It’s a dead-set fact.
The thing is that the world’s wealthiest British comedian isn’t even a comedian. At least not to me she’s not. And not to you either, I guess. Well, not if your formative years were the 1980’s.
No self-respecting lover of leg-warmers, fingerless gloves and the original Atari would ever say that Tracey Ullman is a comedian.
No way. Never.
To us she is, was and always will be a singer.
She had two huge hits in the ’80’s. Massive. They were hits that we all pretend that we didn't love. But we loved them and we all secretly hovered over our tape recorders in our bedrooms with the BASF tape loaded, and the Record and Play buttons pressed down. Our index finger was pressed firmly on the Pause button whilst we waited. And waited. And waited.
We were were waiting for the perfect moment.
The perfect moment to release the Pause button so that the recording started no more than a split-second before the song started. Anything more than a split second and we had to wait til the following Sunday to do it all over again and get it right. And boy, we had to get it right. Our Top40 compilation tapes had to be perfect.
She had two huge hits in the ’80’s. Massive. They were hits that we all pretend that we didn't love. But we loved them and we all secretly hovered over our tape recorders in our bedrooms with the BASF tape loaded, and the Record and Play buttons pressed down. Our index finger was pressed firmly on the Pause button whilst we waited. And waited. And waited.
We were were waiting for the perfect moment.
The perfect moment to release the Pause button so that the recording started no more than a split-second before the song started. Anything more than a split second and we had to wait til the following Sunday to do it all over again and get it right. And boy, we had to get it right. Our Top40 compilation tapes had to be perfect.
In 1983 we all had Tracey Ullman’s ''They Don’t Know' and 'Move over Darling' on our Top40 compilation tapes. They were huge hits. They Don’t Know reached the heady heights of No.2 in the UK Charts. It would have been No.1 if wasn’t for the leg-warmer and fingerless glove wearer Boy George and Culture Club. They happened to release Karma Chameleon at the same time and that pretty much did for Tracey Ullman’s shot at the top spot. Still, No.2 in 1983 wasn’t a bad effort at all.
And then Tracey disappeared. Poof. Just like that. These were the days before Cable TV. (Yep, there were days before Cable TV, y’know!)
She just disappeared. In the mid 1980’s 'Tracey Ullman the singer' left us, and impressionable schoolboys all over the UK were forced to transfer their secret love, and amateurish bedroom tape-recording skills, to Cindy Lauper, Madonna and others.
But the truth was that Tracey didn’t disappear at all. Not really. She was actually never really a singer. She was always a performer. And a bloody good one at that. She jumped the ditch, pitched up in America and the rest, as they say, is history. She scored her very own show on US TV. The Tracey Ullman Show. It was MASSIVE.
& then she discovered The Simpsons.
She sure did. Good old Tracey hey?!
The Simpsons were first shown as a series of simple cartoon shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19th 1987. It ran in that format on her show for three whole seasons, before it was developed into its own half-hour show on Fox.
I suppose the question is, did Tracey Ullman discover The Simpsons?
She certainly thought so. In 1992 she sued Twentieth Century Fox for a 10% share of the $52million it had grossed for The Simpsons. She lost. Although before we feel too much sympathy, she had in fact already received over $3million for the original Simpsons shorts that were part of her show.
She certainly thought so. In 1992 she sued Twentieth Century Fox for a 10% share of the $52million it had grossed for The Simpsons. She lost. Although before we feel too much sympathy, she had in fact already received over $3million for the original Simpsons shorts that were part of her show.
Despite the lawsuit Ullman never fell out with Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, and she appeared in one episode (Bart’s Dog gets an F, 1991) as the voice of the English dog trainer.
The Simpsons.
What’s to say that’s not already been said?
It’s been running for 23 seasons. That’s more than 500 episodes. And it’s been signed for at least two more seasons, guaranteeing 558 episodes. So it’s creeping towards being the longest running show as well as being the show with the most number of episodes ever on US TV. That record is currently held by Gunsmoke at 635 episodes.
It’s been running for 23 seasons. That’s more than 500 episodes. And it’s been signed for at least two more seasons, guaranteeing 558 episodes. So it’s creeping towards being the longest running show as well as being the show with the most number of episodes ever on US TV. That record is currently held by Gunsmoke at 635 episodes.
I guess the big question is this; is it any good?
Opinions vary. You might hate it. I love it.
I suppose the clincher for me is the fact that in 1992 George W Bush made a major speech about the all-American family. He closed his speech by saying that his real aim was to see American families become more like The Waltons and much less like The Simpsons. That was it for me. Give me the loopy, whacky, off-beat but loveable Simpsons lot over the sugar-coated, twee and really rather insipid and dull Waltons crew any day of the week.
Plus, if Dubya hates it, it’s gotta be good.
Happy Birthday to The Simpsons and a huge debt of gratitude to Tracey Ullman.
By the way, Ullman’s worth $75million. That makes her the world’s wealthiest British comedian. That might be true, but to me she’s still an 80’s singer. And a fine one at that!
pip pip
she used to be in that thing with Lenny Henry and David Copperfield (not the Magic fella) do you remember? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_of_a_Kind_(TV_series)
ReplyDelete:) good reading as ever David