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I've been collecting the various television appearances of
Tracey Ullman for several years, dating back to 1985 (when I got my first VCR). Since
then, I've amassed a significant collection. But it is missing a few items. Perhaps you
can help me locate them. To those of you who have helped me in the past, I say "Thank
you very much." Since I live in North America, it follows that most of the clips and videos I have come from North America. My collection is weak in European content. OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO EUROPEANS: I can view PAL and MESECAM tapes. Top ItemsThis was a top 10 list at one time, but it's grown considerably.... 1. Guest VJ stint on MTV, February 1984When Tracey first came to this country in support of "They Don't Know", she was a guest VJ for a week on MTV. I had read about this before, but I was never sure about it until she confirmed it in some radio interviews in Jan. 1998. And, according to an MTV promo ad, she was the channel's first fill-in VJ. Since I was living in a cable-less college dorm at the time, I never saw this. I'd like to; it'd be a great hysterical document <g>. "Beatnick67" did see this (but didn't record it) and recalls the following: Tracey doing an impression of Cyndi Lauper, doing a humorous ad for Twix candy bars -- the chocolate candy with the cookie crunch, doing a funny accent said to be that of "Miss Chicago", and mates Allison and Mandy (her backing singers on stage and video) singing "Da Doo Run Run" into their hairbrushes. 2. "A Kick Up the Eighties" episodesI've never seen any of these in America. However, "ophelia93" thinks this was a better series than Three Of A Kind. I have seen some frame grabs from the show; apparently, it has aired on the UK Gold channel. If you've got access to this channel, or better yet, if you've taped it, please contact me! 3. "Jackie Collins' Hollywood", August 3 1998At the time of broadcast, this series was airing in only three cities: New York, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Since I live in the Detroit area, I was thus unable to see Tracey being interviewed. 4. "Sh! It's Saturday!"I seem to recall that this was some Scandinavian or Dutch music program (Danish, actually). Tracey mentioned it once in an interview long ago (Letterman, in Jan. 1985), that she'd appeared on it. I figure any program with a name like that has gotta be worth a look! 5. "Musik-Laden" (Germany), 1985Thanks to Udo Massolle in Germany for telling me about this. In this installment of the program, Tracey performed three songs -- "My Guy" (a.k.a. "My Guy's Mad at Me"), "Sunglasses" and "Breakaway". (UPDATE: I have one of these now) 6. "Aspel and Co." from July 1984I have parts of this appearance -- specifically, Paul McCartney's interview (which Tracey sat in on) and the performance of "That'll Be the Day" which closed the show. What I don't have is Tracey's own interview. 7. TODAY, Jan. 12, 1998Due to my accidentally sticking a 30-minute tape into the VCR instead of a standard 2-hour tape, I missed Tracey's interview. Aargh! Fortunately, I have a transcript, but I'd like the actual clip. 8. Saturday Live (UK), 1986According to the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy, Tracey hosted an episode of this British program (similar to Saturday Night Live) in early 1986. According to "ophelia93", the episode featured Tracey doing various little sketches with one of her then-backing singers as well as an embryonic version of Kay, who told her mother to take her anti-coagulant and who had a moped [sounds like the Kay we've grown to know and love] as well as a boyfriend (?!). (Update: as of April 2008, this has been found) 9. Interview on KTVU-TV (San Francisco/Oakland), Jan. 29 1998I saw this interview and recorded the audio via KTVU's Web site, but I'd like to have it in broadcast-quality. 10. Morning Becomes Eclectic -- KCRW (radio), Jan. 27 1998The KCRW Web site has the majority of these programs available in RealAudio format. Unfortunately, this appearance of Tracey's is not one of them. 11. Today Show, Mar. 22 1999Tracey appeared along with Jon Stewart and Rosie O'Donnell and commented on the Academy Awards, which had just been awarded. I have a transcript of this, but I'd like to see it, anyway. 