Jennifer Saunders & Joanna Lumley - Still Pretty Fabulous as 'AbFab' Movie Hits the U.S.

Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone are back with a drunken, crazed slapstick vengeance in "Absolutely Fabulous The Movie!" And fans would expect nothing less from these "utterly useless," (to quote the screenwriter) yet divine ladies.

Now if you have never heard of "AbFab" or Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, then your LGBT card should be revoked until you binge the series. It's become a rightful part of the gay cultural fabric.

The dynamic diva duo hit BBC television in the early '90s (and U.S. shortly thereafter) and was an instant sensation. The show ran through the mid-'90s, but kept coming back with specials into and throughout the new millennium.

Rumors ran rampant about a movie version and creator, writer and lead actress Jennifer Saunders finally capitulated.

"It was Joanna Lumley who finally forced me into it," she confesses, "She put it very simply, and very brilliantly. She simply said 'You must write it, darling. Otherwise we will all be dead and we won't have made the film.'"

Getting older

Pasty and Eddy are longtime friends and often indulge in "a chaos of drink and cigarettes and champagne... and a few illegal substances." Patsy is an editor at a fashion magazine and Edina works in PR. "She thinks she's a fashion PR guru," Saunders explains. The film simply continues the hilarious antics and often-bizarre adventures these two become immersed in.

"We just get older," Saunders explains about the characters. "Edina gets older and fatter, and actually Patsy doesn't change at all. She's just sort of embalmed and remains exactly the same."

The thundering loons are reminiscent of Mad and Hel, the Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn characters in "Death Becomes Her," chasing their youth but abusing more substances. And looking fabulous doing it. Or, at least trying to. "Edina is always over-ambitious, should we say, with her costume," Lumley offers "She always thinks she's going to be really thin by tomorrow and never is, so is squeezed into some appalling outfits."

Being politically incorrect

One of the staples of the "AbFab" series was its political incorrectness, but the climate has changed rather dramatically of late and Saunders felt the shift. "If you write a movie, you have a raft of lawyers telling you who you can offend and who you can't offend, and who's going to sue you and who won't. So, it was quite an issue, I have to say." Still, the film does its fair share of skewering and satirizing.

Saunders' specifically sends up the difficulties faced by women in any industry. Her thoughts on how women are currently portrayed on TV? "It makes me a bit sad that, if anything, people seem to want to go back to an old model of normality, and sitcoms seem to want to be about ordinary families and things that aren't very interesting. I just think it's a bit sad. It's a shame that life is still depicted in a very straight way."

Both women acknowledge a great debt to their gay fans. We owe the gay community a huge deal, too, because they've helped make the show popular, and we love having them as fans," Saunders shares.

Patsy's gender

As to why they connect so deeply with the LGBT community, Lumley speculates in Patsy fashion, "I think from Patsy's point of view, she's very easy to copy if you're a boy and want to dress up as Patsy because Patsy's quite tall. You just want to get your good, yellow wig on. Lots of lovely, red lips. Most men have very good legs, much better than mine, so men's beautiful legs showing in good stockings. Nice pair a high heels. Glass of champagne. Cigarette on the go. Dark shades on. You're there."

Saunders thoughtfully adds: "I think as far as the characters go, they live for each other, and they live a life they don't apologize for. They don't need men. They don't need a relationship in order to have fun and get on in the world."

As to the confusion about Patsy's gender, Lumley explains, "Patsy was born a girl and was a woman, but she took some hormones in the 60s because she fancied being a man, and then went down with Edina to Morocco and had a very poor operation, and it withered away and dropped off after a year. So, she stopped taking the hormones, shaved a bit, and went back to being a woman."

Saunders piggybacks, "It's always been just something to play with in the kind of Euro-trash idea, too... I think it's about it doesn't matter. Be who you can be and want to be."

As to any notions of toning down the hard-partying content to make it more digestible to today's crowds, Saunders honestly states, "Do you know, I write it to amuse Joanna, really. I think if you wrote it with too many people, too many audiences in mind, you'd die of the pressure. I just basically write what I think will be funny, and what I wanted is if people could see this film, and not have known the series and still enjoy it, but that it would also satisfy people that knew the series extremely well."

The comedy, directed by Mandie Fletcher, brings back beloved characters like Eddy's daughter Saffie (Julia Sawalha), Eddy's mom (June Whitfield), lunatic assistant Bubble (Jane Horrocks) along with a host of new faces like Jon Hamm, Kate Moss, Chris Colfer and Emma Bunton. "Lots of people turned up and were incredibly generous," Saunders says of the cameos.

In the end these two singular creatures live and breathe because of Lumley and Saunders who are "very good friends." That magic comes from the palpable chemistry of the actors. Lumley shares, " We've known each other now for 25 years, and we know each other very well."

What started as a comedy skit for the show French and Saunders back in 1990 has become a worldwide phenomenon. Saunders waxes, "Back in 1990, we never imagined in our wildest dreams we would still be sitting here having done a film of that show. It's quite extraordinary, and we feel very, very lucky."

"Absolutely Fabulous The Movie" opens in theaters Friday, July 22, 2016

Watch the trailer to "Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie":