The Tracey Ullman Show

infobox Television|Variety Show]
show_name = The Tracey Ullman Show


format = Variety Show
runtime = 22-23 minutes
creator = Tracey Ullman
starring = Tracey Ullman
Dan Castellaneta
Julie Kavner (1987-1989)
Sam McMurray
Joseph Malone
Anna Levine
country = USA
network = FOX
followed_by = The Simpsons
first_aired = April 5, 1987
last_aired = May 26, 1990
num_episodes = 82|

"The Tracey Ullman Show" was a weekly American television variety show, hosted by British comedian and onetime pop singer Tracey Ullman. It debuted on April 5, 1987 as the FOX network's second primetime series (after "Married... with Children"), and ran until May 26, 1990. The show featured sketch comedy along with many musical numbers, featuring Emmy Award-winning choreography by Paula Abdul. It also produced the hugely successful animated series, "The Simpsons". This is the first show produced by Gracie Films and also produced by 20th Century Fox Television.

Format

A typical episode would begin with Ullman giving a brief introduction, ostensibly from her dressing room, leading into the opening titles (the show's theme, "You're Thinking Right", was written by George Clinton). Then two or three comedy sketches would be presented, most designed to showcase Ullman's ability to skillfully mimic various accents. One popular recurring character was timid, slow-talking Kay ("iiit's ... Kaaaaaaaayyy ...").

Typically, the final sketch of the night would include a musical number featuring Ullman and other members of the cast. The final segment saw Ullman, clad in a robe, deliver a closing monologue to the studio audience before ending the show with her catchphrase "Go Home! Go Home!" and dancing as the credits rolled. Ullman often talked about her American husband Allan and their baby Mabel.

The show ultimately won three Emmy Awards: for "Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program" in 1989 and 1990, for "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program" in 1990. [ [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0151586.html 1988–1989 Emmy Awards] ]

Cast

*Tracey Ullman /Various Characters
*Sam McMurray .... Himself/Various Characters
*Anna Levine .... Herself/Various Characters
*Dan Castellaneta .... Himself/Homer Simpson/Various Characters
*Joseph Malone .... Himself/Various Characters
*Julie Kavner .... Herself/Marge Simpson/Various Characters
*Nancy Cartwright .... Bart Simpson
*Yeardley Smith .... Lisa Simpson

Characters

Tracey performed an array of characters. Most only appeared once, as the sketches concentrated on plot, with the characters an afterthought; created to best tell that particular storyline. However, a handful of characters did return for subsequent sketches such as, Francesca, the teenager being raised by gay parents, Ginny Tillman, the ex-wife of a proctologist, yuppies Sarah and Greg, and the infamous spinster who took care of "mother", and was harassed by her co-workers, Kay.

In the course of its four season run, Ullman performed over one-hundred characters.

"The Simpsons" vignettes

"The Simpsons" family debuted in short animated cartoons on "The Tracey Ullman Show" before being spun off into their own half-hour series. These shorts, also called "bumpers", aired before and after commercial breaks during the first three seasons of the show.

All of them were written by Matt Groening and animated at Klasky-Csupo by a team of animators consisting of David Silverman, Wes Archer, and Bill Kopp. In the beginning, the drawings appeared very crude because the animators were more or less just tracing over Groening's storyboards, but as the series developed, so did the designs and layouts of the characters and the "Simpsons drawing style" was ultimately conceived. This style evolved even more throughout the first few seasons of "The Simpsons" and was used more than a decade later on "Futurama", another animated series created by Matt Groening.

Dr. N!Godatu was another series of animated shorts created by M.K. Brown (and animated by the same Klasky-Csupo team). It originally alternated every other week with the "Simpsons" shorts, but was dropped after the first season of the show. By this point, Groening's shorts had gained much more popularity and the producers saw no reason to continue Brown's shorts.

The Tracey Ullman Show is also by Klasky Csupo.

References

External links

*imdb title|0092469
*tv.com|496
* [http://www.homerize.com/shorts/ Watch "Simpsons" shorts]
* [http://benway.com/mkbrown/drn/index.html The "Dr. N!Godatu" web page]