12/30/98 - Happy Birthday Tracey! How many 39 year olds do you know who can still pull off playing a teenager? We may not see Francesca McDowell again but hopefully we can expect decades more of Ruby Romaine! Rumour has it that Tracey will be taking on some other new characters in addition to her new showcase piece, Madame Nadja in the upcoming season of "Tracey Takes On...". I've heard mention of someone by the name of "Marigold". We should know by Wednesday, January 13th when the 4th season of "Tracey Takes On..." premieres on HBO with back to back episodes. In an upcoming promo, Tracey as "Linda Granger" talks about two guys who do a webpage for her and how they tried to get her into a chat session. I'd probably sound a little bigheaded if I said Roger Reini and myself were an inspiration for this anecdote...but what the hell. I received an interesting email from Monica Hirschhorn, who is constantly told that she is a dead ringer for Tracey Ullman. When I saw these pics, my jaw fell open. The resemblance is astonishing. Monica is interested in doing lookalikes. She can be contacted at monica1@san.rr.com. Tracey will be appearing on the Tonight Show on January 8th. John Travolta will be the other guest. Will this match the pairing of Tracey and Robin Williams on the Tonight Show last January 8th? Likely not but we'll see. Anyhoo...

09/13/98 - Shit, no EMMY. Tracey did get to present in a category where she was conspicuously missing though. Anyhoo...

09/05/98 - The fall television season is upon us and that means the EMMY's will be broadcast next Sunday, September 13th at 7PM EST on CBS. "Tracey Takes On..." has already garnered 2 EMMYs in the technical categories, one for Best Costume Design and the other for Outstanding Hairstyling for a series.Tracey will also be making an appearance on the season premiere of Ally McBeal airing Monday, September 14th at 9PM on FOX. The 4th season of "Tracey Takes On..." is in the midst of producing 25 episodes with the first 12 to appear in early 1999. Tracey will be introducing a new character, "Madame Nadja", a woman who never leaves her bed. A paperback version of "Tracey Takes On...The Book" will be released in January 1999. The UK Mail recently published a list of the highest paid women in Britain. Tracey clocked in at #18, with earnings of £3.1 million ($4.91 million)! Anyhoo...

07/23/98 - Congratulations to Tracey and "Tracey Takes On..." for garnering 7 EMMY nominations! Announced this morning, "Tracey Takes On..." was nominated in the following categories: Art Direction (for Smoking), Costume Design (for Sports), Directing (for Smoking), Hairstyling (for Smoking), Makeup (for Culture), Performance (for Tracey for the whole series) and Variety, Music or Comedy Series (for the whole series). Tracey did not receive a nomination for her appearance on "Ally McBeal" though it was heavily rumored she would. Considering Tracey's track record, I'm sure the other ladies in the "Guest Appearance" category are sighing a bit of relief. Let's hope this oversight will bring a little sympathy Tracey's way and result in 7 wins for "Tracey Takes On..."! Here in Canada, after a shaky start in the middle of hockey playoffs this June, "Tracey Takes On..." has comfortably moved into its Monday night, 7:30PM slot. I've already contacted the CBC about getting a later air time because I feel it should be on around 10:30PM. Phone CBC Audience Relations at 416-205-3700 and let them know how much you're enjoying the show and while you're at it, demand that they put it on later at night! It only takes a few minutes and if you don't want to talk to a real person, you can leave a recorded message. Believe me, CBC does take these opinions seriously and it will determine future airings of the show. Do it now! What are you waiting for!? And remember to fawn over CBC a bit! Have your coworkers phone too! The Photos page has recently been updated. Anyhoo...

06/18/98 - Tracey attended the memorial service for Linda McCartney last week in London. Newswires around the world offerred the following quote from Tracey: "The service was "beautiful, it was amazing". There were pictures of her and they talked of how she was a wonderful wife and a wonderful person. "Let It Be" sounded amazing. It was a beautiful hymn." Mike Bullard, host of the hit Canadian talk show, "Open Mike with Mike Bullard" celebrated his 1st anniversary this week and after mentioning the coup of attracting "US names like Denis Leary and Tracey Ullman" in his first year said this of Tracey, "Tracey Ullman was great, she really cut loose and she said she had a fantastic time." If he held her in such high regard, then why did he have Tracey follow Hunter Helmsley and Chynna of WWF? Tracey is supposed to have appeared on the show Fantasy World Cup tonight which is a comedy/talk show from England. Roger Reini, the online Tracey Ullman historian is in England now. Let's count on a report when he gets back! Anyhoo...

