Tracey Takes On...

Tracey Ullman and her cast of characters "take on" a different subject in each episode of the series. ==Production==

Conception and development advertising campaign in 1999 In 1990, Ullman's husband Allan McKeown, a founding member of the Meridian Broadcasting consortium, placed a bid for the ITV television franchise in South East England. Along with the bid he included a potential programming lineup which included a Tracey Ullman special. Ullman, who had just ended four seasons of her eponymous Fox series, had just given birth to their second child and was quite content staying at home. In September 1991, McKeown was elated when he was informed that his bid was successful; he was subsequently responsible for all of Meridian's comedy programming. Ullman dreaded the idea of doing another show. "I was really not prepared to do TV again. I had an extraordinary run at FOX in the late '80s with the Tracey Ullman Show, and couldn't imagine putting forth that amount of energy again. [...] The type of makeups I liked to disguise myself under had not been conducive to a live show [...] Once I inhaled so much remover that I passed out on the makeup room floor. I was resuscitated and went out to give a terrific performance, even though I can't remember being there." She had a year to deliver the show. The 1993 special Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, a satire about the British class system, was shot entirely on location and co-starred actor Michael Palin. The show's success led to American cable television network HBO becoming interested in having Ullman do a special for them. The only caveat was that she take on a more "American" subject. She chose New York City. That special, Tracey Ullman Takes on New York, was an award-winning success. HBO then broached the idea of a "Takes on" series. directed and produced many of the show's episodes Ullman was unsure if she could do it without the help of her "mentor" James L. Brooks who helped launch her American career with The Tracey Ullman Show. "Last year, I was 35 years old, and I thought, 'It's time to do it myself really. I thought, 'I know the premise, I know what I want to do...' I sat at the head of the table and made myself a boss." Production on season one of Tracey Takes On... began in Los Angeles in 1995. Characters created for her previous two HBO comedy specials were carried over for the series: gay airline steward Trevor Ayliss, British Conservative MP wife Virginia Bugge, British magazine editor Janie Pillsworth, Long Island housewife Fern Rosenthal, and faded Hollywood actress Linda Granger. Ullman was thrilled with the artistic freedom working in cable television allotted her, specifically HBO. "If we did the story line with me and [Julie Kavner] as gay golfers on network TV, Johnson & Johnson would pull their advertising, then there'd be a big piece in USA Today, and it would be a headache. HBO let us have fun with it, and when Julie and I come out at the end, it's in the most wonderful way. Our Romance show may be a bit sappy, but it's more of a battle theme, something that will get people talking." Format A typical episode consists of two or three long sketches with interstitial character monologues all focusing on the episode's subject. However, every season featured one or two episodes which deviated from the show's regular format in favor of a single storyline (e.g., "Vegas", "Hollywood", "Road Rage", "The End of the World"). Opening title sequence and theme song Each episode of season one opened with Ullman asleep in bed, musing about the topic she would be taking on for that particular episode. This was her only appearance out of character in the show. This would end up becoming an issue as many viewers were unaware that Ullman was playing every character. The theme song was an original song performed by Ullman, describing the show's characters as "company in between [her] ears." A new opening was conceived for season two in which she opened the show with an anecdote or monologue in relation to each episode's subject. The show's theme song was also changed to her 1983 cover version of the Kirsty MacColl song "They Don't Know", with Ullman and her characters lip-syncing and dancing to it. In February 1998, Ullman revealed that some viewers were still unaware that she was playing all the characters, "We still get letters asking, 'Can I have a picture of Tracey and the rest of the cast?'" Ending The series came to a close after a four season run in 1999. Ullman began conceiving a new show in which she'd play only one or two characters with minimal makeup. "This time I'll play one or two characters [instead of all the characters]. I just don't want to put all that rubber on my face. That began to get really tedious. I've got make it easier on myself, and it'll be easier if I don't have to spend ten hours in make-up." ==Episodes==

