Tracey Ullman: A Class Act | |
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Genre | Comedy film |
Written by | |
Directed by | Les Blair |
Starring |
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Theme music composer | Simon Brint |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Production | |
Producers |
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Cinematography | Geoff Harrison |
Editor | Tony Woollard |
Running time | 40 min. |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 9 January 1993 |
Related | |
Tracey Ullman: A Class Act is an ITV sketch comedy television special starring Tracey Ullman, along with Michael Palin, playing a variety of original characters.
The show introduced viewers to characters that would go on to be featured in Ullman's American comedy special and HBO television series: gay flight attendant Trevor Ayliss, wife to a conservative MP, Virginia Bugge, and future magazine editor, Janie Pillsworth, and her mother, Jacqueline.
A Class Act aired on HBO in the United States on 23 November 1993. It acted as a follow-up to Ullman's American HBO comedy special, Tracey Ullman Takes on New York . [1] The HBO cut of the special opens with Ullman ("Filling in for Alistair Cooke") explaining the British class system to the American audience.
The show opens aboard "Class Air", a British airline that seats passengers according to social class: lower, middle, upper.
In a parody of the British documentary Seven Up! , three children are followed from childhood to adulthood.
Various characters visit the powder room.
A young girl, Janine Pillsworth is placed in a posh boarding school by her working class parents. She subsequently reinvents herself as "Janie" and disowns them.
Airline steward Trevor visits the working class section of the plane and closes the show singing "I Am What I Am".
After the conclusion of The Tracey Ullman Show in 1990, Ullman decided to take a break from television. She had no desire to return to the format as the demands of doing a weekly show in front of a live studio audience left her exhausted. She also felt artistically satiated with what she achieved. She was also pregnant with her second child and decided to turn her attention to motherhood. In 1992, her husband, independent British television producer, Allan McKeown placed a bid a television franchise in the South of England. Included with his bid was a potential television programming lineup which included a Tracey Ullman special. Thinking nothing of it, Ullman continued enjoying her less hectic schedule. To her horror, McKeown's bid was successful, forcing her to return television. She decided on a new format and to shoot the entire show on location. This would allow her ample time to apply makeup, wigs, and other accoutrements for the characters at a reasonable pace. [2] When it came to a premise, Ullman decided to focus the show on British class system, a subject that interested her for years. [3] Tracey Ullman: A Class Act premiered on 9 January 1993 on ITV. [4]
The show features four sketches, with the first acting as bookends. Ullman plays a total of eleven characters; she's accompanied in the sketches by Monty Python alum Michael Palin who also plays multiple parts.
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s)/Nominee(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
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1995 | CableAce Award | International Dramatic or Comedy Special or Series/Movie or Miniseries | Allan McKeown (executive producer), Jo Wright (producer), Les Blair (director), Dick Clement (writer), Kim Fuller (writer), Gary Howe (writer), Ian La Frenais (writer), Richard Preddy (writer) | Nominated |
A Class Act was released on home video in the UK in 1993. In 2009, the special (HBO version) became available in the United States via iTunes and Amazon Video-On-Demand albeit edited. The character Trevor Ayliss is omitted entirely, as is the concluding song "I Am What I Am". The unedited British cut of the special was made available through Hulu in the United States in 2012.
Tracey Ullman is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Critics have lauded her ability to shift seamlessly in and out of character and accents, with many dubbing her the "female Peter Sellers". Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows A Kick Up the Eighties and Three of a Kind. After a brief singing career, she appeared as Candice Valentine in Girls on Top with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
The Tracey Ullman Show is an American television sketch comedy variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, as the network's second original primetime series to air, following Married... with Children, and ran for four seasons and 81 episodes until May 26, 1990. It was produced by Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The show blended sketch comedy with musical numbers and dance routines, choreographed by Paula Abdul, along with animated shorts. The format was conceived by co-creator and executive producer James L. Brooks, who was looking to showcase the show's multitalented star. Brooks likened the show to producing three pilots a week. Ullman was the first British woman to be offered her own television sketch show in the United States.
Girls on Top is a British sitcom, broadcast on ITV in 1985 and 1986, and made by Allan McKeown's Witzend Productions for the ITV contractor Central Independent Television. It starred Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ruby Wax and Tracey Ullman with Joan Greenwood. It was written by French, Saunders, and Wax, with additional material for two episodes written by Ullman.
