Totally Tracey Online
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Back -- with good news
Well, I am back from my idle time. I was not specific about what I was doing, but now I can be: I had taken a trip to Uganda to visit my sister and her family, to see my oldest niece graduate from the International School there, and to go on a 3-day safari. Details will be posted elsewhere on my site in the future.
And my first post since my return bears good news: it appears that Showtime has decided to pick up a third season of State of the Union, according to C21 Media. I'm pleased with that; even though the series can be quite uneven, having uneven Tracey is better than having no Tracey. No word yet on how many episodes there will be.
And my first post since my return bears good news: it appears that Showtime has decided to pick up a third season of State of the Union, according to C21 Media. I'm pleased with that; even though the series can be quite uneven, having uneven Tracey is better than having no Tracey. No word yet on how many episodes there will be.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Friday, March 20, 2009
Behind the Scenes of SOTU Season 2
As the season premiere draws closer, Showtime has posted a behind-the-scenes video for season 2 of State of the Union. Among the characters we see via short clips are Dina Lohan (her clip cracked me up!), Asma Qassim (Malawi's top movie star), Linda Katz-Cohen (publicist for the Dalai Lama), Tom Brokaw, Seth Rogan, Tony Sirico, Padma Perkesh, Granny Cyrus, Arianna Huffington -- I can't remember them all! It's available on Showtime's official SOTU site, and it's also available right here:
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Another new SOTU Promo
Another new promo for State of the Union has started appearing on Showtime, and it's been posted on the official SOTU Web site. It features a wonderfully literal application of the Billy Idol/Generation X song "Dancing With Myself": Tracey's pulled into scenes of her own program and is dancing with herself -- or, we should say, her selves, the other characters.
Here is the promo:
Here is the promo:
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
More characters for SOTU
Thanks to Showtime (by way of our friends at The Expatriate Mimic), we know some more characters who will be appearing in the second season of State of the Union, and we know a little more about some of those characters. Among the celebrities and public figures Tracey will be portraying will be Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, in addition to the previously announced Laura Bush, Celine Dion, Heather Mills-McCartney, Jodie Foster, J.K. Rowling, Silda Spitzer (wife of the former governor of New York), and Tom Brokaw. New original characters include Leslie Katz-
Coen, publicist for the Dalai Lama, Wendy Trenton, world-champion hog caller and Jillian Smart, an overzealous soccer mom.
Season 2 of State of the Union premieres on Showtime April 12, Easter evening.
Coen, publicist for the Dalai Lama, Wendy Trenton, world-champion hog caller and Jillian Smart, an overzealous soccer mom.
Season 2 of State of the Union premieres on Showtime April 12, Easter evening.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
New Promo for State of the Union
The first promo for the second season of State of the Union is now airing on Showtime. I caught it airing after an episode of The L Word. Here's a summary of the promo, which comes garbed as a public service announcement for identity theft:
- 245 million Americans will have their identities stolen (then we see Tracey as three different characters, the last of which appears to be Tom Brokaw)
- 163 million won't even know it happened (then we see her again, possibly as Dina Lohan)
- 56 million wish they were someone else anyway (now we see her as Arnelle)
- Tracey's back and she's playing us all (now she's Chanel, then Renee Zellweger at another film festival, then Laura Bush, then Padma Perkesh)
- Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, coming in April
- 245 million Americans will have their identities stolen (then we see Tracey as three different characters, the last of which appears to be Tom Brokaw)
- 163 million won't even know it happened (then we see her again, possibly as Dina Lohan)
- 56 million wish they were someone else anyway (now we see her as Arnelle)
- Tracey's back and she's playing us all (now she's Chanel, then Renee Zellweger at another film festival, then Laura Bush, then Padma Perkesh)
- Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, coming in April
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
SOTU Season 2 on April 12
News from the TCA tour in Hollywood: We'll have to wait a little longer this year for season 2 of State of the Union. Last year, it premiered on March 30, but according to Must Hear TV, it will premiere on April 12. Arianna Huffington, Padma Perkesh and Renee Zellweger will be back. No, we will not see Sarah Palin; Tracey didn't want to portray her, she "wanted to be that lesbian Sarah Palin talked about who was her best friend for years." Might we see some characters from Tracey Takes On? I don't know, but when asked if Fern Rosenthal might ever be brought back, Tracey observed that Fern would undoubtedly have been one of Bernie Madoff's victims. And speaking of TTO, she noticed how each sketch just "seems to go on forever" (quoting the blog), a pace that's out of step with the "YouTube mentality" (quoting Trace) of today.
I wouldn't mind seeing longer sketches again, but I don't have a problem with the short sketches of SOTU. Having enjoyed the fruits of Tracey's artistic judgment for some 20-odd years, I see no reason to stop trusting it now. I'm looking forward to the new season in April -- and while I'm waiting, I'll be keeping up with the United States of Tara.
I wouldn't mind seeing longer sketches again, but I don't have a problem with the short sketches of SOTU. Having enjoyed the fruits of Tracey's artistic judgment for some 20-odd years, I see no reason to stop trusting it now. I'm looking forward to the new season in April -- and while I'm waiting, I'll be keeping up with the United States of Tara.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union, Tracey Takes On, United States of Tara
Sunday, December 14, 2008
A few items of note
As we approach the end of the year, here are a few items I've noticed in the news:
- The Hollywood Reporter reported on the recent event at the Paley Center in LA that honored Carl Reiner and Showtime. Tracey was there to help honor Showtime, and she made an observation about The Tudors -- quoting: "attending school as a youngster in England, she believed that King Henry VIII was 'fat and bald. But when he's being brought to you in the 21st century by premium cable, he's Jonathan Rhys Meyers.'" The truth wouldn't have been as much fun....
