| Talk Show Appearances - 2000 | ||
| Today (NBC), March 27 Oprah Winfrey, May 9 SheCommerce (Oxygen), date unknown Today (NBC), May 15 Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, May 15 The Daily Show (Comedy Central), May 15 ABCNews.com, May 15 Tonight (NBC), May 18 Lifetime Live, May 18 CPAC, July 27 Today (NBC), October 31 Rosie O'Donnell, November 6 Clicking on the thumbnail images will cause larger versions of the images to open in a separate window.
Once again, Tracey appears on the Today show to review and discuss the Academy Awards, which were handed out the previous night. Jon Stewart returns from last year, while Christie Brinkley is here instead of Rosie O'Donnell. A full summary will be available shortly. This episode is devoted to online shopping. Tracey appears in a brief segment promoting her online boutique, Purple Skirt. 3. SheCommerce (Oxygen), date unknown This episode (show #5) is not in my collection. However, according to the show's Web site on oxygen.com, Tracey promotes Purple Skirt.
Matt Lauer introduces Tracey by pointing out her previous visit to the show, which was the day after the Academy Awards. That was great fun, she says. He goes on to say that the fashion police would throw her in jail for the outfits she wore in Small Time Crooks. She agrees but says she's brave for wearing such unflattering outfits like lime-green leggings with what Matt calls the worst panty lines ever. Not many actresses would be willing to be seen in such horrid clothing. Even son Johnny complained about it: "Mum, you look fat!" Kate Moss would look fat in those things, she says. She summarizes the plot of the film as a rags to riches to rags story. It was a dream of hers to play the lead in a Woody Allen film, and now she's done it. Matt refers to Woody looking like a badly made bed, and we get to see for ourselves as we see a clip from the film. The clip shows Woody's character Ray asking Tracey's character Frenchy for $6000. She guesses it's for robbing a bank, and he's flabbergasted that she's guessed it. After the clip ends, Matt says those leggings look worse than ever. Tracey says they're not so bad on the small screen, but on the big screen, look out [let's not think about Imax -- RR]. He observes that Frenchy has dreams of wanting to better herself, to become part of high society. Tracey agrees; Frenchy wants to be a patron, to be on the boards of museums, to go to Europe, to gain some culture, etc. But she's still going to be Frenchy, so she ends up being a funny yet tragic character. Tracey says that working with Hugh Grant was great. Matt says that Woody said he wanted to work with the top comic actors, and he put Tracey on top of that list. She says she was thrilled to work with Elaine May, one of her comedic heroes. Later, she says there should be a Woody Allen Beanie Baby or key chain. How was it working with Woody, asks Matt. It was great on the set, replies Tracey. She was cast because she was the right person for the part, not because she's a big box office draw or a sex symbol (although she is one). Nobody works on a Woody Allen film for the money or the perks; they're there to work, and this brings out the best in actors. It's a wonderful experience; it's liberating, like working in theater, which of course is her first love (yeah, right). The family's OK, she says, and so's the boutique, making sure to plug Purple Skirt. It seems like everyone's got a dot-com business these days, she says. Then she muses about setting up a Purple Pants business for men and asks Matt about the status of his casual wardrobe. He admits it could use some help. She then describes husband Allan's casual wardrobe as "tragic" (in the interest of decency, I'll spare you the gory details -- RR). And on that note, the interview concludes. 5. Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, May 15
Regis introduces Tracey as "one of the more unique performers" on the scene today. After she enters, Kathie Lee wishes her a belated happy Mother's Day, from one mother to another. Regis observes that it's like British royalty day today, what with Angela Lansbury guesting and now Tracey. She says that daughter Mabel is good friends with Angela's grand-daughter. Then she talks about meeting the Ross family backstage (the Ross family from Michigan won half of the record Big Game lottery jackpot) -- Mr. Ross is a TV natural. Why, he could anchor the evening news! Kathie Lee asks Tracey what she would do with that kind of money. It'd be kind of frightening, she says; all sorts of freaks and creeps would come out of the woodwork. How did she spend her Mother's Day? Well, Mabel's now attending school in England, so now she can talk about her safely -- unless this show is going over there on the satellite [or she reads this Web site -- RR], in which case she'll (Mabel) kill her! She's 14 now, and she recently sent Tracey a picture of her pierced belly button. But Johnny was good to his mother; he gave her a book and card. Kathie Lee