By Barry Garron 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
It's hardly a secret
that, when it comes to creating characters and impersonating
celebrities, there's no one better than Tracey Ullman. It takes
a village just to hold all of them.
Putting that enormous talent to work in a one-time special
is a no-brainer as HBO has demonstrated time and again, but
figuring out a way to package Ullman's brilliance in a series,
week after week, is harder. American viewers haven't been
enthralled by a primetime series with great characters and
sketch comedy since the heyday of Carol Burnett during the
1970s.
"Tracey Ullman's State of the Union" just might be the
right vehicle, but if so, it needs some customizing. Each
half-hour show consists of a single day in the United States.
In scene after scene, Ullman presents Americans from Los
Angeles to New York and plenty of points in between. Many, but
not all, of these characters show up week after week.
The premiere introduces many of the characters. I counted
16, but I could have missed one or two. It's a showcase for
Ullman's remarkable skill, but it is done too fast for the
comedy to percolate. We barely have time to figure out who the
character is before there's another one. And another.
Things are better in succeeding episodes. There's more
emphasis on developing a sketch than on seeing how many
characters can be packed into Ullman's comedy phone booth.
Several of Ullman's creations stand out immediately: ChanelMonticello, a airport luggage inspector, is hilarious. Also
smart are Marion Churchill, a Jamaican caregiver; Padma
Perkesh, an Indian pharmacist who gives advice Bollywood-style;
and Doris Basham, a senior citizen caught with Canadian meds.
Interestingly, though, Ullman's impersonations are rarely
as funny. Each week includes a spoof of Laurie David, the
globe-trotting environmentalist and soon-to-be ex-wife of Larry
David. Considering her relatively low public profile, the
amount of time spent lampooning her environmental extravagance
is massive overkill. Same with the weekly shtick on Arianna
Huffington and oft-injured soccer star David Beckham. Once is
plenty.
Ullman's impersonations of other celebs, including Renee
Zellweger, Helen Mirren, Judy Dench and Suzanne Somers, are
admirable but not nearly as witty or impressive as her take on
quasi-celebrities. Perhaps Ullman simply has more room to
maneuver as Linda Alvarez, a news anchor in Buffalo, N.Y., and
Dina Lohan, who dominates the parties with the other moms of
out-of-control star daughters.
The series launches after new episodes of "The Tudors." Not
much audience flow, for sure, but definitely a night of
original and attractive series.
Cast:
Multiple roles: Tracey Ullman
Guest star: Scott Bakula
Other cast: Jennifer Fitzgerald, Christopher Goodman, Jo
Ann Harris, Lily Holleman, Ajay Mehta, Bon Ogle, Larry
Poindexter, Valeri Ross, Dylan Sprayberry.
Narrator: Peter Strauss
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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