12. V Graham Norton (Channel 4, UK), Dec. 16 2003A US airdate for this is unknown as of Dec. 22 2003 (Update: this has aired several times in the US on the Logo channel) Other ItemsToday Show (NBC)According to NBC, Tracey has appeared nine times on Today (as of Jan.3, 1997). I have 4 of these appearances. One of the other appearances was on Oct. 8, 1993. I don't know when the others were. (Update: it's now 14 times as of May 2000) HBO PromosIn 1995, HBO ran a short (5-minute or so) feature about their Little Lulu cartoon series. It featured Tracey talking about the character of Lulu, how she's been given some 90's sensibilities, and how Mabel liked it (a lot). There is one promo for the first season of Tracey Takes On... that I know I'm missing. It featured Mrs. Noh Nang Ning in her donut shop, talking about the HBO stars who stop in occasionally, and who have their pictures on the wall -- stars like Garry Shandling (who's getting a "big rear" from the donuts), Dennis Miller (who uses big words she can't understand), and Tracey (the donuts give her a sugar rush and make her schizophrenic). There is at least one promo for the third season of TTO which I know I've missed. It featured Tracey as a former teacher of hers, with scraggly hair, bad teeth, and a weary monotone voice. The character appeared in some of the other promos, but this one focused totally on her. It also featured Tracey as herself at 7 years old, being asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be a Middle Eastern cab driver with hair all over (sound familiar?). Larry King LiveOn Sept. 19, 1985 (or thereabouts), Tracey was one of Larry's guests. However, this appearance was disrupted by the breaking news of a major earthquake in Mexico City. Other stuffOn the alt.comedy.british newsgroup, somebody recalled seeing a music video featuring Tracey. The setting was a restaurant, and one of the customers was then-British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. This would have been the video for "My Guy." "Ophelia_93" recalls seeing Tracey on the British game show Blankety Blank (similar to the American Match Game); she didn't remember many details. She also remembers seeing Tracey perform "My Guy" at the Montreux Festival (presumably in 1984); Frankie Goes To Hollywood was also on the bill. She also recalls seeing her interviewed in the studio during Live Aid in 1985. "Beatnick67" recalls seeing Tracey in New Orleans on an MTV Mardi Gras special from 1984 or 1985 (1984 seems more likely to me -- RR). She recalls Tracey having difficulty eating a crawfish and throwing beads to the waiting crowd. She also remembers seeing the Montreux Festival with Tracey airing on one of the US premium movie channels (HBO, Showtime or Cinemax) Not Listed? I still want itThere's no way that I can know about every appearance (though I try to). But you might know about one that I don't. If you do, please let me know at roger@rreini.com. NOTE: I have NTSC, PAL and MESECAM viewing capability and NTSC and PAL recording capability. Found!Here's a list of the clips I was looking for but have now found (as of September 23, 1998): 1. SOLID GOLD from March 1984This was the first time I ever saw Tracey -- or heard of her, for that matter. She performed (lipsynched, actually) "They Don't Know." I was intrigued -- by the song and by her. In Detroit, this episode aired on March 24, 1984 -- Saturday night from 7 to 8 on channel 50. The other performers that night were Shalamar, the Pretenders, Culture Club, Stevie Nicks, and Paul Young, along with a Culture Club video. (Thanks to #6!) NOTE #1: The US cable channel VH-1 aired a 30-minute version of this episode on March 31, 1998 as part of its rebroadcast of the Solid Gold series. This version had the Culture Club performing "Miss Me Blind", Stevie Nicks doing "Stand Back", and Tracey doing -- what else? -- "They Don't Know." NOTE #2: If anybody happens to have the complete episode (not the aforementioned repeat from VH-1), I'd be interested in hearing from you. 2. TODAY from Jan. 3, 1997This was Bryant Gumbel's last day as host of the TODAY show on NBC, a position he'd held for exactly 15 years. One of the many surprise guests on this day was Tracey, who presented Bryant with a new golf club bag and a tacky golf shirt. (Thanks to M. S.!) 3. Music videos "Breakaway" and "Move Over Darling"I had seen about 30 to 45 seconds' worth