recalls that the last time Tracey was on, she was saying that Johnny was going around holding his willy all of the time. Yes, it was like a joystick on a Nintendo game, she says; fortunately, he's outgrown that. Still, men do tend to touch themselves their whole lives. Regis is clearly uncomfortable with this topic, and Tracey's giving him a bit of a hard time. Kathie Lee says "This is the woman that should take my place." Tracey demurs -- she's English, and nobody would accept me in this country. Regis says she's right then calls for a commercial break. After the break, Regis recalls Tracey's appearances on Ally McBeal, which won her an Emmy last year. What sort of character did she play, he asks. "A crazy psychiatrist," she replies. She hasn't been on for a while, she observes; Ally needs me now, what with Billy dying. And Tracey Takes On... will appear on HBO through 2004 or so, although she is working on a new HBO series with fewer characters and fewer heavy makeup jobs. Then the conversation turns to Small Time Crooks, her new film. This is the third time she's worked with Woody Allen, counting her cut-out appearance in the musical Everyone Says I Love You. She may have been cut from the film, she says, but it was still time well spent, for she got to work with Woody. She then describes her STC character Frenchy, who's a beautician. She's the one who pays the bills in the family. We then see the same clip we saw in the Today show interview earlier. But time runs out, so the interview ends rather abruptly. We can hear Tracey complain about her lime-green leggings over the applause of the audience. 6. The Daily Show (Comedy Central), May 15
Jon Stewart introduces Tracey with a clip from Small Time Crooks (the same clip that's aired all day, where Ray asks Frenchie for $6000 and she guesses that he wants it for robbing a bank). Tracey enters to the rousing cheers of the audience. Still, she's wondering why she ever wore those ugly green-lime leggings with the extremely visible panty line. She goes on to say that they make her look like she's appearing in The Vagina Monologues [if you see the clip, you'll understand -- RR]. Jon said he liked her character, that he wasn't bothered by the leggings. He observed that it's hard for him to get past his issues with Woody Allen's personal life [scandal-plagued for much of the '90s -- RR]. Tracey, on the other hand, can put those concerns aside; she wants to work with the man. It's not like she was going to talk about these things with him, anyway. Jon asks her what it's like making out with Woody; she sticks her tongue out, then goes into a bit about how he's paranoid with germs, how you can spook him by saying something like "My herpes isn't active this week." Seriously (?), he's a nice kisser, she says -- "I didn't mind!" Jon said he had a problem with Woody kissing Juliette Lewis in a recent film because of the vast age gap between them, while Tracey observed that she's much closer in age to Woody. She's not menopausal yet, but it's on the way. She then wonders if the couch pulls out; apparently, Jon had said so on the Today show, but it does not. She points out that he wears the same clothes every year to their post-Oscar commentary; he says that's because it's dark and you can get away with giraffe matching giraffe [O.K. -- RR] This turns into a short talk about how well he does with the ladies, and this turns into a chat about marriage. Tracey and Allan will have been married 17 years this year [in December -- RR]. Contrary to certain impressions, she doesn't hate Americans or America; she's got her green card, she got to kiss Woody, etc. Jon says that one of the requirements to get a green card is you have to kiss Woody Allen; he envisions a long line of Pakistani women going around the block waiting for their chance. Tracey recalls her trip to India a few years back and how, while in Bangalore, in the midst of poverty, she saw all these sari-clad ladies watching Baywatch. Talk about a culture clash! With time running out, she says that Small Time Crooks opens Friday and invites Jon to the premiere, but he declines -- he's not allowed out, it seems. While she's saying how funny the film is, he's left his chair and apparently crawled under his desk. This prompts her to say that she never knows what he's doing, and does he like her or not? Yes, he says, he likes her. And on that note, the interview concludes. The last time Tracey appeared on the Daily Show (1999), she was asked the Two Questions, as the questions from the Kilborn era were being phased out. Tonight, no Questions. This was a Web-only interview; the audio portion of it is in my collection, but the video portion is not. As the Webcast begins, Tracey has not yet arrived for the interview but is said to be moments away. Sam Donaldson occupies the time by discussing the latest news about Rudolph Giuliani and what affect his cancer diagnosis is or will affect the way he conducts his Senate campaign. This takes up a minute or