REVIEW OF "TRACEY TAKES ON...": BOOKS, Feb. 10 1999

by Roger Reini (rreini@wwnet.net)

On this week's "Tracey Takes On...”, the subject is Books.

Long sketches this week include Linda's recording session for Books On Tape,
where she is asked to read Chekhov -- and "Chekov"; Kay meeting her male
counterpart and falling in love; and Fern going to extraordinary lengths to
retrieve her autographed copy of "Valley Of The Dolls" from a friend who'd
just passed away.  Short bits include Trevor's smuggling a banned book on
the royal family into England, Madame Nadja thinking about whether to
publish her memoirs -- or accept large sums for not publishing them, Chic
saying he read a book once, Janie's relationship with a poet, the annual
Godsen Book Barbecue, and Rayleen's ripping of a phone book to get in good
with the crew.

Every sketch and segment tonight was very good, though special mention must
be made of Kay's sketch, where she appears to find true love in the form of
Gil (Chris Elliott).  Their lives parallel each other so amazingly, but only
up to a certain point (it would be giving away too much to say what that
point is).  Kay has a nice production number that recalls the glory days of
"The Tracey Ullman Show" on Fox.  Linda's comments about the original "Star
Trek" cast are very amusing, especially for a Trek fan like myself.  And it
was also amusing to see the lengths to which Fern would go to get her book
back.  The best short bit, in my opinion, is Birdie's barbecue, where we see
such books as Howard Stern's biography, Hillary Clinton's "It Takes A
Village" and a Jackie Collins novel as fuel for the flames.

RATING: 3 bells.

NEXT WEEK:  Road Rage.  From the promo clip, this one looks to be great!

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

01/18/97 - Roger reviews "Tracey Takes On...": SEX(***1/2)