of "Breakaway" as part of the Max Headroom appearance in 1986, and I'd seen a snippet of what I now know to be "Move Over Darling" in 1985. But now, I have both videos. (Thanks to P.!) 3A. Other music videosI've now found a commercial video from the UK containing the video for "Sunglasses". (Thanks to eBay!) 4. Various promosIin late 1995 and early '96, HBO ran a short promo feature about Tracey Takes On.... I had most of this, but due to not having my VCR ready in time, I missed the first minute of it. But not anymore, for I now have the complete promo, along with a similar one from the same time period. (Thanks to P.!) 5. "My Guy" from German TVI now have one of the three German TV clips mentioned above; the others are currently "trapped" on a 3/4 inch U-Matic tape. (Thanks to U. M.!) 6. TONIGHT SHOW from Feb. 17, 1984 (repeated April 22, 1985)This was Tracey's first appearance on the Tonight Show. It was probably her first appearance on American network television and one of her first appearances on US television, period (her stint as an MTV guest VJ happened around the same time). She performed "Move Over Darling" and "They Don't Know" (live, not lipsynched), showed us that a voluminous ballroom-dancing dress and a narrow chair don't mix, told the story about the panty incident in Blackpool (I'd incorrectly remembered it as Berlin), demonstrated a couple of characters, and showed us that she can give a good interview. I liked her before seeing this interview; afterwards, I really liked her. I did not see this until it was rerun on April 22, 1985. Madeline Kahn also appeared on the show. I didn't remember her, but I did remember Olympic skier Bill Johnson, who'd recently won the downhill in Sarejevo. But he wasn't on; Johnny Carson had merely commented on Johnson's win in his monologue. After watching this episode, I realized again how much I miss Carson.(Thanks to J. C.!) 7. Early appearances on Letterman (Late Night)I've also tracked down three early appearances on Late Night (Apr. 30 1984, June 20 1985, Sept. 19 1985). Now I have every appearance of hers on Late Night. (Thanks to J. C.!) 8. Three Of A Kind and Girls On TopI've now got 17 of 17 3OAK's and 7 of 7 GOT's. (Thanks to A. and T. C.!) 9. Fantasy World Cup Live (ITV - UK), June 18 1998I've recently acquired a better copy of this (Thanks to G. V.!) 10. Roseanne (talk show), Feb. 19 1999I caught the repeat airing on Aug. 16, 1999 (Thanks to nobody!) 11. Parkinson -- UK, Feb. 17 2001Tracey appeared along with Dolly Parton on this installment of the talk/chat show. It has aired in the US on BBC America (first time: December 2001) (Thanks to J. J.!). 12. "Saturday Night Live", May 16, 1987Tracey has said that she's refused to do SNL in the past because "It's still a guy's world. It's predominantly male. I've never done the show because they treat the girls like doo-doo." However, she did appear in a short film called "Hollywood Mom" which appeared on the May 16, 1987 episode of SNL. For more information, check out the Mystery page. This episode was repeated on NBC on March 9/10, 2002, and I got it from there. (Thanks to H. H. G. for alerting me to this; thanks to nobody for providing it!) 13. Mackenzie -- UK, 1980This was a 12-part drama that aired in Britain on the BBC in 1980 and in the US in the early or mid-80's on the A&E network. Tracey appeared in the final five episodes. A friend gave me her copy of some of these episodes; unfortunately, the tape was in very bad shape, for it's fouled up several VCR's. Fortunately, I found a way to temporarily stabilize the tape and recover most of 4 episodes (the 5th had been recorded over). (Thanks to L. L. for the tape) 14. "Entertainment Tonight", October 1985This is a different profile than the Entertainment This Week profile from Oct. 19, 1985. I believe this profile aired the same week as the other one, though I can't remember for sure because it's been so long since I saw it. I don't remember too much about the clip, though it did contain a brief excerpt from her music video for "Move Over Darling". (Thanks to D. for the tape) 15. Late Show with David LettermanI am missing one Late Show (Oct. 7 1993) -- but not anymore! (Thanks to D. for the tape) 16. Saturday Live Two sketches featuring Tracey were released on a best-of DVD in the UK.
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