two, by which time Tracey has arrived. Sam mentions that she's here to promote her new film SMALL TIME CROOKS. She says that it's terrific working for Woody Allen, and that this is her third film with him but her first leading role. After we see the same clip that's aired all day, she gives a brief plot summary of the film, describing it as a rags to riches to rags story. Sam invites viewers to participate in the online poll, which asks for the favorite place to see comedy: film, TV or on stage. He says that the polls can be rather dumb sometimes, and today's one of those times. Tracey agrees with him, wondering why they didn't mention being with friends or family. Does she like working with Woody? Yes, definitely. Her first time was a small part in BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, and she carried a dog called Mr. Woofles, which her character would breast-feed. We never saw that in the film, but if Woody had called for it, then she would have lactated for him. He lets the actors be who they are; he fits the right person to the right role. He does everything generally in one shot and doesn't bother with coverage; it's all about the work. The conversation turns to her birth, how she popped out onto the floor at home (father was out) and how the nurse/midwife said she had quite a "conk", meaning nose, but her mother heard "cock" and first thought she'd had a son. She repeats her comments about being an old soul who's been reincarnated numerous times, and this leads to a running theme throughout the remainder of the interview: Sam makes reference to a "Bridy Murphy" or "Briny Murphy", and Tracey has absolutely no idea who or what he's talking about. He mentions another old-time expression ("doing great like the bottom of the stove"), one which young people absolutely do not get. Shifting gears, he asks her if she has any favorite people for mimicry. She says she used to do Margaret Thatcher (of course, she's using a Thatcher voice to say this). Sam says that if George F. Will (an idolizer of Thatcher) were here, he'd have an orgasm. Tracey says it took her four years before she realized that Thatcher was indeed a woman. Here's the first online question, and it asks what factors and influences contributed to her sense of humor. The main one was a family where you had to laugh at yourself -- that famous self-deprecating (she called it "self-depreciating") British wit. Her father died when she was but 6, and she spent much of the next few years trying to cheer her mother up by doing shows, dressing up in her lingerie, etc. She remembers her hysterical uncles, who'd think nothing of pinning her to the floor and grabbing her knees until she laughed, or tossing her into the pool or ripping the heads off of her Barbie dolls. Sam had relatives like that, though there were no Barbie doll heads to rip off.... The conversation then turns to her TV series (it was great fun making the New York special) and to her brief singing career. Five Top 10 hits in Europe but only the one over here. Still, it was a bit of fun, appearing on MTV for a week in its early days. Yes, she's tried a bit of everything, she says; she's become an international star a la Topo Gigio, Sacha Distel, and Charles Aznavour. Then Sam proceeds to drop the names of N'Sync, Limp Bizkit and Eminem (but no Bridy Murphy). Back to the film: working with Hugh Grant was great, she says; he was quite charming. Sam points out that many people will associate Hugh and Woody with the seamier aspects of their personal lives. Tracey says she had the cleanest record on the set, but she was not going to bring any of that stuff up with them; it's none of her business, says she. Elaine May was brilliant to work with, she points out; Elaine was one of her comedic idols growing up. Sam mentions that he knows Mike Nichols (he had partnered with May in a comedy team), who just happens to be married to Diane Sawyer. Sam then asks producer Vanessa about Bridy Murphy. No, she's never heard of him/her either, nor has she heard of any of the international stars Tracey mentioned earlier. Sam mentions seeing the movie a few days ago courtesy of Jack Valenti. No one went to sleep during the movie, he says. This prompts Tracey to complain about her husband's proclivity for sleeping during a play or musical. "Enjoy it, babe," he tells her, then it's Z-Z-Z-Z time! And if she wakes him up, he'll roll up his program and inspect the moldings on the ceiling. Continuing with the sleep theme, Sam mentions that Tracey had bought a bed from the Four Seasons Hotel, one which was large enough to hold everyone in the family so that they could enjoy a family sackout. She's surprised that he knew about that; he's a mine of useless information about her, she says. As they go to a commercial, she calls for more information on Bridy Murphy. After the commercial, Sam reads another question submitted by a viewer. What does Tracey think about the differences between American and British humor? She's asked constantly