High Society (1995)

About

Socialite Dott Emerson (Mary McDonnell) runs a successful publishing company, and her star author is best friend and romance novelist Ellie Walker (Jean Smart). The two are forced to contend with frumpy college gal pal Val (Faith Prince), as well as Dott's eccentric mother (Jayne Meadows), teenage Republic son Brendan (Dan O'Donahue) who is the object of Ellie's affections, pretentious gay secretary Stefano (Luigi Amodeo), and Peter (David Rasche), who co-owns the publishing company.

On the surface, the show was very loosely based on the British hit "Absolutely Fabulous," though the similarities are fairly superficial. In an era just prior to TV ratings, the producers found themselves battling network censors who wanted to soften the characters (which is blatantly obvious in "Touching Up Your Roots" and "The Family Jewels") -- plus Roseanne Barr, who had obtained the rights to create an American version of AbFab, was threatening a lawsuit (did Tom Arnold guest star just to spite her?!) -- so rather than continuing past the initial 13 episode order, the producers and network mutually agreed to call it quits following the airing of an Elizabeth Taylor theme-night episode. None of the shows were rerun in the USA, and it has never been issued on DVD.

With the exception of the first episode, the commercials from the original CBS broadcasts are included after the end credits, plus there's a pdf of the script from "Whose Son Is It Anyway?" (which includes some deleted dialogue) and various promos for the show. Credit for most of these beautiful recordings goes to Steve Cho, with great thanks!

1. Family Vals - Oct. 30, 1995

Val, Dott and Ellie's annoying college friend, arrives with the news that she's pregnant.

Weekly Nielsen Rating: 27 (11.4 million viewers)

2. Whose Son It It, Anyway? - Nov. 6, 1995

Dott becomes jealous when Brendan bonds with Val. Ellie and Stefano both lust after Wolf, her bodyguard.

Nielsen Rating: 40 (10.6 million)

3. Sleeping with the Enemy - Nov. 13, 1995

Val's husband (Robert Clohessy) comes to New York to bring her home.

Nielsen Rating: 30 (11.5 million)

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

Look Ma! Productions

Language

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed