"Absolutely Fabulous" comes to Logo and BBC America

Joanna Lumley & Jennifer Saunders shooting in London last week. Photo via DailyMail.co.uk.

They’re back, darlings! BBC announced today that comedy phenomenon Absolutely Fabulous will return to television with three brand new specials, to be presented in the U.S. by BBC America and Logo (AfterEllen.com's parent company). Right now, the show’s stars, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are striding around London, shooting up a storm! And shopping, of course.

The full cast of regulars are returning – Edina, Patsy, Saffron, Edina’s mother and Bubble – for a batch of three separate specials.

In today’s press release, Jennifer Saunders said:

We are thrilled to be able to celebrate our 20th birthday with all of the original cast. We hope that, like a good bottle of champagne we have grown better with age but lost none of our sparkle.

Viewers in the US have been very kind to the show over the years and we are very happy to return on not one but two US channels at once, BBC America and Logo. We fully intend to party like it’s 1991. When we started filming in West London, it was like time had stood still. It was raining. Nevertheless we are so happy to be working for an audience that has grown just a tiny bit older, like us, but is still willing to let us fall over on TV in the name of PR.

As far as show and plot details, BBC News gives us this:

In the first epsiode, audiences will rejoin the ensemble in the middle of a “life-changing experience for one – which affects them all”. [OK. Vague, much?]

In the second show, Edina sets her sights on changing the career of someone described by the BBC as “a very big fish indeed.”

In the concluding episode, Eddy and Patsy play their own part in the 2012 London Olympics. [THIS one sounds fun.]

Executive Producer Jon Plowman says:

People in the US have been fantastically loyal in their devotion to our show, so we really are thrilled to say that it’s coming back for three new shows to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I can divulge that all of us have got a bit older, though we will be doing our best not to show it, and thankfully none of us have got any wiser. All of the originals who are back together again are still truly absolutely fabulous and we hope that the new adventures of Edina, Patsy, Saffy, Bubble and Mother, plus a few surprising guests.

No exact word on when the three new specials will air on Logo or BBC America in the U.S.
Stay tuned!