about that, she says, and she thinks there really isn't a big gulf between the two. If it's funny, it's funny, no matter where it originates. The British loved Jack Benny, while Americans loved Monty Python. Right now, the top show in the UK is Friends. She observes that British humor tends to be more self-deprecating, more satirical and more cynical. She was freaked out when she found out how popular Benny Hill was over here. After a little bit of wordplay with "conk" versus "conch" (nose vs. shell), Sam reads another question/observation. This viewer, Steve, suggests that Tracey should play herself more often (she perks up a bit after hearing this) because, in his opinion, she's one of the smartest and sexiest actresses around [the man clearly has taste -- RR]. She says no one ever finds her sexy [I beg to differ -- RR] and that she doesn't mind hitting 40 because she hasn't got looks to lose [I beg to differ there, too -- RR]. But her new HBO project will feature characters that look more like her, because she's tired of all the rubber appliances and heavy makeup and all that. She is a real person, a "happy schizophrenic", she says; she knows who she is when she's herself. No, she's not manic-depressive or anything like that. The final online question is, what is her theme song? What else? It's that "horrible" song, "Tracy" by the Cufflinks [her "professional" theme has to be "They Don't Know" -- RR]. She then proceeds to sing a few bars of it, and Sam observes that she is a good singer. As the interview wraps up, she proceeds to touch his hair. By the way, the results of the "dumb" online poll had TV winning, with the other two being tied.
Jay Leno introduces Tracey, and she enters to some rockin' accompaniment by the band. She's wearing a sleeveless top with a black & white diamond pattern. He asks her what she thought of Tom Cruise, who'd been the first guest tonight. He spoke with her before the show, she says, and he was charming and gorgeous. However, his shoes were squeaking like crazy; why would he have been wearing such cheap shoes? Jay asks if Tom is her type. That's a stupid question, she replies; he's everybody's type! She admonishes Jay to ask better questions than that from now on. Chastened, he asks her about SMALL TIME CROOKS. She proclaims, "I'm starring in a Woody Allen film, finally!!" The conversation turns to her youth and how she got in trouble for over-exuberant entertainment on the trains back and forth to school. She recalls her probation officer, a hairy-chinned woman asking questions like "Have you had any violent thoughts lately?" (done in a voice reminiscent of Kay). She tried pot once but had a bad trip that swore her off the stuff forever; she thought she was a pixie. To quote Eliza Doolittle, "I'm a good girl, I am!" She wonders how Jay can do a talk show day in and day out. Her fear, if she were to ever do such a show, would be coming in one day and finding out there were no guests for that night? What to do? Why, they might have to call up the Captain and Tennille, for they can be over in an hour! She marvels at how Marie Osmond can put up with the stuff on her talk show with brother Donny [she was suffering from a publicized case of post-partum depression at the time -- RR]; why doesn't she demand to talk about death and other depressing things? It's a tough job, being a talk show host. And speaking of last-minute guests, Tracey's been one, even on the Tonight show ("OK, who cancelled at the last minute so that you have to call me up?"). The conversation then turns to fashion, as Jay observes that Tracey's been getting more into that as of late. She adjusts her top, prompting a wolf whistle from someone in the audience, then proclaims that she shaved her armpits for Jay. She plugs her online boutique Purple Skirt (www.purpleskirt.com) then muses about setting up a Purple Pants line for helping out men, for she says Jay could use some help for his casual look. Then the conversation turns to "gay bangs", those little pointed, gelled-down locks of hair. She loves gay people, she says; if it weren't for gays and university students, she wouldn't have an audience! [I'm not so sure about that -- RR]. Jay loses track of the conversation, prompting a rebuke from Tracey to stay with her. And after a few more comments about "dot-comming it", they finally get around to plugging the movie, though not before Jay puts in a few mock phone calls requesting the Captain and Tennille. The monitor pops up, and Tracey observes that it's new. No, there's been a monitor since 1992, Jay says. She was referring to this particular monitor, wondering if this was one of those HDTV monitors that don't quite work right [I think she's right; it looks like a Sony 34" HDTV -- RR]. We see the by-now familiar clip of Ray asking Frenchy for $6000 to finance his bank robbery job. Jay says he'll see the film just to see her crotch. And on that note, the interview ends. This interview is not in my collection, so I cannot summarize it.
