TV Reviews : Tracey Ullman Puts Her Best Sketches Forward

Tracey Ullman fans will have a pleasant time with her one-hour special on Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channels 11 and 6, a compilation of what she considers her best sketches over the past year. Tracey Ullman detractors--that is, those who find themselves driven inexplicably morose in the face of excess cute--won’t have much to complain about either: The show is varied, well-paced, bright and weightless enough to seem mercifully brief.

Ullman is not the subtlest of performers, and there is lacquered hardness about her that thwarts her occasional attempts at pathos. But she’s a keen observer with a good ear, a comedian with exceptional performing skills, and a generous ensemble player. (She gets a lot of help from Dan Castellaneta in a variety of roles.)

Sketches include Ullman as a Valley Girl stopped by the CHP for drunk driving; a singles type infatuated with a ventriloquist dummy; a nightclub singer, part of an Edie-and-Steve-style sweetheart duo who travels to Japan with her husband to meet up unexpectedly with his illegitimate son; a horny prison inmate who wants to get it on with her pen-pal husband during a conjugal visit; and part of a trio of brown-nosing executive trainees competing for a job.

Ullman is a dexterous and versatile entertainer. All she needs is a tough, astute director to teach her change of pace and the capacity for thought. The show highlights her skills without severely exposing her weaknesses.