The Tracey Ullman Show (1987)
The Tracey Ullman Show is an American television variety show, hosted by British-born comedian and onetime pop singer Tracey Ullman. It debuted on April 5, 1987 as the Fox network's second primetime series after Married... with Children, and ran until May 26, 1990. The show is produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The show blended sketch comedy shorts with many musical numbers, featuring choreography by Paula Abdul. The show also produced The Simpsons shorts before it spun off into its own show, which was also produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television.
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Episode 2 - 4W17
Release Date: 1987-10-04KAY'S OLD LOVE; Kay meets Derrick, her old high school boyfriend who visits from England with his wife and children. DRUGS AND GUNS; Becky (Julie Kavner), a suicidal pharmacist, decides to kill herself and tries to get a holdup man (Dan Castellaneta), who happens by, to do the deed. THE FUNERAL; The Simpsons go to the funeral of a distant relative while Bart causes trouble as usual.
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Episode 3 - 4W14
Release Date: 1987-10-11FRANCESCA'S FIRST JOB; Francesca gets a summer job at a Taco Bell fast-food place to try it out, and must deal with the stern boss and cynic co-workers. THE LITTLE NEUROTIC FROM DOWN UNDER; Kiki Howard-Smith visits Dr. Gibson to talk of her simple problems from Australia. CITY OF STRANGERS; Pickpockets/con artists Cindy and Joe (Tracey Ullman and Dan Castellaneta) try to bring a group of wary people together on their way to work at a bus stop during a rainy day in New York City. MAGGIE'S BRAIN; Bart and Lisa try to imagine what Maggie thinks during a typical day with them.
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Episode 4 - 4W24
Release Date: 1987-10-18THE AFFAIR; Greg reveals that he is considering an affair with his secretary to Sara which sets off a night long wave of talk, arguments, and hostility in their bedroom. WHEN IN ROME; In Salasaw, Oklahoma, Vic (Dan Castellaneta), a New York City mobster in a FBI witness relocation program, tries to adjust to his new life during his first day in town as the owner of the town's frozen yogert shop. WEATHER OR NOT; In Alaska, U.S. Army weatherman Louis Alletti (Dan Castellaneta), after years of living in isolation, gets a surprise visit from a USO tour featuring Lisa Morgan and the Mob (Tracey Ullman, Joe Malone and Sam McMurray). FOOTBALL; Bart tried to catch a football that Homer throws to him, several times.
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Episode 5 - 4W15
Release Date: 1987-10-25THE GARDENER ON THE FLOOR; A theater producer (Julie Kavner) looks over a recreation of a play written by Mrs. Putney (Tracey Ullman), a retired mystery novelist and her house staff. CALENDAR GIRL; A photographer (Sam McMurray) tries to get a cheesecake model (Tracey Ullman) become more active by referring to the money she will get for the shoot. DECORATION DAY; Black-clad housewife Molly (Tracey Ullman), decides to have her kitchen painted her favorite color (black) after arguing with her husband (Sam McMurray) over what color to paint it. HOUSE OF CARDS; A house of cards that Bart builds keeps falling down while showing Lisa and Maggie.
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Episode 6 - 4W05
Release Date: 1987-11-01MONKEY WENCH; Ceci Beckwith (Tracey Ullman), an anthropologist living with the apes in the wilds of Borneo, gets a visit from her sister, Peg (Julie Kavner), who takes her home to New York which makes Ceci homesick. THE CONCERT; Organist Georgia Hale (Tracey Ullman) prepares herself for a concert, providing the music for a National League Hockey game. BIRTHDAY BOY; Stan (Dan Castellaneta), a lonely depressed man, gets a boost in life when Amanda (Julie Kavner), an exotic dancer looking for a birthday party, gets his address by mistake. BART AND DAD EAT DINNER; With Marge, Lisa and Maggie away for the night, Homer cooks dinner for Bart.
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Episode 7 - 4W18
Release Date: 1987-11-08MAX'S BIRTHDAY PARTY; Sara and Greg hire a drunkard in a Teddy bear costume for Max's 4th birthday party. TWO TOO GOOD PEOPLE; Real estate agent Judy (Julie Kavner), recovering from a failed relationship, meets client Larry (Dan Castellaneta) who wants to buy the house and it's love at first sight. BEVERLY HILLS PROC; Ginny Tillman (Tracey Ullman), a 40-something, real estate agent, goes over the final divorce papers from her husband, Lawrence Tillman (Dan Castellaneta), a Beverly Hills proctologist. SPACE PATROL; Bart, Lisa and Maggie play space patrol with Bart, having a vase stuck over his head, playing a robot.