CPAC is the Canadian equivalent of the C-SPAN public service channels in the US. Tracey's interview was recorded in June in front of a live audience at the Banff TV Festival, at which she received the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Network award. Prior to the interview, we see several clips from Tracey Takes On... featuring nearly all of the main characters. The clips end and we see Tracey on stage with Canadian actor Fred Keating. Fred says he's visited all "11,127 Websites" devoted to her, and he has to ask her this: was there ever a time when there was only one of her? She never answers directly but says she's a very happy schizophrenic. It's something she's always done; it's been her thing to do. Some have the talents to play football or play the piano; her talent was to imitate people -- family members, the kids and teachers at school, the old woman across the street who always wore boots and never got married, etc. It's been her way to explain things. When did she first notice the effect her imitations could have on people? It was when she was doing shows on the windowsill for her mother -- by the way, she's actually a spinoff from her older sister Patty's show -- doing impressions of Dusty Springfield, Mireille Matthieu, faux French, etc. Later, she took jobs all over Britain just to pick up the accents in those areas -- she got obsessed with it. Then she came to the US and had all those regional accents to pick up, then Canada. She points out "you do say 'oot' and 'aboot'." Fred asks why she came to the US in the first place. It was to be with husband Allan. He'd been living in California for some time, and when they got married he asked her to come to California. So she went out there, "immediately" got pregnant, wandered around in stretch pants, learned the dialects, and got a thorough grounding in the American scene. She contrasts this with the approach of the typical British actor looking for work in Hollywood: come out, sit around the hotel for 3 weeks, get depressed and return home. She had to stay there, so she was able to get acclimatized and overcome any homesickness. Tracey observes that her point of reference is not specifically American or European but goes all over the place. Yes, she's an international performer, just like Topo Gigio, Sacha Distel, Victor Borge, etc. She's multitalented, doing a little bit of everything. She'll try it all, she says, but she only acts sort of competently [she is too modest -- RR]. Then she tells about her years at performing arts school in London, which she found to be a "sad, disturbing place" that was rather horrid and tragic, where the blond girls with blue eyes got the jobs, and here she was, this odd looking Hebrew girl who was very sarcastic. She tells the story about almost being picked for a role out of a lineup, only to be told that they meant to pick the blond girl next to her. She repeats her comments about being an old soul who must have lived many past lives. When she left school, she had to get her Equity card (i.e., join the actor's union). She did it by getting a part as a dancer in a German production of "Gigi" in Berlin. To this day, she knows "Gigi" in German but not in English! It was a wonderful, decadent time in Berlin in the '70s, she says. Then she carried on doing lots of musicals, dancing, not taking acting too seriously. She didn't think she could be a serious actress in Britain because of the ingrained class consciousness, where you needed to speak in a rather posh manner, join the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) and all that. She made her way to the Royal Court in Chelsea -- they had common people on stage, she says! Fred asks about the other things that a performer needs to acquire beyond their innate talents -- the survival skills, the disciplines, etc. Tracey recalls doing an improvised play with Les Blair, a contemporary of Mike Leigh. The play took 14 weeks to develop, during which time she wrote her role of a born-again Christian club singer named Beverly. She did not consciously write it as a funny part, but audiences were laughing. She saw the role as endearing, touching and poignant, characteristics that have been embodied in most of her characters throughout her career. She's never laughing at her characters, she says; there's always an endearing