A Man and A Mouse: High Society with Jean Smart & Mary McDonnell

Saturday, October 9, 2021

High Society with Jean Smart & Mary McDonnell

I've always depended on the kindness of strangers and watching High Society, the 1995 television series starring Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell that was fashioned after Absolutely Fabulous, has been no different.

My first stranger allowed me to watch a version of the 13 episode series in which each episode was split into three files and uploaded to YouTube. This visual puzzle was fine when the internet was new but the feeling stalled a few years back - probably like Faith Prince's feeling when she was written off the show at episode six without explanation.

Step up, our second stranger who, it seems, uploaded full episodes of the series to a High Society page on archive.org sometime in 2018.

And that is the stranger (uploader Desmond Pfeiffer) I thank for the episodes below. The uploader also edited out the commercials and added them to the end of each episode! One of them has Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in a hair color commercial from the era.

Although I love archive.org, their mobile app is crap; it's easier to watch the antics of Elle and Dot on YouTube. (And I do think they will get a bigger viewing audience.) You'll still want to head over to the High Society page on archive.org though as there are recorded promos and a script in addition to the 13 episodes posted below on YouTube. Enjoy!