Saturday Live is a British television comedy and music show, made by LWT and initially broadcast on Channel 4 from 1985 to 1988, with a brief revival on ITV in 1996. A few one-off editions have also been screened sporadically, including a contribution to the BBC's 1993 Comic Relief telethon. It was based on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live but otherwise had no direct connection to the show.
Tracey Takes On... is an American sketch comedy series starring Tracey Ullman. The show ran for four seasons on HBO and was commissioned following the success of the 1993 comedy special Tracey Ullman Takes on New York. Each episode focuses on a specific subject, in which Ullman and her cast of characters comment or experience through a series of sketches and monologues.
Three of a Kind is a British comedy sketch show starring comedians Lenny Henry, Tracey Ullman and David Copperfield. Three series were made by the BBC between 1981 and 1983.
Tracey Ullman's State of the Union is an American sketch comedy television series starring Tracey Ullman. The series was written by Ullman along with Hollywood satirist Bruce Wagner. Gail Parent and Craig DiGregorio acted as contributing writers to the series' first season. The show ran for three seasons on Showtime. On May 17, 2010, it was announced that the show would not be returning for a fourth season.
Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales is a 2003 HBO television special starring Tracey Ullman in a spin-off from her sketch comedy series Tracey Takes On...
Tracey Ullman: Live and Exposed is an HBO comedy special starring Tracey Ullman. The stage show documents Ullman's rise to fame with reenactments of her childhood as well as her career as a performer. Many of her television characters also appear, along with their origin stories. The characters are performed with no makeup and little costuming.
Tracey Ullman Takes on New York is an HBO television special starring Tracey Ullman. The show was Ullman's first project for network; it led to the creation of the sketch comedy series Tracey Takes On...
Allan McKeown was a British television and stage producer.
Kay Clark is a fictional character created and portrayed by Tracey Ullman. She is the character Ullman has portrayed the longest, spanning over four decades and three television programmes. The character was born out of a television sketch for a guest appearance on the British television comedy and music show Saturday Live in 1986.
Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines is American talk show and reality television series hosted by Tracey Ullman. The show focuses on fashion and individual style. Each episode consists of makeovers and celebrity guests. Celebrities reveal what's in their wardrobe and present childhood mementos. The show was inspired by Ullman's online fashion boutique Purple Skirt. The series was originally set to air on 13 September 2001, but due to the September 11 attacks the show was bumped to September 20. On the morning of September 11, Tracey made a live appearance on NBC's Today to promote the show just hours before the attacks began.
Tracey Ullman's Show is a British sketch comedy television series starring Tracey Ullman. Tracey Ullman's Show premiered on BBC One on 11 January 2016. The programme marks her first project for the broadcaster in over 30 years, and her first original project for British television in 22 years.
Tracey Breaks the News is a British topical comedy programme starring Tracey Ullman. It premiered on BBC One on 27 October 2017 following a one-off special that aired on 23 June.
"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the British comedy series Tracey Breaks the News starring comedian Tracey Ullman. The series was commissioned by the BBC for BBC One. It is thematically inspired by the aftermath 2017 United Kingdom general election, as well as the one year anniversary of the Brexit vote, and was recorded shortly thereafter. The special is a reformatted version of Tracey Ullman's Show. "Tracey Breaks the News" is the second special Ullman has done for British television; her first since 1993's Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, and her fifth overall. The show aired on 23 June.
Allan McKeown Presents Ltd is a television, film, and theatre production company that was created and founded in 2007 by British television and stage producer Allan McKeown, the late husband of actress Tracey Ullman. It has produced projects for American, British, and Indian television.
Tracey Ullman is a British-American actress who has had an extensive career in television, film, and theatre. She has worked in both comedy and drama. Her sketch comedy television programmes have won her numerous awards in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She began her stage career in the mid-1970s starring in various West End musicals and dramas. Her first television appearance came in 1980 playing Lisa Mackenzie in the British drama series Mackenzie. In 1981, the BBC cast her in two ensemble comedy sketch shows; A Kick Up the Eighties, and Three of a Kind. In 1983, Ullman launched a brief but successful pop singing career, garnering several chart hits and making several appearances on Top of the Pops. In 1985, she was cast in the ITV sitcom Girls on Top alongside Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and Ruby Wax.
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