or humanizing trait or two with them. They're real people, not caricatures. She's not interested in doing political satire or impersonating famous people; she wants to create new characters. Fred says that sometimes when he watches TTO, he sees comedy with an edge, and other times he sees the edge with some comedy. Tracey says her most successful pieces tend to have some dramatic aspects to them. Consider the first Midge and Chris sketch, which grew out of sexist comments made by broadcaster Ben Wright and her frustrations with golf and golfers in general (it's a "sexist, poxy game!", says she). So she conceives the sketch about a woman golfer and her lesbian lover, who's upset that she can't run onto the course and celebrate with her partner. Side note: Julie Kavner does not think that Tracey's impression of her does not sound like her at all (and as for Julie's impression of Tracey, the less said the better -- RR). Back to the sketch: Tracey considers it a lovely sketch, one of her favorite pieces, if not her favorite. However, it may have ticked off a few of the guys at the golf club -- "hey, you ought to rein in your little lady there.' But she knows that they enjoyed the scene with the lesbian kiss -- "hypocrites!" She's received letters of thanks from women golfers on the tour -- she was a shoo-in for a GLAAD award -- and she gets frequent upgrades to first class on airplanes by sympathetic male flight attendants, or so-called "galley gays", who act straight when dealing with the passengers but let their guard down in the galleys. She loves homosexuals and university students; they're a "big, big audience" for her. Fred says he read the comments left to her on her Web site but couldn't figure out who her audience is. He cites the note written by a guy from Indiana, who said he had his wife's permission to marry Tracey if she'd have him. The conversation then turns to the reactions her characters generate among the audience members. Gays have complimented her on her performances -- and by the way, why isn't there a gay channel? There are channels devoted to African-Americans and to Asians; why not one for gays? David Geffen's got the money for it. Black people have complimented her on her portrayals of black people, but she has gotten some grief for Mrs. Noh Nang Ning. Perhaps it's because Asians aren't used to seeing themselves on TV. Her criteria for doing a character: does the person exist? does he/she look like that and talk like that? Fred notices that her characters tend to have an edge to them, but when it comes to the royals, no holds are barred! Yes, it is obvious; she is no fan of the royal family. It's the class system (no fan of that, either). Her daughter Mabel, who was born in America, can grow up to be president but can't marry Prince William. And why should we pay millions of pounds to people so that they can be better than us? She doesn't get it. So she does Her Royal Highness as an amalgamation -- the queen's hat, Princess Margaret's eyes, Princess Anne's teeth, etc. She likes doing HRH. Fred asks where her characters come from. He knows they're composites, but there has to be some bit of Tracey in them. She's not sure which character is closest to her. The TTO format allows her to have a full range of people represented, giving their opinions -- from a 21-year-old college student (Hope) to a 70-something bigoted drunk (Ruby). There's no character she won't do; she sees what points of view are missing, then creates characters to express them. She's happy to be all of them, but she's also happy to change from one character to another after an hour or so. However, she has gotten tired of wearing all of the rubber and other appliances, especially the yak hair for Chic. She was once made up as Chic for two days in order to shoot a sketch, and at the end of that time, she fainted and needed oxygen. It's not the amount of time to apply the makeup and everything, it's the time spent in it that's the killer. In her new show, she'll play only one character, maybe two. That'll be a departure for her. But she did play one character in Small Time Crooks. She says it was a dream to work with Woody Allen. When she first came to the US, she dreamed about simply meeting him, but to actually work with him -- wow! When she saw his films in England, she did not yet have an American