Ullman as Padma Perkish
Posted on 03/29/2008 8:45:32 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
VideoTRACEY ULLMAN did not become an American citizen so she could make fun of the residents of these United States. She had already done that with “The Tracey Ullman Show,” a sketch comedy and variety show on the fledgling Fox network from 1987 to 1990...
Ullman, 48, born in England moved here 20 years ago, passing her civics test and taking her Oath of Allegiance in 2006: “has released me psychologically to say that bit more about the people I impersonate.”
“Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union,”begins Sunday on Showtime. Characters, such as Doris Basham, the retiree who smuggles prescription drugs into the United States from Canada; Mary Ann Lefrak, the country’s oldest expectant mother; and Gretchen Pincus (deathrowpenpals.com), the serial monogamist who marries residents of Death Row, Ms. Ullman probes a bit deeper into the psychology of her adopted country.
“I’ve been here a long time,” she added. “I’ve invested a lot of time in this country, and my children were born here, and I’ve had a really nice career here. It’s just something you want to do.”
“It’s a really interesting process,” she recalled. “Civics. Taking the test. Going for the interviews. I was interviewed by this lovely woman from Jamaica, who had become a citizen herself. And then I went downtown, with thousands of other people, in the convention center. And you all wave flags, and give your green card in, and they showed a film — Moon landings, waving wheat fields and monster trucks. President Bush came on and made a speech — silence — and it’s all scored.” And here she began to sing in a distinctly male, middle-American, country-and-western accent: “I’m proud to be an American because at least I know I’m free.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Tracey impersonates famous people, such as Arianna Huffington (who sleeps with her laptop and has a dramatic Eva Gabor accent and penchant for using "blog" in every part of her speech),David Beckham, reporters Campbell Brown and Fox News correspondent Rita Cosby, Renee Zellweger, Cameron Diaz, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Dina Lohan (Lindsay’s mother), curmudgeonly "60 Minutes" commentator over-the-hill Andy Rooney, Angelina Jolie (and her ilk coming to the Appalachians and adopting a poor American child), Laurie David (environmentalist and estranged wife of Larry David flying around in her private jet, often cussing out those below her. Some of her targets might not care for the treatment they receive.
Trivia: Ullman's Favorite Comedienne: Gracie Allen (Note: "Gracie was a practicing Irish Catholic-"The only politicians Gracie ever cared about were the Kennedys. Not because she agreed with their politics, but because they were Irish Catholics. Gracie was very proud of her heritage, and the thought that an Irishman could be President of the United States absolutely thrilled her George Burns).
"Tracey is an American-o-phile," says Bruce Wagner, a writer-producer on "State of the Union." "She's kind of obsessed with America ... Tracey wanted to show the entire spectrum of this country, not just political but emotional." Ullman: "Now there's so much more satire in America than when I first moved here..."I like that Americans can laugh at themselves more.."
Ullman returns with a unique brand of sociopolitical commentary.
I’d love to see her impersonations of Rita Cosby, Andy Rooney and Angelina Jolie! She is hilarious.
i never was much of a fan of ullman -but those clips are pretty funny.
For those of you “youngins” out there. The Tracy Ulman show is where The Simpsons debuted. It was a regular short subject cartoon on her weekly show.
I liked the clip where the guy sculpted the Statue of Libery out of a 1200 LB block of cheddar.
I did, however, think I had a cruch on her about 20 years ago, but she missed that opportunity.
Don't you just hate that?
In the photo above: "Padma Perkish", the letters on her lab coat seem to spell, in red, 'racist'. I am sure.... no one noticed that at the NYTimes! Course the word understood is, phar-"macist", but..caught my eye nevertheless. But then again, I would put nothing past the NYTimes. OOPS!
Well bless her heart. I liked the Tracey Ullman Show. Reminds me of Lucille Ball, with a broader range of characters.
Some real hidden talents out there!
-- your friends.
Went to YouTube to find the video, then came back and see you posted the album cover.
Hard to believe this was 25 years ago!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1xnVFxfw0
TV NEWS Anchor: as she describes as her "Nightly Doze of Fear"
Huffington and her Green Acres Gabor accent. Rooney split screen.
Nancy Pelosi will be one of her characters.
I own that album. Not too bad [McCartney was in the video. And she had legs that went on forever.
“They haven’t changed a bit”
News report: Angelina Jolie was beaten by a mob of her own children. Too funny!
Ha! I’ve been waiting for new things from Tracey. That clip of her as Arriana Huffington was hilarious! ...in bed at night watching Charlie Rose and blogging ... Too funny!
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