==Character origins and development==

All of the characters in Tracey Takes On... are original creations. Ullman shied away from doing straight-up impersonations of celebrities believing it was Saturday Night Live territory. She instead chose to do amalgamations of many real-life everyday people, and in some instances, famous ones. was based on many of the Hollywood union makeup artists sent to make her up over the years. There are parallels between Ruby Romaine's early days in Hollywood and those of Beverly Aadland, specifically Beverly's affair with Errol Flynn. The characters Fern and Harry Rosenthal and Linda Granger were created for Tracey Ullman Takes on New York. Fern and Harry were based on Betty and Fred Valk of Baldwin, New York—the parents of Ullman's friend, Katie Valk. Ullman met the couple after she flew to New York to act as a guest VJ on MTV. She toyed with the idea of giving Fern her own show but found that playing the character left her feeling like a "limp rag" and that her husband "avoided her like the plague." She described Fern as "loud, emotional, with 'I'm from the suburbs' written all over her. She sat behind me at matinees of Cats and Les Misérables, not too shy to shout out to the performers, 'Speak up, darling, we can't hear you!'" When asked who had inspired washed-up Hollywood actress Linda Granger, Ullman responded: Loni Anderson and actresses who ended up guest-starring in episodes of Murder, She Wrote—"the kind of women that Ruby Romaine made up." "I love Trevor. I've always wanted to do one of those gay air stewards because they're always so lovely to me. As Linda [Granger] says... 'I have a wonderful homosexual fan base, and I love them!'" said Ullman in a 1996 interview. Since playing the character, every male steward Ullman has encountered is convinced that she based it on him. "And I always say I did. I go, 'You're right, I based it on you,' because that way I get free caviar." Fashion magazine editor Janie Pillsworth was an amalgamation of British editors Tina Brown and Anna Wintour. The show's Asian donut shop owner, Mrs. Noh Nang Ning, is modeled after a real-life donut shop owner Ullman met while writing the show's first season in Los Angeles. The character was the show's only encounter with controversy. An Asian American watchdog group protested the show, calling the character stereotypical and racist, and asked HBO to remove her. HBO defended the character, stating, "Tracey Ullman is a brilliant satirist and comedienne, and all of her work is in the spirit of fun and good humor." Ullman said of the controversy, "My criteria for doing a character is: Do they exist? Do they talk like this? Would they indeed run a donut establishment? And I think Mrs. Noh Nang Ning meets all of that." However, she acknowledged, "Asian people don't necessarily see themselves in mainstream television—and certainly not in comic situations—and after Mickey Rooney [as Mr. Yunioshi] in Breakfast at Tiffany's, I can understand why they're a little gun-shy." The controversy likely inspired a monologue delivered by Ruby Romaine, in which she reveals that she was responsible for Mickey Rooney's look in Breakfast at Tiffany's. True to form, Ruby doesn't understand the controversy and declares that she should have won an Oscar. Mrs. Noh Nang Ning was retired after Season 3, as Ullman had been complaining for years that the character's makeup felt like "being buried alive." The character Chic is 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?" was an actual comment from the driver regarding his belief that women in Los Angeles only cared about money. Ullman had a similar experience and spent the entire ride wondering how she could "turn herself into" the driver. The character was also partially based on a man she knew as a teenager in London who worked in a restaurant and used the pick-up line: "Hey, darling, you like sex?" ==Guest stars==