perspective, so she didn't get his films with all of those neurotic self-obsessed people that you just wanted to reach out and slap. But now that she has become a self-obsessed American, she gets them now. Broadway Danny Rose is one of her favorites; she finds it touching and endearing in its celebration of the loser, something she's never associated with America. When she saw it, she resolved that she was going to work with him someday. And she did -- first Bullets Over Broadway, and now Small Time Crooks. Getting the lead role in STC meant she couldn't do TTO last year. It was a dream to have Woody's compliments, to have such a role, to be consulted on the script. It's so spontaneous working with him, she says. Then she explains why she's stayed away from movies, for the most part: they're so boring, they take so long to make and to set up shots, and they seem to be more about being glamorous than anything. That's so frustrating to her; she wants to play the role, not worry about how she looks. This turns into another discussion about the infamous lime-green leggings; not many women who get a starring role in a movie would dare to wear those, she says. Getting back to why she likes working with Woody Allen, she likes that he does everything in one take, rather than shoot lots of coverage and closeups which can destroy the rhythm of the comedy. It's so great for the actors; they get to talk all at once. It's not something you see much on TV, what with the smaller screen and everything. What's in the future for her? She says she'll be doing some Web streaming in the future, writing a new series for HBO as well as a screenplay, directing -- she'll be directing her new series, since she'll only be playing one character. "I vant to rule the world!" she says humorously in an eastern European accent. There were some directors she didn't like working with, so she started doing some editing, learned the camera angles and what-not. Fred asks about her theatrical career, noting that she did far more theater at the start of her career, when she was more footloose and fancy-free. She admits that she doesn't really love the theater; after three weeks in a part, she says, she's done it. She couldn't do a show for five months, not with children and stuff. Now if Alan Bennett or Tom Stoppard were to write something for her, she might do it, but it'd have to be really great. She'd also consider doing a good musical -- a new one, not a revival. Fred points out that she could take some of her TTO characters to the stage, especially the ones that don't take long to prepare. Yes, it'd be a blast to have the live audience reaction, she says. She notes that Lily Tomlin was so successful in her one-woman show by using body language and lighting to portray different characters. Yes, she could do a stage show; it's a lovely idea, she says. Fred then asks Tracey who makes her laugh. Her first answer: husband Allan, who is very droll. She also mentions Tom Green and Mike Myers, then points out that she'd like to do what Mike, Jim Carrey and Martin Lawrence have done: do a movie portraying multiple characters. She's determined to do that now, in fact. Continuing on: she admires Lenny Bruce, Eddie Izzard, Victoria Wood, and French & Saunders. Who made her laugh when she was younger? Her family, for sure, but what really made her want to act and do characters were the films of Ken Loach, like Cathy Come Home and Kes. She was so affected by them that she'd go upstairs to her bedroom, smoke one of her mum's cigarettes and interview herself in the mirror about the grim reality of life. She finds documentaries like these and 42 Up to be more compelling and touching than anything an actor's ever done. Fred asks if having children has affected her work, the way she approaches characters, etc. She says that it's been the biggest experience of her life. The children become the most important thing in life, and you become less self-absorbed. She says she doesn't want to work that hard; one year, she made 37 episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show and thought she'd end up in a Swiss sanatorium. That's one reason why she likes HBO; there's no pressure to do so many episodes. As the interview concludes, Fred says that in a world with over 500 channels, there should be at least two devoted to Tracey.
