| Talk Show Appearances - 1988 | ||
| Good Morning America, Jan. 21 Late Night with David Letterman, Jan. 22 Tonight Show, Aug. 11 Tonight Show, Nov. 23 Clicking on the thumbnail images will cause larger versions of the images to open in a separate window. 1. Good Morning America, Jan. 21
An excerpt from the TTUS sketch "City of Strangers" (featuring "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" at a New York bus stop) opens this segment, after which Charles Gibson introduces Tracey. She says it's been great living and working in the US, with lots of new accents to learn. She says thank you to America for letting her in. Charles says he's always been fascinated by mimics and impressionists who can pick up on a character or a voice like that. And the US has been a fertile ground for picking up new accents; she did that in the UK and she's doing it here. She recently spent some time at a health farm with women (and accents) from all over the country -- paydirt! Which accent does she like best? California, she says -- but she doesn't want Mabel to become a Valley Girl. Speaking of Mabel, she's at that stage where she sees "mummy" everywhere -- Michael Jackson, the Statue of Liberty, on the cover of Vogue, etc. Next, we see a clip from the sketch "Skin the Duck" (where Steve Martin was a crazy choreographer having dancer Tracey perform some ridiculous and demeaning moves). It was an unrewarding sketch for her, especially during rehearsal, but on stage, everything clicked and it worked. Does she consider herself a comedienne or an actress? An actress, definitely. The show is very structured, very well-written, and too much ad-libbing would cause things to break down. Charles wishes her continued good luck as the interview concludes. 2. Late Night with David Letterman, Jan. 22
As Dave introduces Tracey, he mentions her nomination for a Golden Globe award for her series (which she won, by the way). She congratulates him for mentioning the Fox network, for he's ragged on the network in the past. He says he has no problems with the network, just the brain trust that's running it ("Explorer Scouts running a network"). She says that script supervisor Doris, with a gravelly voice created in large part by smoking, observed that Pia Zadora won a Golden Globe once. She's going to attend; she's not going to pass up this "frock opportunity". Then she observes that she's "trying to appeal to Middle America looking like a lunatic." However, Dave likes the Gaultier outfit she's wearing. It's only a loaner outfit, though. Next, she recalls reading the script for Fatal Attraction and being offended by certain aspects (the elevator scene, the boiling of the rabbit, etc.). The role of the sexy femme fatale is not for her, it seems. After the break, Dave asks Tracey how her family spent the holidays. In large part, it was at a trendy ski lodge in Utah run by a former Olympic gold medalist. Among the clientele were lots of rich people who didn't know what to do with all the money they had. They were offering to spend some on young Mabel. Maybe she needs to pick up a backpack and rough it for a while in China.... Then the conversation turns to seeing Santa at the mall. The experience was nothing like it was when she was young; instead of a big event, where you go through a grotto to see Santa, nowadays you'll get a photo opportunity with an out of work Mexican. In fact, this Santa was played by a Mexican woman with rather large breasts. Dog update: Binky and Dottie are no longer part of the household. There was just too much poop to deal with. But they've gone to a nice home in the Valley.
Garry Shandling is the guest host tonight. After Tracey comes out, she says she'll try to speak a bit more slowly tonight, for Garry has complained in the past he can't understand her. He doesn't look any farther than the Valley for accents. He observes her high-energy demeanor versus his laid-back approach, noting that there appears to be an energy gap and a cultural gap. But this doesn't stop them from congratulating each other on their Emmy nominations. Their shows air back-to-back on Fox now, prompting her to say "it's nice to follow you -- oh God, is this slimy or what?" But the emotion is sincere. She then shows off her protest haircut (protesting the writer's strike), where she'd shaved a strip on her right side and dyed it blonde. Then the conversation turns to daughter Mabel -- apparently, she's going to take after her mother and be boy-obsessed. Garry observes that "Mabel" is not a name you're going to find on too many key rings or name plaques. Nor, for that matter, will you find too many "Garry"s (with the two r's). Tracey mentions having spent two months in France and how she likes French things but that the feeling's not mutual. She's too jolly for them, it seems -- "you do nothing but laugh and move your hands a lot." It turns out Garry is able to keep up with her tonight. He asks her to compare working in the US versus working in Britain. She finds herself out of sync with what's happening there, because she's over here. But now she can observe certain aspects of British culture that, being part of it, she couldn't notice before. After the break, the conversation meanders from weathercaster Fritz Coleman to the greenhouse effect to the state of dental hygiene in the US versus the UK (Americans have such gleaming teeth, Tracey says) to crazy American girls in Paris to a tourist couple leaving the Louvre. Garry brings up Playboy and that Tracey just did something for Playboy. No, not that; this was just an interview. Not like Jessica Hahn. And in the course of one sentence, she moves from saying something unfavorable about Jessica to saying something good about her. Very political, Garry observes. This does happen to be the height of the presidential convention season. Tracey says the conventions are great TV, but they have such terrible music. And what's worse, they show people like Walter Mondale dancing to it.
The last few times Tracey appeared on the Tonight Show, Garry Shandling was the guest host. But Johnny Carson is here tonight for this show, which is airing the day before Thanksgiving. After he introduces her and greets her, he says that they've never met. This is not so, she reminds him; she was on in 1984. She sang, which she'd never done live before -- she said her husband said she sounded like a wounded horse (I don't agree -- she did OK by me) -- and she was wearing an enormous ballroom dress and had a hard time sitting in the chair. Tonight, she's wearing a close-fitting red dress, and she's feeling more confident. Why, she's even touching Johnny ("there's an extra charge for that," he says). She's complaining about her hair, which isn't being helped by the rainy weather in LA. Still, she's enjoying herself here in the States. She'll never be completely Americanized, but it does feel so American to be on the Tonight Show on the night before Thanksgiving with George Burns as the other guest ("he's such a dear," she says, and everyone agrees). Being British, she doesn't have any favorite Thanksgiving memories, but she is observing the holiday for the sake of daughter Mabel, who is American. The conversation turns to TV evangelists and their continual pitches for money. One night, husband Allan wondered if they should give $50 to one of them so they'd be OK in the Afterlife. Next, the conversation turns to the Tonight Show appearing on British television, where it was never that successful. However, the colors of the curtains were very bright, thanks to the higher-resolution UK TV system! Next: the holidays. Tracey says she's not the biggest fan of the holiday period -- one exception being listening to Bruce Springsteen doing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". Then she complains about Barbie dolls -- why don't they have any nipples? And they seem to be a method of training the anorexics of the future. After the break, Johnny invites Tracey to come back on sometime (but she won't appear on the show again until after he retires). She then shows off her dress with no panty lines ("I have to mention it 'cause I'm vulgar!"). They wish each other "Happy Holidays" and the show ends. Prepared by Roger Reini |
