Tracey Takes On...

In 1990, Ullman's husband Allan McKeown, who became a founding member of Meridian consortium, placed a bid for the ITV television franchise for the southeast of England.[3] Along with the bid he included a potential programming lineup; listed was 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.[4] Ullman felt a sense of dread - she was now going to have to do that 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."[5] She had a year to deliver the special so she didn't panic. She needed to think of a new format that would enable her to repeat characters and apply the type of makeups and costuming she wanted. The special, shot entirely on location, turned out to be Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, a satire focusing on the British class system co-starring Michael Palin. The special's success led to HBO's interest in having Ullman do a special for their network. They requested that she take on a more "American" subject.[6] Ullman chose New York. That special, Tracey Ullman Takes on New York, was an award-winning success. HBO then broached the idea of a "Takes On" series.[7]

Ullman was unsure if she could do it without the help of her "mentor" James L. Brooks who helped launch her American career and 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.'"[8] Production on season 1 of Tracey Takes On... began in Los Angeles in 1995.[7] Characters created for the former two specials were carried over into series: gay airline steward Trevor Ayliss, conservative British MP wife Virginia Bugge, British magazine editor Janie Pillsworth, Long Island housewife Fern Rosenthal, and fading Hollywood actress Linda Granger.

Ullman was thrilled with the added artistic freedom working for cable television provided, 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."[1]

Production on Takes On began each February with a staff retreat, then three months of writing; pre-production taking place in July and August with filming taking place in September through November. The completed season would get delivered to HBO "ideally" by December.[9]

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."[10]

A typical episode consists of two or three long sketches with interstitial character monologues featured throughout all focusing on the episode's subject. However, every season features a few episodes which deviate from the regular format in favor of a single storyline ("Vegas", "Hollywood", "Road Rage") with many of the show's characters getting involved as well as interacting with one another.

Each episode of season 1 opened with Ullman asleep in bed musing about the topic she would be taking on in that particular episode. This is her only appearance out of character in the show. This would end up becoming an issue for some viewers as many were unaware that Ullman was playing every character. As a result, a new opening conceived where she would open each episode telling a personal story in relation to the episode's subject. The show's theme song was also switched to her hit 1983 song "They Don't Know" with Ullman and her characters lip-syncing along 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?'"[11]

Guest stars marked with an asterisk (*) represent those who made recurring appearances.

All of my characters have a sadness or inadequacy about them.

— Tracey Ullman[12]

All of the characters in Tracey Takes On were original creations. Ullman shied away from doing straight-up impersonations of celebrities believing it was Saturday Night Live territory.[13] She instead chose to do amalgamations – a combination of many real-life everyday people, and in some instances, famous ones.[8]

The only character to return from The Tracey Ullman Show was Kay Clark, as Ullman was the sole creator. Fox owned the rights to all the other characters that appeared on that show. "I love Kay. I'm very fond of her. This little British spinster - she's so courageous, and to think she's sort of on national television in America is rather thrilling to me when I used to witness her in the local bank in my village. She'd say, 'Hello, Miss Ullman. How's Hollywood?' And to think she's on American television and - she doesn't know!"[2]

The characters Trevor Ayliss, Virginia and Timothy Bugge, and Janie Pillsworth, along with her mother Jackie were originally created for the 1993 British comedy special Tracey Ullman: A Class Act.

Trevor was based on a real British Airways steward and an observation Ullman made about crewmen who would "butch up" once they made their way out of the galley.[14] "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 (lower-ing her voice to the throaty, teeth-clenched contralto of the washed-up Linda Granger): "I have a wonderful homosexual fan base, and I love them!"[15] Since playing the character, every male steward Ullman has encountered is convinced that she based it on them. "And I always say I did. I go, 'You're right, I based it on you,' because that way I get free caviar."[16] Fashion magazine editor Janie Pillsworth was an amalgamation of British editors such as Tina Brown and Anna Wintour.[8]

The characters Fern and Harry Rosenthal and Linda Granger were created for Tracey Ullman Takes On New York. Ullman had toyed with the idea of giving Fern her own show but found that playing Fern left her feeling like a limp rag and that her husband avoided her like the plague. "I had seen this kind of woman many times in New York over the years. '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 how many different actresses and celebrities she was channeling when portraying washed-up Hollywood actress Linda Granger, and who they were, Ullman cited Loni Anderson and actresses that ended up guest-starring in episodes of Murder, She Wrote, "The kind of women that Ruby Romaine made up."[14]

