serge for the majority of the series. Whenever some important event occurred he was always "taking lava samples in Sumatra," or some similar scientific activity to explain his absence. Finally showed up for the special "New York" in which it was revealed that he was actually working in a bookstore in New York City all the time, and that the rest of his family had conspired to keep this a secret from Edina.

** Edina's other child, Serge, didn't fare much better. He loved his books more than anything in the world...so Eddy and Patsy set them on fire because "we were cold".
** Patsy had one as well. Her mother actively ''despised'' her, and the two were enemies right up until her death.

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Creator/JenniferSaunders' comedy partner Creator/DawnFrench appears in "Magazine".

** Whenever someone asks whether Edina's house was in Shepherd's Bush, Edina would come in and yell "Holland Park! Holland Park!". The two neighborhoods are next to each other, though, separated by Road A3220.

* LadyLooksLikeADude: Patsy has been repeatedly mistaken for a crossdresser. The fact that she once lived as a man during the '70s may be a factor.

* LanguageBarrier: The girls decide to check out a chateau in France only to be dropped off at a rustic cottage. They spend a week in miserable conditions with a strange man coming around constantly, speaking French and scaring them. Saffy finally picks them up with Bubble as the man returns, and [[HiddenDepths Bubble speaks French]]. She tells a stunned Patsy that the man is wondering why the girls are waiting in this crummy shack when the staff of the upscale chateau down the road has been waiting for them all week. Patsy warns Bubble to never mention this to anyone.
* LargeHam: Edina. ''So much.'' Moreso in the early seasons.

-->'''Saffy:''' ...''Razzle''.
-->'''Eddy:''' Oh, ''Razzle''?
-->'''Patsy:''' ''(alert)'' ''Razzle''?
-->'''Saffy:''' I never knew he...
-->'''Patsy:''' ''Razzle''? What year?
-->'''Saffy:''' 1972.
-->'''Patsy:''' Month?
-->'''Saffy:''' January.
-->'''Patsy:''' ''(relaxes)'' That's fine.

* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Edina. Her ex-husbands cut her off in "Poor" when they find out she has been scamming them for years, and she fears becoming poor. But it turns out that even without them she's still wealthy -- Saffron just lets her think she'll be poor to teach her a lesson. Doesn't work.

* ShoutOut: The show routinely name-drops celebrities, including, but not limited to, Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter (who also guest stars in the second series premiere), Music/RogerDaltrey, Music/BarbraStreisand, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, Music/{{Madonna}} and Creator/GuyRitchie, Music/TheBeatles, Music/SpiceGirls, Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/DavidLean, Creator/BradPitt, Creator/MichaelDouglas and Creator/CatherineZetaJones...

* SkywardScream: After getting locked out of a Stella [=McCartney=] shop after being unable to figure out which way the door opens, Edina faces the sky, thrusts out her arms and yells [[Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire "Stellaaaaaaaaa!"]]

[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/absolutely_fabulous_1467.jpg]]

* WorthyOpponent: In "Identity", Patsy shows Saffron respect [[spoiler:after learning that Saffy was 'top dog' in prison]].

** She's startled and delighted when Saffron speaks fluent French. (Saffron points out that she put her in those classes in the ''first'' place - what did she think would happen?)

* MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes

* FagHag: Edina claims that all her friends are gay. This isn't true. She is devastated to learn that Saffron ''isn't'' gay. Likewise, she is disappointed that Serge isn't CampGay but StraightGay, and instead adopts Serge's campier boyfriend Martin, who is all too happy to have Edina as a hag.