Totally Tracey Online
Saturday, March 29, 2008
One more day
At long last, the day has nearly arrived. State of the Union officially premieres tomorrow. The response from the critics has been mixed; some really enjoy it, while others were disappointed. One of the critics (or maybe it was a blogger) observed that Tracey seems to be a polarizing performer, because people either really like her and what she does, or they don't care for her work at all. There may be some truth to that. It's pretty clear which side of the divide I fall on :)
Thanks to Google search and all of the newspaper websites, I've been able to read scores of reviews from across North America. This was something that was all but impossible 21 years ago, back at the time when The Tracey Ullman Show premiered on Fox. It could have been done with difficulty; you would have had to go to a newsstand that sold out-of-town newspapers and bought as many as you wanted and could afford. It's much easier nowadays -- and less expensive too! But that newsstand might be out of business now....
Thanks to Google search and all of the newspaper websites, I've been able to read scores of reviews from across North America. This was something that was all but impossible 21 years ago, back at the time when The Tracey Ullman Show premiered on Fox. It could have been done with difficulty; you would have had to go to a newsstand that sold out-of-town newspapers and bought as many as you wanted and could afford. It's much easier nowadays -- and less expensive too! But that newsstand might be out of business now....
Labels: State of the Union, The Tracey Ullman Show
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
A little bit of Fresh Air
In addition to appearing on Tavis Smiley's PBS show last night (March 24), Tracey stayed within the realm of public broadcasting by appearing on NPR's Fresh Air today. She's been on Terry Gross's show at least 3 or 4 times in the past, and her appearances have consistently been interesting and revelatory. Things took a poignant turn today when, led along by Terry's questions, she spoke of her father and how she was with him when he died. She was 6 at the time, and he was reading her a story. He'd had heart trouble in the past and had a heart attack during that story. She went to get her mother, but there was nothing that could be done. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have been proud of his daughter's accomplishments; even now, somewhere in the Afterlife, he is sure to be looking on. I can't help but wonder, though, how things would have been different had he lived longer. Would Tracey have been motivated to develop her talents in the performing arts? Would she have become acclaimed on two continents? Would she have married Allan and had Mabel and Johnny? We'll never know.
Things weren't all serious today, though. We learned that she's no fan of American Idol and the vocal pyrotechnics that it encourages (it's indie rock for her) and points out that Simon Cowell isn't particularly mean; he's just British.
Things weren't all serious today, though. We learned that she's no fan of American Idol and the vocal pyrotechnics that it encourages (it's indie rock for her) and points out that Simon Cowell isn't particularly mean; he's just British.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
SOTU: A Review
Tracey Ullman returns to comedic series television with a new series, Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union (SOTU), on a new network (Showtime, after 14 years with HBO) and with a slightly different approach to skewering the foibles of Americans. It’s been nine years since her HBO series Tracey Takes On… ended, and while she hasn’t been completely absent from the small screen (two seasons of a fashion-related program and two comedy specials for HBO), her voice has been missed. Now, emboldened by becoming an American citizen in 2006, she’s back. Fans will not be disappointed.
The premise of the series is simple. Each episode focuses on a day in the life of America as seen through the lives of its citizens and residents, both famous and unknown. Stock footage and linking narration (provided by Peter Strauss) take the viewer from one vignette to the next. In the course of a single typical episode, the story may flow from the dumping of a woman recovering from surgery on the street due to an inability to pay, to a TV reporter exposing such practices (and noting that the report would be great for her Emmy reel), to blogger Arianna Huffington wondering what to wear to the Bloggy Awards, to a pharmacist advising her elderly client about the side effects of his medication, to a soldier home from Iraq on furlough (a very short furlough) trying to see her son, and finally back to that woman who was dumped.
For those familiar with Tracey’s work from her previous American series The Tracey Ullman Show (Fox) and Tracey Takes On… (HBO), the vignettes are much shorter than a typical sketch on those series. This is a deliberate creative decision to appeal to the YouTube era of shorter attention spans. Some of the characters don’t need more time than this to have their stories told, but some could sustain longer sketches. None of the TTO characters appear in SOTU (although SOTU’s airport security guard Chantal Monticello is very similar to TTO’s airport security guard Sheneesha), but there is no reason why they couldn’t. There are musical numbers, chiefly Bollywood-style in the vignettes featuring Indian pharmacist Padma Prakesh (one of my favorites of the new characters).