Feeling that it would have been passe to play a talent agent, Ullman opted instead to play an attorney, Sydney Kross, apropos in the wake of the OJ Simpson trial and Court TV. Critics immediately took note of the character’s uncanny resemblance to real-life attorney Leslie Abramson, who defended Lyle and Erik Menendez. "She has a fascinating look [...] I think she'll recognize herself physically but not her personality.... I've got some things physically which [aren't her]. I've [had] some teeth [made] that look like sharks. I've got some things physically which [aren't her]. I've [had] some teeth [made] that look like sharks'. I had the glasses, the suit, but then I put these teeth in, and it made me move my mouth in a certain way. And I filed my nails square. Women in L.A. have these square white nails, reeeelly square...."[8] When it came to Sydney's personality, Ullman found inspiration from an agent she had in Los Angeles named Holly, "who was insane." Always wanting to find some redeeming quality in all her characters, she was found herself stuck at first when it came Sydney. "[I]t seemed she had no redeeming features: she horrid, cold, impersonal." But then she found a "humanizing trait": loneliness. "She's so aggressive, and so ugly! She's got adult acne, and her teeth are terrible! [...] She became sort of appealing to me. All of my characters have a sadness or inadequacy about them."[12]

Her Royal Highness is an amalgamation of Queen Elizabeth's voice, Princess Margaret's face, Princess Anne's teeth and the Duchess of Kent's hat.[17] Ullman sent a copy of the show's Royalty episode to Princess Diana feeling that she could use a laugh, and Diana, through her lady-in-waiting, expressed that she had enjoyed it.

The show's Asian doughnut shop owner, Mrs. Noh Nang Ning was modeled after a real-life doughnut shop owner Ullman met while writing the show's first season in Los Angeles.[8] 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 the character. HBO defended Ullman stating, "Tracey Ullman is a brilliant satirist and comedienne, and all of her work is in the spirit of fun and good humor."[18] On the controversy Ullman stated: "My criteria for doing a character is do they exist, do they talk like this, would they indeed run a doughnut establishment? And I think Mrs. Noh Nang Ning meets all of that [...] Asian people don't necessarily see themselves in mainstream television and certainly not comic situations and after Mickey Rooney at Breakfast At Tiffany's I can understand why they're a little gun-shy."[19] The controversy later become comic fodder by season 4 when Ruby Romaine announces that she was behind Micky Rooney's look in Breakfast At Tiffany's. True to form, Ruby doesn't get all the hubbub and declares that she should have won an Oscar. Mrs. Noh Nang Ning was retired after season 3; Ullman had been complaining for years that the character's makeup felt like being buried alive.[2] Ironically, minorities made up the show's largest fan base – even those in the Asian community. "It's such a diverse audience that I get. They're all those characters that I portray that are supposed to be politically incorrect. I get these Asian teen-agers who come up and I think, 'Aren't you supposed to be offended by my doughnut-shop lady?' and they go, 'Oh, no! There's no one like that on TV. That's like my grandmother. I'd rather you do it than no one at all.'"[9]

Ruby Romaine, who Ullman has described as "pure Hollywood white trash,"[20] was based on many of the Hollywood union makeup artists sent to make her up over the years.[19] Romaine's look was inspired by Romaine Greene, a hairstylist who worked on many of Woody Allen's films.[14] The voice was inspired by Florence Aadland, mother to actress Beverly Aadland, who at 15 had an affair with a 48-year-old Errol Flynn. Ullman played Florence on Broadway in the 1991 one-woman show The Big Love based on the 1961 book. She spent hours listening to audio recordings of the late Florence dictating her memoir to writer Tedd Thomey.[21] There are parallels between Ruby Romaine's early days in Hollywood and that of Beverly Aadland's, specifically Aadland's affair with Erroll Flynn.

Beverly Hills madam, Madam Nadja was based on famed Hollywood madam, Elizabeth "Madam Alex" Adams. "I love that she kept money underneath her bed. She never gets up all day. If she ever has to get out of bed, it's like, 'Dammit, I've got to get out of bed. I've got to get dressed.' That's when something major happens that she has to get dressed. She's very angry because she had to get out of bed today because of some stupid hooker in Venice."[22]

The character 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 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 guy she knew as a teenager in London who worked in restaurant who used the come on line, "Hey, darling, you like sex?"[16]

The series was nominated for 24 Emmy Awards, winning 6, including 1 in 1997 for Outstanding Music, Comedy and Variety Show. The show won a CableACE award in 1996 for Best Comedy Variety Series, 3 American Comedy Awards, and 2 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

• 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...

Famed caricaturist Al Hirschfeld's artistic rendering of Ullman surrounded her characters was used to promote the show's third season.[23][24]

In 1999, Ullman was featured in a Got Milk? ad campaign, along with three of her Takes On characters, Kay Clark, Linda Granger and Hope Finch.[25]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Tracey Takes On...

• "Official web site". Archived from the original on June 23, 1998. Retrieved April 16, 2012.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• Tracey Takes On... at IMDb
• Tracey Takes On... at TV.com
• Tracey Takes On... at epguides.com
• Tracey Takes On... Emmy Awards
• Tracey Takes On... at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television