Celebrity Impersonations and Reaction
Celebrity impersonations has become a new addition to Ullman's comedic repartee, something that she had not dabbled in since her early days at the BBC, nearly thirty years prior. The slightly famous to the infamous are skewered in, ‘’State of the Union’’. Reaction to the parodies were fast coming from the actual celebrities themselves.
One of the very first reactions came from actress Renée Zellweger. In a sketch, Zellweger is featured on a press junket for her new movie, where her character has a condition called "chronic narcissistic squint." The real Zellweger was shown a picture of Ullman doing an impersonation of her on the Late Show with David Letterman. Ullman revealed that she wore no make-up to get her Zellweger appearance. She simply donned long eyelashes, very much like Shari Lewis’ Lambchop. "This is why I need therapy… I better watch what I say. Look at what happens when I've done nothing to her." She went on to say that Ullman looked like her transvestite twin brother.
Political pundit Arianna Huffington's thick Greek accent and obsession with blogging receive numerous jabs throughout the series. The word "blog" is often substituted for various nouns and verbs. While filling out an Internet dating profile, Huffington types, "Must enjoy nice long blogs in the rain." She clutches her laptop in her arms and kisses it goodnight upon going to sleep. Huffington takes the parody in good humor, saying, "I actually loved it." Huffington continued, "She does a really good imitation of me... And you know....she ends a lot of her imitations of me by saying 'blogs and kisses,' which is kind of something pretty good. I like that. Huffington's parody is generally lighthearted. The same cannot be said for show's take on the American news media and its "fear mongering." Real-life CNN news anchor Campbell Brown serves as the vessel in which this is made apparent. In one episode, "Horror, terror, horror, terror, nightmare, horror, fear. Back to you, Brian", serves as the entire report issued by Brown. Campbell issued a statement regarding the parody saying that she "loves, loves Tracey Ullman, and is a huge fan of the show. " Brown even wants to book Ullman on her 8 p.m. program.
Celebrities Laurie David and Dina Lohan, who also take hits in the show, had no comment.
In the end, Ullman contends that celebrities "love being impersonated".
On January 28, 2010, Ullman paid a visit to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, and did her impersonation of her. Tracey does an impersonation of Maddow in the third season of her series. Maddow's reaction was: "flattering" and "causes excruciating embarrassment".
Read more about this topic: Tracey Ullman's State Of The Union
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