Today's program features the annual Halloween costume contest, and Matt Lauer and Tracey appear in costume at the beginning of the third hour. Tracey is dressed and made up as French chanteuse Edith Piaf, while Matt is in drag as Jennifer Lopez wearing the infamous dress that left little to the imagination. Some forty minutes later, Matt has changed back into his suit as the segment with Tracey begins. She's in town promoting Super Saturday L.A. on November 18, which is a fashion auction benefiting OCRF, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Similar events have been held in New York for years, she says, but this is the first for L.A., and it'll be held on the Paramount lot. Other participants include Meg Ryan, Calista Flockhart, Julianne Moore and Rob Lowe. Ovarian cancer is very difficult to detect until it's too late to do anything about it, says Tracey, and she directs interested viewers to check the OCRF website at www.ocrf.org. The auction will feature items from several well-known designers as well as items from Tracey's own Purple Skirt and new Purple Pants boutiques. She tells Matt that he helped inspire Purple Pants when, on a previous appearance of hers on Today (May 15), he admitted he could use some help in the casual dress area. Women lead in fashion, she says, just like they lead in gymnastics and synchronized swimming. Then the fashion show begins, featuring several items from the Purple Skirt/Pants lineup. Ten percent of the proceeds this month and next [I don't know if that's October/November or November/December -- RR] will go to OCRF, which will also benefit whenever anyone buys anything purple. As she puts the models through their paces, she points out that her boutique is neither ageist nor sizist, that the clothes are available in large sizes. One of the guys is wearing a T-shirt that didn't come from Purple Pants, so she tells him to zip up his sweater. At the end of the show, she gives Matt a couple pairs of "funky golf gloves" and mentions her online contest: win the chance to attend the event. 11. Rosie O'Donnell, November 6
Rosie introduces Tracey after mentioning her seven Emmy awards. She comes out wearing an outfit that has a large plaid stripe down the left side -- she's half-Scottish today, she says. No, the outfit is not from the Purple Skirt collection. She tells Rosie she never thought tendon severing could be such entertainment [she's referring to Rosie's hand injury]. Rosie said the middle finger still doesn't go down very well. You've struck comedic gold with that, Tracey responds. Asked about Mabel, she says that her daughter's enjoying herself in boarding school in England. She can talk about Mabel now because she's not here and can't receive this show over there [but if she ever reads this Web site, look out -- RR]. Mabel's into Bob Marley, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, etc.; she'll have nothing to do with the Backstreet Boys or N'Sync, and she criticizes brother Johnny (who does like them) when he tries out some of their dance moves. Tracey then demonstrates some of the stock N'Sync moves [N'Sync would be Rosie's guests the next day -- RR], and Rosie gets into the act. Back to Mabel: she enjoys the independence, the living with seven other schoolgirls in her room, hearing the sheep bleat while she's doing homework, and learning how to distinguish their normal bleat from the bleating they make when stuck on a fence. Did Tracey go to boarding school? No, but her family threatened to send her off on a few occasions. How did she spend Halloween? By herself in New York [she was on the Today show; see above -- RR]; nobody came by trick-or-treating. This turns into a discussion on crafts -- Tracey says she doesn't do them and wants to avoid them as much as possible. When attending a Martha Stewart program as part of a charity event (the guys were golfing), her wreath was singled out as an example of how not to make one. Rosie suggests trying decoupage, but Tracey demurs. She tells the kids to do their crafts at school, don't bother mom. Rosie says that the other mothers at her children's school are upset with her; how can she find the time to make cupcakes with her schedule? The conversation then turns to Super Saturday L.A., the auction benefitting ovarian cancer research to be held November 18. This will be the first event on the west coast after several successful ones in New York. One of the items to be auctioned off will be a purple Indian motorcycle -- purple in honor of Purple Skirt, of course. Tracey says she's going to be ridden in on that motorcycle -- "it's going to be throbbing between my legs all day," she says in a Fern-like voice. Last year's auction raised over $1.3 million, and the money raised this year will go to research in improved detection methods, for ovarian cancer is extremely hard to detect. During the break, Rosie and Tracey are chatting about something, and we hear the last moments of that coming out of the break. Tracey plugs her fashion Website Purple Skirt (www.purpleskirt.com) and her new men's division, Purple Pants (www.purplepants.com). Guys can handle suits all right, she says, but they need help in the casual department. Women rule in fashion, just like they rule in gymnastics and synchronized swimming. To back up her argument about guys needing help dressing casually, she cites the dubious fashion sense of husband Allan; even Mabel can take a look at some of his outfits and say "ugh - go and change." This sets up a long taped segment in which Tracey makes over a member of Rosie's staff, a "very malleable man named Kevin." When we first see Kevin, he's got very long hair, which by his reckoning hasn't been cut in forty years. She tells him "I can mold you", and he's ready to be molded. We see him trying on pants and sweaters and even some new eyeglass frames, trying to move away from a Harry Potter look. Then we see her cut off his hair and demonstrate how it could be used as a Donald Trump hairpiece. She then shampoos him and leaves him to the stylist. Back to live action: we meet the new Kevin, with much shorter hair and a new set of specs. He's still a work in progress, says Tracey, describing him as "putty in my hands."
Prepared by Roger Reini |
