Kenneth Longden

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The hit television comedy *Absolutely Fabulous* is set to hit the big
screen as a movie (July 1^st^ 2016), and as such it is worth considering
the hype, the paratexts, and the anticipation that surrounds this
venture. First the hype: Much of the hype around *Absolutely Fabulous:
The Movie* speaks of its transition from television (there is a clue in
the film's title), and this seems to be an important factor in its
marketing.

Although a success also in America, Canada, and Australia (with a French
version being made also (*Absolument Fabuleux*), the comedy also plays
on a very British identity, and it is interesting to note that the film
version has largely been touted as a forthcoming British Box-Office
spectacular. In terms of the film's paratexts much is made of the
concept of business-as-usual, allied to a very British experience.
Again, this is a strategy that places a value on the television
connection, experience, and production. This can be seen particularly in
the film's posters, where buzz phrases or sayings from the television
series play a prominent role alongside motifs/traits of the characters.
Finally, there is the carefully constructed anticipation surrounding the
movie. As with the television programme, there are cameo parts in the
movie -- world-renowned celebrity fashion designers, models, actors,
etc. Yet efforts are made to stress that the original cast and/or
settings are also present. This is designed to offer reassurance -- that
the television experience will still be largely intact. I mention this
because all these features -- and many more -- describe some of the
dynamics involved in the transition of television programmes to the big
screen. As Constantine Verevis and Kathleen Loock remark in their
studies of *Film Remakes* (2006) and *Remake/Remodel* (2012), the
film/television remake can be understood through 3 categories or
practices: As an Industrial practice; as a textual practice; and as a
cultural practice (2006). Further, the dynamic of transitioning from TV
to screen involves the area of extended story-worlds and potentially
points to studies in prequels, sequels, reboots, and spin-offs. The work
of Klein and Palmer (2016) is particularly interesting in this respect.

In the coming months and weeks, I will be editing and writing a special
collection for a well-known academic publishing organisation on the
subject of the *TV to Film Remake*. It is a phenomenon and practice that
has been around almost from the very beginnings of popular television
programming, and one that has produced mixed results. The list of
popular television programmes making the transition from small screen to
big screen is long and diverse in terms of the notable and the obscure,
the successful and the not so successful. The example that is *Star
Trek*, proved so successful, it spawned not only more films, but a new
'generation' of television series that in turn created a whole franchise
around the story-world and its characters. Some, however, are not so
fabulous, suffering from a variety of problems in transition, of which
adapting to the long form seems the least of their problems. In these
last respects, these examples suffer from what I will call an identity
crisis, that in the case of British TV-to-film remakes especially,
potentially highlights identity problems elsewhere. Yet the transition
from TV to the big screen is often seen at the time as anything but
problematic. In many respects the big screen remake has often been
heralded as prestigious, or a sign of success and popularity. Some
transitions and adaptations have involved a complete change of
circumstances, referencing the franchise or original creation only
tenuously, while others have attempted fidelity, usually through the
retention of the original cast.

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*Absolutely Fabulous* (the movie) is particularly interesting in terms
of the British TV-to-Film transition in as much as the movie extends the
form of the popular sitcom -- a form that makes up the vast majority of
British TV-to-film transitions. Those of a particular age in the UK will
remember the TV-to-Movie remakes of sitcoms such as *On The Buses* (3
films -- 1971,1972, 1973), *Till Death Us Do Part* (1 film -- 1969),
*Rising Damp* (1 film -- 1980), the pretty awful *Are You Being Served?*
(1 film -- 1977), and of course (and most recently) *Dad's Army* (2
films -- 1971, 2016). Nearly all of these films (with the possible
exception of the latest *Dad's Army* film) may tell us something, not
only about the popularity of these television programmes, but also about
the state and perception of British/national cinema (and identity) at a
particular historical/cultural moment. And with all of these examples,
we can use Verevis's analytical structure (although largely used in the
study of film remakes) of Industrial practice, textual practice, and
cultural practice to further aid understanding of how this phenomenon
and practice works -- or not in some cases.