06/04/98 - Congratulations to Tracey on her Petcabus nomination for Best Recurring Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series for her Ally McBeal appearances. Tracey lost unfortunately to Juliet Landau of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. The Tracey Ullman Survey has been updated. Be sure to fill it out if you haven't already. As you may know, Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls this past weekend. Apparently there's an ol gal from LA who calls herself Geriatric Spice who's more than ready to jump right in and help the girls out. When asked by an interviewer why she wouldn't pose with her hands held like a gun, Geriatric Spice with a click of the tongue curtly replied, "Whaddo I need a gun for with these two 38D torpedoes?" Anyhoo...

05/28/98 - The Best Of...Tracey Takes On 3 will air June 4 on HBO. Some of the sketches chosen include Sydney and Kay and the serial killer; Janie vs. Paige; Linda's life story; Hope caught with a cigarette; Fern gets a proposition; Kay gets some help from Carlos; Chic on sports; Ruby at the track; and Sydney's Riverdance. Rumour has it that Tracey may appear in a Oliver Stone drama entitled, Uncivil War with Noah Wyle. I'm told that Tracey was recently spotted at an Eddie Izzard show and has very shiny hair. Tracey recently appeared on an ITV series entitled "The Truth About Women" The show discusses the way British women think, live and work - unravelling just what it means to be a woman in 90s Britain. Sheesh with only 10 TTO episodes this year, it seems like an eternity(7 months!) until I can get my next fix! Anyhoo...

04/02/98 - Tracey Takes On....Ally McBeal and gets raves! On March 9th and 16th Tracey made a guest appearance on Ally McBeal as Tracy, the smile therapist to Ally McBeal. People have been phoning me, emailing me and stopping me at work to tell me how much they loved Tracey's appearance on Ally McBeal. (as if I had something to do with it.) At least 3 of my colleagues at work are working on their own theme song now. I've actually heard from two people who say the reason they've become avid viewers of Ally McBeal is because of Tracey's appearance. I'd put money on a 7th Emmy for Tracey. I found it refreshing to see Tracey in a new character with only the use of glasses as a camouflage. Clearly, she doesn't need the makeup to pull off a wonderful characterization. Tracey made an impromptu appearance on Larry King Live along with Fran Drescher, Joy Behar and Janeane Garofalo last week to discuss the Clinton Scandal amongst other newsworthy topics of the day. A highlight was Tracey's take on "Titanic...the Movie" when she noted the use of extras in the crowd scenes. She swears she saw a Mexican with a leaf blower. A lot of buzz has been created since the repeat of Tracey's appearance on the Tonight Show with Robin Williams this past Friday. Could a creative pairing finally be in the works? Let's cross our fingers. Anyhoo...

03/01/98 - Congratulations to Tracey for winning her 5th American Comedy Award last Sunday night. For the record, her other wins were for "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1991 for "Funny Women of Television" in 1992, "Love And War" in 1994, and "Women of the Night" in 1996. There's a great interview of Tracey at EOnline. Have you entered the Tracey Ullman sweepstakes to win a Trip for two to London, England. Includes roundtrip coach air transportation from closest Virgin Atlantic Airways Gateway to winner's home, meet and greet service in London, first class hotel accommodations (double occupancy) including service charge and tax, daily breakfast, and ground transportation between airport/hotel in London. Enter Now! Anyhoo...

02/23/98 - Tracey Takes On... Canada! Tracey finally flew into my hometown, Toronto this past Thursday evening for a whirlwind of promotion for the return of "Tracey Takes On..." on CBC starting in June, Monday nights at 8:30PM. She appeared on "CBC Radio","Dini Petty", "Jane Hawtin Live" and "Open Mike with Mike Bullard" in a matter of hours. This was Tracey's first visit to Toronto since promoting "Plenty" back in 1985. She also made an appearance at the British Isles Show at Exhibition Place. She was scheduled to appear at 12 PM and 3PM for an hour of meeting with fans and signing videos. Tracey turned up for the 12PM appearance but cancelled the 3PM appearance as she wasn't feeling well. I turned up at 2:30PM after paying $8 for parking and $10 admission. Oh well, I did pick up a complimentary TTO desk calendar! Someday. Tony Cooke has informed me that "Tracey Takes On..." will be premiering in Australia on Friday, March 6 at 9:30 PM. According to TV Week (Australia's answer to the US TV Guide), the episode to be shown first is 'Childhood'. No word yet of the outcome of the Comedy Awards this past Sunday night. Anyhoo...

02/09/98 - Well, this is kinda Tracey news. I became the proud father of a baby girl today. Myfanwy Francesca Mitchell born at 2:01 PM EST, 7 lbs, 10 oz. Some of you might be able to figure out the significance of the middle name. Is this not the most obsessive gesture a fan can make? A transcript of Tracey's AOL chat is available in The Tracey Ullman Newsgroup. I'm off to seek help with my celebrity worship. Anyhoo....