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Episode 8 - 4W13
Release Date: 1987-11-15ROMANTIC MOMMY; Francesca's drifter mother Marina (Julie Kavner), pays a visit to Francesca and family. K-AIR; Summer Storm (Tracey Ullman), a stoned, former 1960s punk rocker, is the D.J. of the L.A. airport information radio station and grows insanely bored in her work with Sidney, a fan and co-worker. BART'S HAIRCUT; Bart goes to the barber to get a haircut and tries to hide from the family when the barber accidently cuts off all of his hair.
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Episode 9 - 4W22
Release Date: 1987-11-22MEG'S SHOWER; Tina throws a bridal shower for Meg which brings growing hostility from Tina that Meg is getting married and not her. FOREIGN EXCHANGE; Pakistani convenience store owner Azai (special guest star Cheech Marion), tries to get the local English delivery girl, Ruby (Tracey Ullman), to notice him. WORLD WAR III; Homer tries to get his family into the storm shelter in the basement, several times, during a night-long practiced nuclear alert.
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Episode 10 - 4W19
Release Date: 1987-12-13KAY'S ADVENTURE; Kay wins a free weekend in Atlantic City and goes to see a famous singer, named Gulliver Dark (Sam McMurry), in concert. TOM NODDY blows unusual bubbles during his segment of bubble magic. CUSTOMS; Sue (Julie Kavner), a USA customs official, meets Kristy McDoon (Tracey Ullman), a Scottish rock singer, and won't let her through customs until she sings a song that Sue wrote for her. THE PERFECT CRIME; After Marge bakes cookies, Bart plans the perfect crime of eating all of them and blaming it on Maggie.
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Episode 11 - 4W21
Release Date: 1987-12-20ROCK BOTTOM; At her studio producer Keith's urging (Dan Castellaneta), Summer Storm gets admitted into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic and tries to adjust to a different life at her radio station when she gets out. THE CRYONIC MAN; In 20th century London, Laura (Tracey Ullman) finds out that her husband, Lawrence (Dan Castellaneta), has been cryonicly frozen to escape from her constant nagging. SCARY STORIES; Bart tells Lisa and Maggie scary stories in a dark room of the house.
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Episode 12 - 4W23
Release Date: 1988-01-10KAY'S LAST STAND; Kay must face Elizabeth Phelps (Julie Kavner), the shadowy CEO of a major insurance company, to ask her to put Kay's invalid mother back on her medical plan. AUTO EROTICA; The psychotic, nymphomaniac Brenda has a man she met on a California freeway (Sam McMurry) arrested just to meet him. WAITING; Nancy (Julie Kavner) visits her neurotic friend Audrey (Tracey Ullman), who has been waiting several days for the washing machine repairman to show up at her house. GRANDPA AND THE KIDS; Grandpa Simpson tells Bart, Lisa and Maggie boring stories of his life, and then plays a practical joke by playing dead.
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Episode 13 - 4W20
Release Date: 1988-01-24ON HER TOES; After the lead ballerina Cristina drops out, the understudy Stacey Duncan (Tracey Ullman) goes through weeks of grueling training to star in the lead role in ""The Nutcracker."" TINA AND THE PROFESSOR; Tina goes out on a blind date with an ecentric and boring high school biology teacher (Dan Castellaneta). (She must be really getting desperate.) THE HIGH AND THE NOT SO MIGHTY; The USO troup Lisa Morgan and the Mob (Tracey Ullman, Sam McMurray and Joe Malone) are on a U.S. Army plane that is going down in the Pacific and they decide to sing one last song before they all bail out to their doom. GONE FISHIN; Bart and Homer go fishing on a river where they have problems with everything.
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Episode 14 - 5W01
Release Date: 1988-02-07VALET; A lonely, drunken middle-aged woman (Tracey Ullman) asks a young hotel parking valet (Dan Castellaneta) to spent some time with her in her room. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1988; At a wedding reception, the young bride, Amy (Tracey Ullman), has to convince her friends and relatives that she did not marry a 70-year old millionaire, named Claude (special guest star William Hickey), for his money. SKATEBOARDING; Bart tries his new skateboard down a steep hill while Lisa and Maggie watch.
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Episode 15 - 5W02
Release Date: 1988-02-14CHAINED MELODIES; Angel and Marty Tish, a husband and wife singing duo named ""America's Sweethearts,"" go to Sing-Sing to perform for the prisoners while trying to mend their long-term marital problems. THE TEST; Sara and Greg don't know what to tell Max about the possibility of Sara being pregnant while taking a home pregnancy test. THE PAGANS; Bart, Lisa and Maggie dress as pagans to escape going to church one Sunday with Homer.
