Tracey Takes On...
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| Tracey Takes On... | |
|---|---|
 Tracey Takes On... portrait by Al Hirschfeld |
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| Format | sketch comedy |
| Created by | Tracey Ullman, Allan McKeown |
| Starring | Tracey Ullman Seymour Cassel Alastair Duncan Adele Givens Julie Kavner Hugh Laurie Tim McInnerny Michael McKean George Segal Michael Tucker Danny Woodburn Allen J. Zipper |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 47 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Original run | January 24, 1996 – March 17, 1999 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Tracey Takes On... is an HBO sketch comedy series created by British comedian Tracey Ullman.
Ullman created and portrayed a wide spectrum of exotic characters, including both men and women, for the series. Only her 'Kay' character returned from her earlier FOX series. Each week, each episode would focus on, or "take on," a certain topic, around which each episode would revolve. Unlike her previous series, where characters would appear one week, only to never be seen again, Ullman's roster of characters for Takes On would be repeated throughout the entire series. Unknown actors who became famous in America after the series' run include Hugh Laurie, Tobey Maguire, Giovanni Ribisi, Jon Favreau, Carlos Mencia, Dan Futterman, and Danny Woodburn. Writer Jenji Kohan went on to create the hit Showtime series Weeds, writer Allen Zipper went on to write and produce George Lopez and Blind Date, producer Gail Parent wrote the screenplay for Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and director Thomas Schlamme went on to direct hit television shows, including The West Wing.
In 1993, Ullman returned to television, after her hit FOX comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, was cancelled, with two comedy specials for HBO. Tracey Ullman Takes On New York, and Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, were created for the network, and received critical praise and even awards. HBO approached Ullman and her producer husband, Allan McKeown, about doing a weekly character series for the network. Ullman agreed, and the Takes On series was born.
In 1998, Ullman released the book, Tracey Takes On.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Tracey Ullman .... Sydney Cross/Ruby Romaine/Linda Granger/Kay Clark/Rayleen Gibson/Trevor Ayliss/Fern Rosenthal/Chic/Miss Noh Nang Ning/Virginia Bugge/other roles
- Seymour Cassel .... Candy Casino
- Alastair Duncan .... Capt. Philip 'Pip' Semdorbin
- Adele Givens .... Hellura (1998-1999)
- Julie Kavner .... Midge Dexter/Jobie Wolf/other roles
- Hugh Laurie .... Timothy 'Timmy' Bugge (1996)
- Tim McInnerny .... Timothy 'Timmy' Bugge #2 (1997-1998)
- Michael McKean .... Barry
- George Segal .... Harry Rosenthal #2 (1997)
- Michael Tucker .... Harold 'Harry' Rosenthal (1996)
- Danny Woodburn .... Mitch Gibson
- Allen J. Zipper .... Piki
- Mo Gaffney .... Dusty Rhodes
[edit] The characters
Ruby Romaine: 72, a Hollywood makeup artist who has seen it all. Worked heavily during Hollywood's heyday. Drinks and smokes heavily. Lives with her shell shocked, Vietnam Veteran son, Buddy, and their pet pig.
Fern Rosenthal: 56, a Jewish homemaker, originally from Long Island. Retired to Boca Raton, Florida after her husband, Harry, suffered a heart attack. Harry Rosenthal was the owner of a chain of discount pharmacies.
Janie Pillsworth: 37, originally from England, now a New York fashion magazine editor. Sent to a prestigious British boarding school. Her father sacrificed a kidney to pay tuition. Disowned her parents until an ill-fated family reunion. Lets her mother, who also acts as a nanny, live with her.
Linda Granger: 49, An actress, singer and author. Had a hit 1970s television series, 'VIP Lounge,' in which she played Vickie Starr. Has a book entitled 'I'm Still Here: The Linda Granger Story,' which details her additions to alcohol, surviving cancer and 'personal misfortune.' Had a child, whom she gave up and then adopted, named Marmalade. She is also a recovering sex-addict. Her manager is Candy Casino (Seymour Cassel).
Trevor Ayliss: 43, gay male, from England, an airline steward. Fathered a child for a fellow stewardess. Has a partner named Barry (Michael McKean). A very big fan of Linda Granger.
Kay Clark: 42, originally from England, bank teller, cares for her invalid mother.
Chic: 44, male, New York, Middle-Eastern, cab driver. A self-defined, chick-magnet.
Sydney Kross: 34, ruthless, high-profile, Los Angeles attorney.
Rayleen Gibson: 34, Australian, stuntwoman to the stars. Raised by dingos in the outback. Married to a 'little person,' Mitch Gibson (Danny Woodburn). Runs A.A.H., Aged-Animal-Actors-Home, for retired animal actors.
Hope Finch: 19, college student.
Virginia Bugge: 36, a British politician's wife.
Mrs. Noh Nang Ning: 70, owns a donut shop, Yankie-Doodle-Donut. Relates everything to the circle.
Erin McColl: 47, lead singer of the 1970s band, Wisechild. Depends on her manager, Dusty, for guidance.
Her Royal Highness: 57, derives enormous pleasure from making everyone around her as uncomfortable as possible.