02/06/98 - Tracey got rave reviews for "Tracey Takes On...The Book", in both the February 6th issue of Entertainment Weekly and February 16th issue of People. You can hear Tracey's hour long interview of January 14th with Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air online. Ritchie from California met Tracey at a recent book signing and claims Tracey is about 5' 7" to 5' 8" tall. A lot taller than I thought! Anyhoo...

02/04/98 - Congratulations to Don Scardino (Tracey Takes On...Las Vegas) and Thomas Schlamme (Tracey Takes On...1976) for their nominations for Director's Guild of America awards for television. They're nominated in the "Musical Variety" category against directors for Rosie O'Donnell, the Fleetwood Mac reunion special, and The Kennedy Center Honors. Still on the lookout for a transcript of Tracey's last night AOL gig. Didya catch that high kick Tracey gave Bruce Lee in this week's issue of "People" magazine? Hi-ya! Anyhoo....

02/03/98 - Tracey will be cyberchatting on AOL tonight at 8PM! Anyone pick up Entertainment Weekly this week? Well whoever reviewed "Tracey Takes On...." just didn't get it. Probably from the suburbs. Anyhoo....

01/27/98 - The Derek McGinty Show and Fresh Air on NPR were two of the most in depth interviews Tracey has ever done. We learned that the reason Tracey doesn't portray her character, "Francesca" anymore is because the rights are owned by 20th Century FOX. Tracey did and still does own the rights to "Kay". Tracey also expressed that she is toying with the idea of doing a feature around her character "Ruby Romaine". Any fan of Tracey Takes On... will probably agree that there just never is enough Ruby. Anyhoo...

01/13/98 - As we speak, Tracey is signing books, making chat show appearances or on your radio. She's been seen on Rosie O'Donnell, Regis and Kathie Lee and The Today Show in the last 48 hours. Though, I missed her Rosie appearance, I've heard that she was in great form. Be sure to drop by the Tracey Ullman newsgroup if you meet Tracey within the next month or have comments on any of her appearances. Opinions, news, discussions and comments are always appreciated! In addition to Tracey's tour and media events previously noted, you can catch a radio interview with Tracey on NPR's Fresh Air this Wednesday at 7PM ET, the Derek McGinty Show from Washington Thursday and in the February issue of Vanity Fair. Tracey get some sleep! Anyhoo...

01/09/98 - A particularly energetic match was had between Tracey and Robin Williams on the Tonight Show this evening. Unquestionably, tonight's chat appearance has proven to be the first time Tracey has appeared on a talk show where another guest nearly eclipsed her energy. This was noted by Tracey as she referred to Robin as "hyperkinetic with comedy tourettes". Clearly, the pairing of the two was inspired and with any hope, we shall see a professional pairing of these comic geniuses in the near future. Tracey's son Johnny is increasingly becoming "fodder" in Tracey's talk appearances (Mabel gets a break!) and from Tracey's impression, I got the idea that he talks like a prepubescent version of "Kay". We learned that Johnny entertains his teacher with pelvic thrusts to the soundtrack of "The Full Monty"(I feel better considering that I had to stop my 4 year old from doing Noh Nah Ning vomit donut schtick in his JK class) and looks like a miniature version of his father. Chalk one up for the scientific theory that daughters get their personality from their fathers and sons from their mothers. The segment ended with a showdown of dialects from the Commonwealth between Robin and Tracey. And, if you were keeping tabs, you'd probably say it was a draw. Jay Leno managed to get the plug in for this weeks "Tracey Takes On... Hollywood" where as Tracey details in perfect Jewish accent, Fern gets an extra role on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Totally engulfed in "Ferndom", Tracey turns to Robin and asks him if he's Jewish. Robin responds without missing a beat, "I'm trying. I've got a new tape: Hooked on Hebonics." Anyhoo...

01/06/98 - Roger Reini is back again to review "Tracey Takes On...." on a weekly basis. Check out the "Reviews" section for his latest review on "Marriage". Tracey will be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Thursday night and on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" next Wednesday the 14th. If you would like up to the minute updates on Tracey's book signing and TV appearances, check out Tracey Ullman Tour and Media Events. Here's an interesting quote from the Detroit News and Free Press discussing what's likely to be remembered in the 20th Century: "As cable and alternative networks (like MTV) grow, the definition of a 'classic' will change. 'The Larry Sanders Show' might be seen as an Orson Welles movie: out-of-sync with mass taste, but better with age. Ditto Tracey Ullman and 'The Simpsons', already too big for neglected-cult status." Check out some of the new links on the Bio and Television pages. Ya wanna hear something really funny? Brooke Shields was chosen over Tracey for a "Best Actress in a Televison Comedy" Golden Globe Nomination. Bwahahahahha!!! Anyhoo...

News from 1997