Watch: 9-DVD Box of Absolutely Fabulous

Absolutely Everything reissue collects the whole spiel, er, schmiel, er... watch clips, below, as you wait for the movie.

By A.D. Amorosi

With its big screen edition planned and a one of its precious rare new shows aired in January (two more are planned for 2012) BBC America have re-released the trashy girl-gab fest from its co-creator Jennifer Saunders ("Eddy") and Joanna Lumley (Patsy) that originally came out in 2008. The 9 disc set contains Series 1 to 5 (that's BBC 1 talk) plus the 2002 and 2004 Christmas Specials, The Last Shout, The New York Special, and over 4 hours of extras.

Born of a sketch of (Dawn) French & Saunders' called "Modern Mother and Daughter," the idea of immature adults supported emotionally and financially by their children exploded hilariously to include the British fashion biz and the Swinging London UK rock scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s through which the pair (the slutty Patsy in particular) trafficked in. Like The Comic Strip Presents, The Young Ones and even the rougher edges of Rowan Atkinson's various Black Adders in the wake of all things Python (Monty), there was/is a post-punk new wave-y feel to the AbFab proceedings, a snarker's slippery wit and an amphetamine energy - to say nothing of the fast fashion - that made the Saunders and Lumley pairing absolutely musical.

What doubled their efforts and made them hilarious is the manner in which, not to sound sexist, they swung like the boys. The pair could - and did - out swig, out snort, out screw, out spend and out finagle anyone else in their professional endeavors (Eddy has her own PR firm, Patsy runs a top British fashion magazine), to say nothing of their personal efforts. The gals spent their considerable financial resources as indulgent roustabouts and leapt from bed to bed and trend to trend, each co-dependent upon the other. The neurotic, jittery pair suckled on each others foibles and nursed each others wounds while the ever-besieged bitter daughter "Saffron Monsoon" (played with tireless aplomb by Julia Sawalha) is forced to fend for herself.

Roll through the AbFab episode list, find "Fat France," "Morocco,"  "Schmoozin'" and "Gay" and you'll hear and see some of the finest comic writing Britain has to offer. The other episodes aren't half bad either.

Special features:

-Seasons 1-5, plus The Last Shout, The New York Special, White Box, and over 4 hours of DVD extras

-Seasons 1-3 and Specials: 1.33 aspect ratio

-Seasons 4-5 and White Box: 1.78 aspect ratio

-Closed-captioned except season 5 English subtitles