Guest stars marked with an asterisk (*) indicate those who made recurring guest appearances. • Amy Alcott • Joan van Ark • Corbin Bernsen • Julie Brown • Ron Canada * • Seymour Cassel * • Billy Connolly • Bob Costas • Kristin Dattilo * • Mark DeCarlo * • Melinda Dillon • Richard Dimitri * • Alastair Duncan * • Chris Elliott • Erik Estrada • Jon Favreau * • Matt Frewer • Mo Gaffney * • Judy Geeson * • Gloria Gifford * • Steven Gilborn • Adele Givens * • Joanna Gleason * • Whoopi Goldberg • Bill Harris • Howard Hessman • Huell Howser • Finola Hughes • Alex Karras • Julie Kavner * • Hugh Laurie * • Hiep Thi Le • Jennifer Jason Leigh • Tobey Maguire • John Mahoney • Cheech Marin * • Penny Marshall • Roddy McDowall • Bruce McGill • Tim McInnerny * • Michael McKean * • Sam McMurray • Helen Mirren • Joshua Malina * • Alfred Molina • Olivia Newton-John • Natalija Nogulich * • Gary Oldman • Todd Oldham • Carre Otis • Maulik Pancholy * • Ron Perlman • Victoria Principal • Giovanni Ribisi • Marissa Ribisi * • Melissa Rivers • Glenn Shadix • George Segal * • Harry Shearer • John Stamos • Jeffrey Tambor • The Roches • Scott Thompson • Liz Torres * • M. Emmet Walsh • Bradley Whitford • Danny Woodburn * ==Marketing==

Famed caricaturist Al Hirschfeld's artistic rendering of Ullman and her characters was used to promote the show's third season. In 1999, Ullman was featured in a Got Milk? ad campaign, along with three of her Tracey Takes On... characters, Kay Clark, Linda Granger, and Hope Finch. Ullman reprised the character Fern Rosenthal for a Marshall Field's department store commercial in 2003. ==Reception==

Awards and nominations The series was nominated for 30 Primetime Emmy Awards and won seven, including the 1997 award for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. The show also won a CableACE Award in 1996 for Best Comedy Variety Series, three American Comedy Awards, and two GLAAD Media Awards (in 1998 and 1999). ; American Comedy Awards • 1998–Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication • 1999–Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication • 2000–Funniest Female Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication ; CableACE Awards • 1996–Actress in a Comedy Series • 1996–Variety Special or Series ; Directors Guild of America • 1997–Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety ; Primetime Emmy Awards • 1996–Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program • 1997–Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series • 1997–Outstanding Makeup for a Series • 1997–Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program • 1998–Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series • 1998–Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program • 1999–Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series ; GLAAD Media Awards • 1996–Outstanding TV Individual Episode ("Romance") • 1999–Outstanding TV - Individual Episode ("Religion") ; Online Film & Television Association • 1998–Best Ensemble in a Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series • 1998–Best Host or Performer in a Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series • 1998–Best Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series • 1998–Best Actress in a Cable Series • 1999–Best Costume Design in a Series • 1999–Best Host or Performer in a Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series • 1999–Best Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series ; Satellite Awards • 1998–Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical ; Screen Actors Guild Awards • 1999–Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, Tracey Takes On... ==Home media==

VHS DVD On December 26, 2005, HBO Home Video released the first two seasons of Tracey Takes On... to DVD. The second season's "They Don't Know" lip-syncing title sequence has been removed and replaced with a black screen with the episode title, with an instrumental version of the first season's theme song. The closing credits feature the first season's theme song as well. Extras on the sets include the original HBO special Tracey Ullman Takes on New York (season 1), commentary on one episode per season by Tracey, previously unreleased Character Comedies, character bios (season 1), and a photo gallery (season 2). Seasons 3 and 4 were released by Eagle Rock Entertainment as one DVD set on July 14, 2009 in the United States. While it claims to be "complete", the set's episodes are heavily edited, with some whittled down to only three to five minutes in length; the episode "Religion" is missing entirely. The set includes three Character Comedies: Virginia, Ruby, and Rayleen. The DVDs are region-free. Streaming Seasons 1 through 4 were released for purchase through iTunes and the Amazon Video-on-Demand service in the United States in 2009; however, they are currently unavailable in either store. The episodes were heavily edited, and some were even combined to make up for lost running time. In 2012, the entire series of 65 episodes could be streamed through Hulu, including all 15 previously unaired Character Comedies episodes. ==Notes==