High Society (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
High Society is the title of a short-lived American television sitcom that borrows much of its comedic format from the campy British comedy series Absolutely Fabulous. The series aired Monday nights on CBS in 1995. While the show was canceled after thirteen episodes, it has become something a cult classic, and its influences can be seen in future television shows such as Will & Grace, Sex and the City, and Queer as Folk.
[edit] Storyline (Spoiler Warning)
The series revolves around two New York City women who act in an outragous, campy, and decadent manner. Ellie Walker (Jean Smart) is a successful author of taboid-trashy romantic novels, and her best friend and publisher is Dorthy Dott Emerson (Mary McDonnell). Emerson is a divorced mother with a preppie college-aged son, Brendan Emerson (Dan O'Donahue), a College Republican, who rejects the sexual advances of Ellie but otherwise appears to be heterosexual. In the pilot episode, the women's small-town former college friend, Val Brumberg (Faith Prince), arrives and moves in with Dott. At the publishing house, the women work with a flamboyent gay male secretary named Stephano (Luigi Amodeo) and a sleezy publisher partner named Peter Thomas (David Rasche).
Aside from the situational comedy that arose from Ellie and Dott's campy antics, the story arch often centered around the notion of family. Val starts to become something of a mother figure to Brendan. Stephano was often seeking a boyfriend and was seen more as a family member then a mere secretary, and in the final episode Ellie decides that she wants to have a baby and scouts out possible fathers.
[edit] Critics & Censors
Despite being cancelled after only thirteen episodes, the series remains popular. The "Jump the Shark" page on the series notes that the series did not "jump the shark" and that High Society was a part of CBS' victory in one of the sweeps months in 1996 [1]. However, the show's British influence irked certain critics, who compared it to Cybill, and after its thirteen episodes, the production team decided to not continue the show, as CBS insisted that the show's dialogue and humor be toned down and that the characters fit the mold of a traditional American sitcom [2].
