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An appreciation for the ladies of AbFab (images and captions repurposed from previous stories)

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COMEDY: Absolutely Fabulous (Vision, 8:30 p.m.) Oh, darlings, where have you been? Originally broadcast from 1992 to 1995 and then revived in TV movies and short-run series, Ab Fab returns tonight for the first of two brand-new specials. As before, life is rarely dull for the faded fashionistas Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and best mate Patsy (Joanna Lumley). In tonight's show, Edina picks up daughter Saffy (Julie Sawalha) from prison where she's serving a two-year stint for making fake passports. Soon after, Saffy is paid a visit by her former cellmate, Baron (Lucy Montgomery), who turns out to be a former drug dealer Patsy stiffed long ago for a significant sum. Welcome back, ladies.

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COMEDY Absolutely Fabulous (Vision, 8:30 p.m.) Sharp as it ever was, this saucy British sitcom originally broadcast from 1992 to 1995 and on any given night it’s still the funniest show on TV. Judge for yourself with tonight’s fourth-season outing in which the faded fashionista Edina (Jennifer Saunders) is asked to participate in a mother-daughter fashion layout to be shot in Paris. First, Edina tries book the actresses Kate Beckinsale, Live Tyler and Chloe Sevigny for the shoot; eventually she settles on her own real daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha). The real fun begins in Paris when Edina and her drinking pal Patsy (Joanna Lumley) attempt to resurrect a tradition they used to perform once a year in the City of Lights: Flashing their breasts. Oh, behave, girls!

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COMEDY: Absolutely Fabulous (Vision, 8:30 p.m.) Look who’s getting into the Olympic spirit. Tonight’s new episode of the venerable British comedy series finds the faded fashionistas Edwina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) gearing up for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. While Edwina tries to cash in by renting out her house to a Hollywood star (without actually moving out herself), Patsy tries to find her best mate a suitably slimming body suit for the occasion. And just when the Games are about to begin, Eddy is shocked to discover that designer Stella McCartney has banned her from her exclusive shop.

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COMEDY: Absolutely Fabulous (Vision, 8:30 p.m) Unlike many British TV comedies, this sharp sitcom holds up brilliantly in encore viewing. Vision has been airing the recently filmed Ab Fab specials with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as the faded fashionistas Edina and Patsy, but the episodes from the show’s original 1992-1995 run are far funnier. Case in point: Tonight’s second-season outing in which the daffy pair head off to exotic Marrakech for a fashion shoot with Eddy’s daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha) in tow. In between copious drug consumption and drinking, the daffy pair go shopping for “ethnic fashions” at an outdoor bazaar, where Patsy finally becomes fed up with Saffy’s priggish behavior and sells her into slavery.BBC

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