Birdie Godsen: 42, right-wing, Christian homemaker. Homeschools her children, and lives in a gated community.
Sheneesha Turner: 34, African-American, airport security guard.
Madam Nadja: 60, Hollywood, 'madam.' Never leaves her bed.
Chris Warner: 32, a lesbian. Her life partner is golf pro Midge Dexter (Julie Kavner).
- Note, characters that only appeared once have not been listed.
[edit] Episodes
Season One: Romance, Charity, Nostalgia, Royalty, Family, Law, Vanity, Health, Death, Fame
Season Two: Sex, Fantasy, Mothers, Vegas, Secrets, Childhood, Food, 1976, Crime, Movies, Money, Race Relations, Supernatural, Politics, Music
Season Three: Marriage, Hollywood, Smoking, Loss, Agents, Age, Man's Best Friend, Religion, Culture, Sports
Season Four: Dating, Drugs, Scandal, Hair, Lies, Erotica, Books, America, Road Rage, Hype, Obsession, The End of the World
[edit] Controversy
The Asian-American community found the Asian character, Mrs. Noh Nang Ning, that Ullman portrayed, offensive. Ultimately, HBO supported Ullman, citing that she did not portray the character in a negative light. Tracey later revealed how she received letters from Asian youth, thanking her for her character, appreciating that even though they were rarely represented on television, 'at least they had her.'
[edit] Theme song
Starting with the second season, it was decided to film a new opening. In the first season, viewers would only catch a glimpse of Ullman asleep in a bed, with a voiceover being played, and were virtually unaware that Ullman played every character, or for that matter, which characters. In the second season's opening, Tracey would sing to her 1983 hit song, They Don't Know, not only as herself, but also in character, thus signaling to viewers that she was indeed portraying each character.
[edit] Miscellanea
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Ullman was unable to reprise many of the roles she portrayed in, The Tracey Ullman Show, due to copyright. The only character that she had a total hand in creating, was bank teller Kay Clark, who would return in the HBO series.
- Tracey was apprehensive about doing another sitcom without the help of James L. Brooks, and wasn't sure if she could pull it off.
- Characters Linda Granger and Fern Rosenthal were created and first seen in the special, Tracey Ullman Takes On New York. Characters Trevor Ayliss, Janie Pillsworth and Virginia Bugge were created and first seen in, Tracey Ullman: A Class Act.
- The original role of Timothy Bugge, the husband of Virginia Bugge, was first portrayed by actor, Michael Palin in Tracey Ullman: A Class Act. Two actors portrayed Timothy Bugge in the Takes On series in addition to Palin, Hugh Laurie (season 1), and Tim McInnerny (season 2). Due to being unable to keep an actor to portray the role, Ullman retired Virginia after the second season.
- Ullman sent the episode Royalty, to Princess Diana, hoping she would get a laugh out of the sketch, A Royal Visit, in which Her Royal Highness attends a dinner party, and has some scathing remarks about Diana. Also, originally in the episode, but cut out in the syndicated version due to Diana's death, attorney Sydney Kross makes a special video message to Princess Diana, hoping to handle her divorce settlement. Princess Diana, through her staff, contacted Ullman, saying that she had enjoyed it.
- The character Mrs. Noh Nang Ning was retired after the third season.
- Ullman felt as though she was being buried alive in the first season's makeup for the character Mrs. Noh Nang Ning. It would be altered during the second season.
- Her Royal Highness is a combination of many royals.
- Ullman fainted more than once on the set due to excessive heat and the heavy character makeup.
- A prosthetic penis was worn by Tracey when made up as the New York cab driver Chic and air steward Trevor Ayliss.
- Actor George Segal took over the role of Harry Rosenthal in the second season. The original actor, Michael Tucker, reprised his role during the third and fourth seasons.
- Ullman has admitted that the inspiration for the character Sydney Kross was Leslie Abramson, attorney for the defense in the trial of Lyle and Erik Menendez. The character bears an uncanny resemblance.
- The character of Chic was based on a real New York City cab driver who once drove writer, Allen Zipper to Laguardia airport. The line "You want to fuck me or you want to fuck my Mercedes" used in the series was an actual line that the driver used when talking about how woman in LA only cared about money.
[edit] Awards
The series won 8 Emmys, including one in 1997 for Outstanding Music, Comedy and Variety Show, a CableACE award in 1996 for Best Comedy Variety Series, and GLAAD Media Awards for 1998 and 1999.
[edit] DVD
In December 2005, Tracey Takes On... officially came to DVD from HBO Home Video. Included in the first season's ten-episode set is a photo gallery, four previously-unseen character comedies, the special Tracey Takes On New York and an audio commentary on the premiere episode, Romance, from Ullman herself.
In June 2006, the entire second season of the series was released. Extras include a photo gallery, three character comedies (Kay, Hope, and Chris Warner) and commentary by Tracey on Las Vegas.
At this time, no plans have been made to release Seasons 3 and 4 yet.
[edit] External links
- Tracey Takes On... at the Internet Movie Database
- Ullman Takes on New Television Series - NPR
- Tracey Takes On... at TV.com
- DVDtalk.com caps and reviews
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