Surprisingly, given television's early adoption of this practice, and
the relatively recent success of some notable examples -- *Star Trek,
The X-Files, The Adams Family, Sex in the City* -- very little research
has been done on the TV-to-film remake, until recently. *Transnational
Television Remakes* edited by Constantine Verevis and Claire Perkins
(Continuum 2015), and Constantine Verevis's forthcoming chapter "TV to
Film" in *American Hollywood 2, Directory of World Cinema* (Intellect
Books, 2015), also Klein and Palmer's *Cycles, Sequels, Spin-offs,
Remakes, and Reboots: Multiplicities in Film and Television* (2016) show
signs of addressing this short-fall.  In fact, the little research that
has been done in this area has largely been in relation to Adaptation
studies, or to film remakes. In terms of adaptation, a notable example
is Inn Rae Hark's "Translating embodied television characters to other
media." *Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text* (1999).
Interestingly, for Hark the challenges involved whereby a popular
television series makes the successful transition to film, lies "less in
its narratives \[the long form\] than in its continuing characters and
general situation" (1999). If we look at all the early British sitcoms
mentioned above, those that were relatively successful (*On the Buses*--
3 films), commercially or otherwise, tended to be those that managed to
retain their original TV cast. This is a feature that *Absolutely
Fabulous: The Movie* can be seen to address in its hype, paratexts, and
constructed anticipation. Similarly, the success of *Star Trek: The
Motion Picture* (1979), it could be argued, lay in its retention of the
original cast. As Hark observers, such was the cult status of the
television cast members of *Star Trek*, that recasting the roles for the
film was "not really an option" (1999). Where possible, this seems to be
the way to go, as evinced by both of the *Sex in the City* films.

However, the option to use the original cast may not be always possible,
and this highlights another dynamic of the TV-to-film phenomenon. Films
such as *The Addams family* (1991)*, The Fugitive* (1993)*, The Brady
Bunch* (1995)*,* and *Bewitched* (2005), are notable for either tapping
into a nostalgia boom, or are parodic in their treatment of the original
television source. In some cases, these examples work on their own
merits, with their link to the original television series being only
nominal. As Gillespie observes, although nostalgia does play some part
in the film being re-imagined in the first place, the wide demographic
for the film's audience suggests "the demand for nostalgia... is
extremely elastic and depends less on the product's track record than
its present performance." (Gillespie 1994. In: Hark 1999). More
interestingly, however, is that along with reactionary claims that the
TV-to-film phenomenon highlights a dearth of ideas in the film industry,
the recent use of TV shows in the film industry shows a reversal of the
traditional hierarchy whereby film was seen as the dominant creative
power.

Also at stake in this process and in this phenomenon are issues related
to the translation of ideas and ideologies, not only across media
platforms, but in many cases across cultures. There is no doubt that for
popular American television programmes such as *The X-Files* or *Sex in
the City*, the transition from TV to big screen is a different
experience and challenge that that which faces British TV programmes
such as *Absolutely Fabulous*. The transition of a local/national
television programme to the global screen therefore can be complex and
whilst global media/television platforms such as Netflix potentially
transcend national boundaries in the viewing experience, television
programmes such as *Absolutely Fabulous*, for all their world-wide
exposure and appeal, in their transition to film, still have negotiate
cultural and industry traditions that oscillate between national cinema,
world cinema, and Hollywood.

**Kenneth Longden** is currently an Associate Lecturer in Film,
Television, and Media at UClan, teaching Science Fiction, Critical
Approaches to Film, and Popular Television.

** **


The hit television comedy
<em>
 Absolutely Fabulous
</em>
is set to hit the big screen as a movie (July 1
<sup>
 st
</sup>
2016), and as such it is worth considering the hype, the paratexts, and the anticipation that surrounds this venture.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS? POPULAR TV AND ITS TRANSITION TO THE BIG SCREEN