Unlike her older American shows, though, SOTU features Tracey impersonating several famous people, among them Arianna Huffington, David Beckham, reporters Campbell Brown and Rita Cosby, Renee Zellweger, Cameron Diaz, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Dina Lohan (Lindsay’s mother) and Andy Rooney. Some of her targets may not care for the treatment they receive.
The inter-related nature of many of the vignettes recalls the interwoven nature of some of the TTO episodes such as Las Vegas, Hollywood and Road Rage, episodes which were and are among my favorites. The linking narration also helps to tie them together. Some of the vignettes work better than others, so if there’s one you don’t particularly care for, wait a minute or two for the next one.
The same spirit behind her previous series is present for this one, so those who didn’t care for her work in those will probably not care for her in this one, either. Diehard fans, though, will welcome her return, their only disappointment being that there are only five episodes in this first season. Let us hope that Showtime picks it up for a second season and beyond, for it will be worth it.
The premise of the series is simple. Each episode focuses on a day in the life of America as seen through the lives of its citizens and residents, both famous and unknown. Stock footage and linking narration (provided by Peter Strauss) take the viewer from one vignette to the next. In the course of a single typical episode, the story may flow from the dumping of a woman recovering from surgery on the street due to an inability to pay, to a TV reporter exposing such practices (and noting that the report would be great for her Emmy reel), to blogger Arianna Huffington wondering what to wear to the Bloggy Awards, to a pharmacist advising her elderly client about the side effects of his medication, to a soldier home from Iraq on furlough (a very short furlough) trying to see her son, and finally back to that woman who was dumped.
For those familiar with Tracey’s work from her previous American series The Tracey Ullman Show (Fox) and Tracey Takes On… (HBO), the vignettes are much shorter than a typical sketch on those series. This is a deliberate creative decision to appeal to the YouTube era of shorter attention spans. Some of the characters don’t need more time than this to have their stories told, but some could sustain longer sketches. None of the TTO characters appear in SOTU (although SOTU’s airport security guard Chantal Monticello is very similar to TTO’s airport security guard Sheneesha), but there is no reason why they couldn’t. There are musical numbers, chiefly Bollywood-style in the vignettes featuring Indian pharmacist Padma Prakesh (one of my favorites of the new characters).
Unlike her older American shows, though, SOTU features Tracey impersonating several famous people, among them Arianna Huffington, David Beckham, reporters Campbell Brown and Rita Cosby, Renee Zellweger, Cameron Diaz, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Dina Lohan (Lindsay’s mother) and Andy Rooney. Some of her targets may not care for the treatment they receive.
The inter-related nature of many of the vignettes recalls the interwoven nature of some of the TTO episodes such as Las Vegas, Hollywood and Road Rage, episodes which were and are among my favorites. The linking narration also helps to tie them together. Some of the vignettes work better than others, so if there’s one you don’t particularly care for, wait a minute or two for the next one.
The same spirit behind her previous series is present for this one, so those who didn’t care for her work in those will probably not care for her in this one, either. Diehard fans, though, will welcome her return, their only disappointment being that there are only five episodes in this first season. Let us hope that Showtime picks it up for a second season and beyond, for it will be worth it.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
More talk shows - and see SOTU now
Tracey was on The Early Show this morning, but I didn't know about it until after it happened (the Tivo listings didn't flag me). Fortunately, CBS News posted the clip on the Web, so I was able to see her interview. I've already summarized it in my talk show appearances section of the site.
Tomorrow, she's going to be on The View, and then next Monday (24th) she'll be on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS. And SOTU is premiering on the 30th... but if you have video on demand, you can see the first episode now. I have seen it, and I enjoyed it immensely. I'll hold off on further comment until after the episode officially premieres.
Tomorrow, she's going to be on The View, and then next Monday (24th) she'll be on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS. And SOTU is premiering on the 30th... but if you have video on demand, you can see the first episode now. I have seen it, and I enjoyed it immensely. I'll hold off on further comment until after the episode officially premieres.
Labels: State of the Union, Tavis Smiley, The Early Show, The View
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Tracey on The View March 19
As the start date for State of the Union draws ever nearer, it's time to start checking the TV listings for talk shows where Tracey may be appearing to promote the show. The first of these will be The View on March 19. Yippie! -- um, make that Whoopi!
Labels: State of the Union, The View
