Tracey Ullman: A Class Act
Encyclopedia
Tracey Ullman: A Class Act is a sketch comedy
first aired in 1992.
stars in the one-off comedy special, Tracey Ullman: A Class Act. The special studies and skewers the British class system. The show is broken up into three sketches. Ullman, accompanied by Monty Python
alum Michael Palin
, play the majority of the sketch characters.
The show introduced Trevor Ayliss, Virginia Bugge, and Janie Pillsworth. Two of Ullman's characters would go on to appear in Tracey Ullman Takes On New York HBO special, and then all three would appear regularly in the latter, Tracey Takes On...
.
The special was produced for ITV
in the United Kingdom
. The show would go on to make its American television debut on HBO in 1993, after the success of Tracey Ullman Takes On New York.
The show opens aboard "Class Air", a British airline that seats passengers according to social class: lower, middle, upper. Airline steward, Trevor Ayliss, explains to an American passenger the seating arrangement.
37 up is a parody of the British documentary, Seven Up!
".
and Amazon Video-On-Demand
service in the United States
in 2009. However, the character, Trevor Ayliss, has been removed completely, as has the ending song, I Am What I Am, which is sung by the character. This is most likely due to copyright considerations.
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
first aired in 1992.
Summary
Actress-comedienne Tracey UllmanTracey Ullman
Tracey Ullman is a British stage and television actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author ....
stars in the one-off comedy special, Tracey Ullman: A Class Act. The special studies and skewers the British class system. The show is broken up into three sketches. Ullman, accompanied by Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
alum Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
, play the majority of the sketch characters.
The show introduced Trevor Ayliss, Virginia Bugge, and Janie Pillsworth. Two of Ullman's characters would go on to appear in Tracey Ullman Takes On New York HBO special, and then all three would appear regularly in the latter, Tracey Takes On...
Tracey Takes On...
Tracey Takes On... is an HBO sketch comedy series created by British-American comedienne Tracey Ullman.In 1993, Ullman returned to television after her hit Fox comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, was canceled, with two comedy specials for HBO. Tracey Ullman Takes On New York, and Tracey Ullman:...
.
The special was produced for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The show would go on to make its American television debut on HBO in 1993, after the success of Tracey Ullman Takes On New York.
The show opens aboard "Class Air", a British airline that seats passengers according to social class: lower, middle, upper. Airline steward, Trevor Ayliss, explains to an American passenger the seating arrangement.
37 up
Three children are followed by a British documentary crew, documenting each from childhood to adulthood.37 up is a parody of the British documentary, Seven Up!
Seven Up!
The Up Series is a series of documentary films produced by Granada Television that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. The documentary has had seven episodes spanning 49 years and the documentary has been broadcast on both ITV and BBC...
Powder Room
Characters of various ethnicities and nationalities, speak to the powder room assistant.Hethers
Young girl Janie Pillsworth is put into a posh school by her working class parents. Her mother and father give up all their possessions in order to afford tuition, including her father who sells a kidney. Janie, who's now turned posh, disowns her parents, making them promise to never speak to her again. Despite Janie's contempt, Mr. and Mrs. Pillsworth cannot be happier since Janie has become exactly what they wanted her to be.Back on Class Air
Trevor visits the American passenger in the Working Class section of the plane. The show closes with Trevor singing, "I Am What I AmI Am What I Am (Broadway musical song)
"I am what I am" is a song originally introduced in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles . The song is the finale number of the musical's first act, and performed by the character of Albin Mougeotte, first played by George Hearn...
".
Commercial release
A Class Act was released via iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and Amazon Video-On-Demand
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
service in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2009. However, the character, Trevor Ayliss, has been removed completely, as has the ending song, I Am What I Am, which is sung by the character. This is most likely due to copyright considerations.