Totally Tracey Online
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
SOTU "the best TV comedy you may never have heard of"
The Vancouver Sun ran a column today that called State of the Union "the best TV comedy you may never have heard of." It began by noting "Being a funny girl, it seems, requires not only the natural gift of comedy but the rather fickle twin fates of timing and taste," comparing Tina Fey's current acclaim to the "cool ambivalence North American fans have long held for Tracey" (I like 'em both, by the way) and then calling SOTU "acerbic, hilarious, slightly inappropriate, satirical, always politically incorrect and wonderfully original."
Labels: State of the Union
Friday, May 02, 2008
SOTU Renewed!
Variety is reporting this morning that State of the Union has been renewed by Showtime for a second season of seven episodes in 2009. Only seven episodes? It's better than the five of the just-completed first season, but still.... And I wonder if the budget for these seven episodes will allow for more guest stars to appear. Not that there's anything wrong with seeing Tracey as so many characters.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Problems with links
With the move to the new location, I've found a problem with the links in the menu bar on the left of the page. They don't work properly from the individual blog entry pages. I will fix this soon. For now, please go to the home page, for the links will work properly from there.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.
UPDATE: I've now fixed the links so they'll work properly.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
New home
Welcome to the new home for the site and the blog -- rreini.org rather than rreini.com. The old provider was no longer meeting my needs, so I moved to a new one. Unfortunately, they are making it difficult to impossible to move my old domain name, so I've started using a slightly different one. Most of the links should work, but if you find any that don't, please let me know.
As a provider of thoughtful comedy and satire, though, Tracey is still tops on my list. Tomorrow's episode will be the last of the first season -- hard to believe. But it goes out on a winning note.
One more thing: in case you missed seeing Tracey on the Tonight Show last Friday night (18th) -- she wasn't listed on TiVo or on TV Guide, as she was a late addition -- the show is available for a limited time on Hulu.
As a provider of thoughtful comedy and satire, though, Tracey is still tops on my list. Tomorrow's episode will be the last of the first season -- hard to believe. But it goes out on a winning note.
One more thing: in case you missed seeing Tracey on the Tonight Show last Friday night (18th) -- she wasn't listed on TiVo or on TV Guide, as she was a late addition -- the show is available for a limited time on Hulu.
Labels: Hulu, Tonight Show
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tracey on Tonight Show April 18
Thanks to surfing the Web -- and the Late Night TV Page -- I have confirmed that Tracey will be appearing on the Tonight Show tomorrow night (April 18).
Labels: Late Night TV, Tonight Show
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
A few things
Well, three episodes of State of the Union have aired, and two more are left in this, its first season. If it were up to me, there would have been more. But consider that many comedy series in Britain run for just 6 episodes, so this is in line with that. Still, I hope there will be a next season -- a longer next-season.
I wonder what SOTU characters are everyone's favorites? I find myself partial to musical pharmacist Padma Perkesh and commentator/blogger Arianna Huffington.
My main work right now is creating the episode guide and commentary for SOTU. But I'm also getting ready to move this site to a new location. There will be a lot of work involved in updating the pages to use the new location instead of this one. When that's done, I'll announce where you can find it.
Undoubtedly, many fans of Tracey are also fans of the late Kirsty MacColl. I'm reading the new biography of her written by her mother, Sun on the Water. Don't look for it in your bookstore unless you're in the UK, for it's not available in the US yet. Amazon.co.uk has it, if you want to brave the extortionate exchange rate between the pound and the dollar. I just received it this week and am reading about Kirsty's childhood. She was taken from us far too soon....
I wonder what SOTU characters are everyone's favorites? I find myself partial to musical pharmacist Padma Perkesh and commentator/blogger Arianna Huffington.
My main work right now is creating the episode guide and commentary for SOTU. But I'm also getting ready to move this site to a new location. There will be a lot of work involved in updating the pages to use the new location instead of this one. When that's done, I'll announce where you can find it.
Undoubtedly, many fans of Tracey are also fans of the late Kirsty MacColl. I'm reading the new biography of her written by her mother, Sun on the Water. Don't look for it in your bookstore unless you're in the UK, for it's not available in the US yet. Amazon.co.uk has it, if you want to brave the extortionate exchange rate between the pound and the dollar. I just received it this week and am reading about Kirsty's childhood. She was taken from us far too soon....
Labels: episode guide, Kirsty MacColl, State of the Union, Sun on the Water
Monday, April 07, 2008
SOTU Guide Updates Delayed
Thanks to a hard drive crash this morning, my update to the State of the Union episode guide for episode 2 was lost, so I'm going to have to rewrite it again from scratch. That wasn't the only thing I lost, either, but I'll spare you the details.
Labels: State of the Union
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Guide to SOTU started
Now that State of the Union has begun, I can announce the beginning of my guide and commentary to the program. Each week, as the episodes air, I'll add to it. It's definitely a work in progress, so things may change.
I also want to send out birthday greetings to Tracey's daughter Mabel, who is 22 today. It may seem hard to believe, but it is true.
I also want to send out birthday greetings to Tracey's daughter Mabel, who is 22 today. It may seem hard to believe, but it is true.
Labels: State of the Union
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.
