| Talk Show Appearances - 1986 | ||
| Max Headroom, Sept. 12 Late Night with David Letterman, Oct. 8 Clicking on the thumbnail images will cause larger versions of the images to open in a separate window.
This is not the TV series which aired on ABC (U.S.) in 1987 but a British show featuring excerpts from videos, comments from Max and a guest. Max gets an audience member to introduce Tracey, after which we see about 30 seconds of the video for her first UK single "Breakaway." She mentions being brought up in Surrey, where she spoke rather posh, in a Sarah Ferguson manner. Max, that mad punster, responds "Fergie means never having to say you're Surrey." He also propositions her in jest, asking if she wants a second baby (this, five months after Mabel was born). For possibly the first time (though definitely not the last time), she talks about daughter Mabel. Max asks how she's spending her downtime -- golf, perhaps? As she begins to talk about husband Allan's love of the game, the conversation is interrupted by a snippet from the Peter Gabriel video for "Sledgehammer." After the video snippet, Max asks about any future series plans. He's heard that there are some hush-hush plans for a series in the States. Tracey confirms that something is in development but won't say more than that, other than that some incredibly famous people are behind it [note: this has to be referring to her series on Fox, The Tracey Ullman Show, which had James L. Brooks as one of the creators and executive producers]. She wants it to be different, even a bit cruel -- no "care and share show" for her, no standard sitcom with the cute kid in a cap who helps her out and who says "Let's eat pizza!" Later, Max mentions her old series Three Of A Kind -- when she left, the show sank without a Trace [Max, you mad punster, you]. She observes that the rapid-fire gag-filled sketch-based comedy typified by 3OAK has gone out of fashion -- everything's gone "alternative." Her recording career, which had come to an end by this time, she describes as "a bit of a lark, really." She calls the record company executives "animals," which eventually leads to Max plugging his own hit record "Paranoimia" (in conjunction with Art Of Noise). How important has luck been in her career? It does help, she says. She's enjoying herself quite nicely. 2. Late Night with David Letterman, Oct. 8
When Tracey is introduced, she comes out bearing a bundle of joy: six-month-old Mabel. They pose briefly with Dave for a nice tableau, and he even holds the baby briefly. Then it's time for Mabel to go to nanny while Mommy chats with Dave, moving the big package of diapers from her seat first. She compares natural childbirth to having a truck driven through you, and she advises women not to do it naturally. She attempts to describe to Dave what a contraction feels like -- it feels like being hit over the head with a mallet. It's time for the bumper sticker "I Love Epidurals." Husband Allan was with her in the delivery room, and they video'd the birth [note: I pride myself on having an extensive video collection devoted to Tracey, but I'll pass on this one]. The anesthetist said that they had a nice camera, the reds come out great on it. The audience is somewhat disgusted by this, to which she responds "all right, it's a natural bodily function." She mentions she would have preferred a boy, for girls become a pain in the a** when they turn 13 -- you know, sprout breasts, get acne, feel grotty, etc. She'd breast-fed for a while, observing that feeding really takes the starch out. There's more audience grumbling, followed by another reminder that "it's a natural bodily function." But for Dave, it might be too much information. As they go into the commercial break, he gripes about not being paid for setting up the ads (in this case, for a Ford product). Coming out of the break, Dave mentions that he has a Mercury at home. Then he asks Tracey how her dogs are doing. She still enjoys them, but something has changed. Now that she's a mother, the dogs have become -- dogs. They were jealous when the baby came home. Binky has been fixed, so his outfits need to be altered now. And Dottie has acquired the habit of pooping in places she shouldn't. Time to call the Tendor Tutor dog psychiatrist. Dave asks if standing on the roof and throwing money into the wind wouldn't be as effective. Then she tells about how Dottie had gotten into the baby book and eaten the part of Mabel's umbilical cord that falls off shortly after birth [note: she also tells this story in the Loss episode of TTO]. She mentions that Warren Beatty called in the ninth month of her pregnancy, and she mentions writing to Woody Allen wondering why he uses Mia Farrow all of the time in his films, could she and Mia swap places, etc. What's ahead for her? Films, TV, the lot. Dave compliments her for Plenty and wishes her good luck. Prepared by Roger Reini |
