REVIEW OF "TRACEY TAKES ON...": 1976 Mar. 5, 1997

by Roger Reini (rreini@wwnet.com)

This week, "Tracey Takes On..." got a stable time slot (at last) and took a look at the year 1976.

And what did we learn? We learned that heel blowouts are a danger then and now; we learned that Hope was born in 1976; we learned that Chic was a small-time drug dealer before getting his cab license; we learned where John Travolta learned his moves (a likely story); and we learned how Linda Granger started her fall from the heights of success.

There were 2 short bits and one long sketch. The short bits included Mrs. Noh talking about a big event in her life in 1976 (a new donut machine) and Ruby telling about her stint on Linda's "VIP Lounge." The long sketch took place in the present and in 1976. It featured Hope, Chic and Janie (in both the 1976 and 1996 sequences) and Linda (mainly 1976, with a present-day postscript).

One of the scenes in the long sketch featured Hope, Janie and Chic in the cab. You gotta see it to believe it. The interactions between the three of them are some of the best ever, in my opinion. This season has featured more interactions between the characters than last season -- harder to shoot, but the end results are very rewarding.

I give this episode 3 1/2 stars, at a minimum. I might be tempted to raise it to 3 3/4 stars because of the cab scene. It's easily just as good as the Las Vegas episode -- it might even be a bit better.

NEXT WEEK: Food.

This review is Copyright 1997 R. W. Reini(rreini@wwnet.com)