Tracey Takes On... is an American sketch comedy series starring Tracey Ullman. The show ran for four seasons on HBO and was commissioned after the success of the 1993 comedy special Tracey Ullman Takes on New York. Each episode focuses on specific subject in which Ullman and her cast characters comment on or experience through a series of sketches and monologues. Unlike her previous Fox show, Tracey Takes On... was filmed without a studio audience, on location, single-camera; instead of upwards of a hundred characters, the show focused on a steady rotation of nearly 20. "I wanted to do a show where you could get familiar with the characters, where I could express a point of view, where we could get controversial [...] I also didn't want to do a series where I had to do 22 or 26 episodes a year. I have two children and have a husband, and there are other things I'd like to do during the year. Ten shows is a good number, and HBO gives me a great (artistic) freedom," said Ullman in 1996. The only character to return from the original Tracey Ullman Show was Kay Clark, as Ullman was the sole creator. Former cast member Julie Kavner became a recurring guest star in the series. In 1998, a book based on the series, Tracey Takes On was released. In 2003, the character Ruby Romaine was spun-off into the HBO television special, Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales. Premise Tracey Ullman and her cast of characters "take on" a different subject for each episode of the series. Production Conception and development In 1990, Ullman's husband Allan McKeown, a founding member of Meridian consortium, placed a bid for an ITV television franchise in South East England. Along with the bid he included a potential programming lineup which included a Tracey Ullman special. Ullman, who had just ended four seasons of her eponymous Fox series, had just given birth to their second child and was quite content staying at home. In September 1991, McKeown was elated when he was informed that his bid was successful; he was subsequently responsible for all of Meridian's comedy programming. Ullman dreaded the idea of doing another show. "I was really not prepared to do TV again. I had an extraordinary run at FOX in the late '80s with the Tracey Ullman Show, and couldn't imagine putting forth that amount