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Episode 16 - 5W03
Release Date: 1988-02-21STORM AT SEA; Summer Storm with her friends Keith, Jerry and Freddy, open a pirated radio station on a boat in the Pacific for a little adventure. A LITTLE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS FROM DOWN UNDER; Kiki Howard-Smith's thoughts are shown during a tense golf game with her thinking if she will make the 18th putt. THE PITS; New York Wall Street stock broker Paula (Tracey Ullman), tries to get her boyfriend Ricky's (Dan Castellaneta), attention to get another chance with him. THE CLOSET; Bart gets locked in a closet while trying to hide from Homer.
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Episode 17 - 5W04
Release Date: 1988-02-28CHANGING LANES; After learning that she has a few months to live, world traveler Samantha (Tracey Ullman) spends some time with her boring sister Jill (Miriam Flynn) and her family in the suburbs. TREASURE; A group of five British and Israeli treasure hunters (Tracey Ullman, Sam McMurray, Joe Malone, Dan Castellaneta and Frank McGrun) find a sunken ship with gold in the Mediterranean and their greed takes over as they pile so much gold onto their boat in which a storm hits the area and the boat sinks from the weight of the loot. WINGS OF LOVE; A travel agent's (Joe Malone) dull life changes when a frantic girl (Tracey Ullman) enters the office, desperate to get a passage to Los Angeles. THE AQUARIUM; Homer, Bart, Lisa and Maggie visit an aquarium and Bart gets carried away when he jumps into the shark tank.
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Episode 18 - 5W05
Release Date: 1988-03-06FRANCESCA ALONE; After Dave and William leave town for the night, Francesca invites Scott, a spoiled rich boy, over at her apartment for dinner. PEOPLE AT WORK; After being insulted by a hyped motorist, construction worker Laraine (Tracey Ullman), sings to the other workmen who try to cheer her up. FAMILY PORTRAIT; Homer tries to get everyone to sit still for a moment to have the annual family portrait taken.
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Episode 19 - 5W06
Release Date: 1988-03-13GINNY REDUX; Ginny Tilman goes out on her first date since her divorce with a black man named David Black (Harold Sylvester), a teacher from her teenage daughter Pamela's school where she rambles on and on about her ex-husband. FEAR; Phyllis (Julie Kavner), a woman with lots of fears, pays Dr. Gibson a visit to ramble on and on about her everyday fears. REAL LACE; Irish room service waiter Liam (special guest star Frank Patterson), and fellow maid Kate (Tracey Ullman), sing to cheer up a depressed hotel guest (Sam McMurray) in his room. BART'S HICCUPS; Lisa and Maggie try to cure Bart's hiccups, with various methods.
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Episode 20 - 5W07
Release Date: 1988-03-20KAY: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.; Kay is invited over for dinner at co-worker Polly's (Julie Kavner) apartment and causes friction when she finds out that Polly is stealing office supplies which irritates Polly's boyfriend Mickey (Dan Castellaneta). LATE NIGHT CHECK-OUT; Bored, late night convenience store clerks Debbie and Lynn (Tracey Ullman and Julie Kavner), play ""burned-out"" to the late night customers for fun to see them get irritated. THE MONEY JAR; Bart, Lisa, and Maggie struggle with their good and bad egos over deciding weather or not to take money from the family's money jar.
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Episode 21 - 5W09
Release Date: 1988-05-01THE SLEEPOVER; Francesca invites three friends over for a slumber party and they spend the night talking, playing games and making prank phone calls on the high school stud, Jerome. DR. GIBSON'S MENTOR; Dr. Margaret Niederman (Tracey Ullman), Dr. Gibson's mentor from medical school, pays him a visit to talk of her problems about her thinking that her teachings to him were not favorable. THE ART MUSEUM; The Simpsons visit an art museum for the afternoon while Bart gets carried away with some of the artwork.
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Episode 22 - 5W08
Release Date: 1988-05-08DINNER THEATER; While acting in the play, ""Butterflies are Free"" before a live audience at a restaurant, the lead actress (Tracey Ullman) tries to convince a fat man in the audience (Mike Starr) to take his mind off his food and on her act. CINEMA VERITE; Robert Parket (Sam McMurray) and his film crew visit the run-down apartment of single mother Betty (Tracey Ullman) to make a movie about urban squalor. THE MEDLEY; At a nightclub, a man and woman singing duo (Tracey Ullman and Sam McMurray) makes a final awful medley of 1960's songs in their act. ZOO STORY; The Simpsons visit the zoo and pay a visit to the ape family cage which resembles them.