REVIEW OF "TRACEY TAKES ON...": LIES, Jan. 27 1999

by Roger Reini (rreini@wwnet.net)

The back-to-back episodes of "Tracey Takes On...” have ended, so now we are back to one episode per week. This week, the subject is Lies . And the momentum from last week's premiere keeps on building....

Long sketches, of which there were only two, involve Fern and friend Phyllis discussing incidents where there husbands weren't faithful, and Chic receives a speeding ticket, gets out of it by lying about his wife being at the hospital in labor, and then tries to get out of his predicament. Short bits include Hope mentioning some of the "facts" she knew as a kid, Ruby reading the "truth" about Liberace, Madame Nadja saying that the police lie about her and her girls, Trevor remembering how he liked "Pinocchio" as a child but being disturbed by the adult version of it, Sydney saying she never lies, and Linda revealing something about herself.

I had had a feeling that we were due for bit of a letdown this week. However, I was mistaken. Both long sketches are the equal of anything that has aired to date this season. In fact, Chic's misadventures at the hospital may be a good candidate for the season-ending "best-of" special. And Ruby's reading about Liberace's supposed exploits as a CIA agent cracked me up.

RATING: 3 bells. Not perfect, just VERY good.

NEXT WEEK: Erotica

Review Copyright 1999 R. W. Reini (rreini@wwnet.net)