- The Tale of Despereaux is opening on Friday, and the buzz appears to be good. Some promo clips and behind-the-scenes clips have appeared on YouTube, legitimately or otherwise....
- Tedd Thomey passed away earlier this month. What was his connection with Tracey? Well, he was the author (in the "as told to" sense) of The Big Love, the book that led to the 1991 Broadway play that starred Trace.
- And in 2 weeks, there will be important birthdays and anniversaries approaching (more on those later)
Labels: Paley Center, Showtime, The Big Love, The Tale of Despereaux
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Talk Show News
At long last, I've finally update my 2008 talk show appearances page to include a summary of Tracey's appearance on the Tonight Show back in April. I've included my usual small frame grabs, but I've also put a pointer to a full-size HDTV screen capture which I think is rather flattering. I've also put up my summary of her interview on Showtime's boxing matches last week.
And on November 21, she's scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Labels: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Showtime, Tonight Show
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Some items of note
Let's see what's been happening lately...
Tracey was interviewed between bouts at Showtime's recent fight card (November 1) that featured Vic Darchinyan and Cristian Mijares. She mentioned that she'd just wrapped up 3 weeks of filming for State of the Union and would now be busy editing it for broadcast next year. Several of the sketches had alternate endings filmed in anticipation of either Obama or McCain winning the election; now those McCain endings won't be used except as possible deleted scenes on a DVD set. President-elect Obama was not among the 52 characters she will be portraying this season, but we will be seeing Laura Bush, Tom Brokaw and Tony Sirico. And we also learned that, after 25 years in this country, she still doesn't understand American football.
State of the Union season 1 is still coming out on DVD next Tuesday (11th). The Tale of Despereaux is still coming to a theater near you on December 19; Tracey is the voice of servant girl Mig.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union, The Tale of Despereaux
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
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, February 26, 2008
An interview, and a Facebook page
I got a couple of things to mention today. The first is the official Facebook page for SOTU. The second is another clip from Showtime's SOTU page, which happens to be a short interview with Tracey interspersed with some SOTU clips. Here's that interview:
Labels: Facebook, Showtime, State of the Union
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Preview of the State of the Union
Here is one of those video clips I mentioned in my previous post -- the President's Day clip (it may have come and gone, but it's still hilarious viewing):
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Saturday, February 16, 2008
SOTU Official Site (with promo clips)
For those of us in the US, the official site for State of the Union is now up and running. What you'll find here now are three promo clips that should be airing on Showtime (I haven't seen them yet, though). The oldest one is a First Look at the series; the second is a short interview with Tracey, and the newest is a President's Day clip. In that one, you'll see her as several different characters, both real (Dina Lohan and Andy Rooney) and created (including an updated Sheneesha, still on airport security detail).
Unfortunately for those outside of the US, Showtime is notorious for blocking all access to its site for anyone not in the US. I'm sure someone has devised means for getting around that, but I won't get into that here.
Unfortunately for those outside of the US, Showtime is notorious for blocking all access to its site for anyone not in the US. I'm sure someone has devised means for getting around that, but I won't get into that here.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Thursday, January 31, 2008
USA Weekend Who's News Blog
Tracey was interviewed today by Lorrie Lynch for the USA Weekend Who's News blog, thereby getting some early promotion for State of the Union. Readers were asked what questions they wanted to ask, and those formed the basis of the interview. We learned why SOTU is on Showtime rather than HBO (executive Bob Greenblatt moved from HBO to Showtime, and Tracey wanted to continue working with him, so she made the move too), why there are only five episodes in this first series (that's all the budget allowed), what it was like to become a US citizen ("mind-blowing", she said) and who her favorite guilty-pleasure cable news personality is (Rita Cosby of Fox News).
Two months and counting....
Two months and counting....
Labels: citizenship, Showtime, State of the Union
Monday, January 28, 2008
9 Weeks and counting...
It's now 9 weeks until the premiere of State of the Union. I know this because Showtime has just started airing a repeat run of the first season of The Tudors. The tenth and final episode is slotted to air March 30, leading into the first episode of its second season, which in turn leads into the debut of SOTU.
This should be a prime time to watch out for SOTU previews. There was a partial preview last night ("partial" because the promo covered all of Showtime's original programs), and I think I saw a familiar character: airport security guard Sheneesha. Same uniform, but different hairstyle. I wonder how many familiar friends we'll be seeing?
This should be a prime time to watch out for SOTU previews. There was a partial preview last night ("partial" because the promo covered all of Showtime's original programs), and I think I saw a familiar character: airport security guard Sheneesha. Same uniform, but different hairstyle. I wonder how many familiar friends we'll be seeing?
Labels: Sheneesha, Showtime, State of the Union
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
State of the Union -- March 30
Mark the date on your calendars: March 30. That's when the first episode of State of the Union (SOTU) premieres on Showtime. It'll premiere at 10 PM Eastern and Pacific, right after the premiere of the second season of The Tudors. To shamelessly rip off NBC's slogan, that'll be some Must See TV for me.
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The State of the Union
I recently came upon an interview with Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's President of Entertainment, in which he talked about the network's upcoming series lineup. He had quite a bit to say about Tracey's new project for Showtime:
- The official title is Tracey Ullman's State of the Union
- The sketches are very short, no longer than a minute and a half
- There will be recurring characters
- A typical sequence might involve a visit with two women on an Iowa farm, then an interlude with Arianna Huffington in her boudoir, followed by a look-in on a Washington, DC, anchorperson (we must qualify that, you know)
Labels: Showtime, State of the Union
