Not Anticipating As Great a Train Wreck As the Original

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than Hollywood can make up for any gaffe Obama may show towards the Prime Minister of England.

God knows that the powers-that-be in their cushy Universal City and Burbank offices seem hard-pressed to come up with original ideas and when the writers' block strikes, their eyes turn eastward, across the Pond, to Britain.

The Office. American Idol. Three's Company! Sometimes, the translation to "Yank" works and we have a successful show. Sometimes it doesn't. And I fear in this case, the latter will prove true.

Sweetie, darling . . . they are Americanizing Absolutely Fabulous!

The premise is very close to the UK version of Ab Fab, except the ladies live in Los Angeles. Eddie is described as "an attention-hungry woman who tries too hard to look beautiful." Patsy is described as "an imperious woman who loves to intimidate. She could be forty or sixty-five, it's LA, hard to tell." Eddie is in PR; Patsy is in fashion. In the opening scene, a "gorgeous African-American woman" named Novelette delivers water to Eddie's home; Eddie decides, on the spot, to hire her as an assistant. Unlike the air-headed Bubble in the UK version, Novelette is quick, smart and competent. And black! Patsy has no idea how to deal with this; when Novelette says something like, "Wonderful to meet you, Ms. Stone," Patsy replies, "It's all good, dog." In addition, Eddie tries not to act shocked when she discovers that Novelette can ski. in other words, the character exists mostly to make Edina and Patsy look like fools.

Ab Fab, as it was known, was a brilliant comedy that starred Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as two of the most shallow, self-absorbed, clueless and narcissistic bimbos on earth - and the most hilarious.

The American version, alas, I expect to be watered down, as our networks sometimes worry more about marketing and "offending people" as do British television. It will be aired on Fox, which hopefully will give it the treatment it deserves, but I am still unconvinced as of now that it will be a success.

I just wish that something as unique and funny as this could be simply left alone. But then, I am still steamed at Hollywood for its pitiful production when it remade the movie The In-Laws with Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks in 2003. Anyone who has seen the original in 1979 with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin will understand . . . .