United States of Tara

Basq

United States of Tara is an American comedy-drama television series on the Showtime Network starring Toni Collette. Created by Steven Spielberg and developed by Juno's Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Diablo Cody, the 13-episode series follows the life of a housewife with dissociative identity disorder. It premiered on January 18, 2009. The pilot, written by Diablo Cody and directed by Craig Gillespie, has been made available for viewing on Showtime's official website.

Have heard this is great.. but haven't got a chance to watch it yet!

Any opinions? Showtime normally excel on their "dramedy's".

JP Liz

Toni Collette is such an underrated talented actress

Basq

Don't know if I'd consider her under-rated.. don't get me wrong, she's a great actress but she's been nominated numerous times for plenty of awards including Golden Globes and Oscars. Hardly under-rated!

And although she's a consistently great actress, I don't think I've seen a performance from her that would warrant an Oscar.

ixoy

I enjoyed the pilot. Her different personalities are broad stereotypes but that's part of the fun as they're not real people - it's her way of dealing with the stresses around her. The supporting cast are good, especially the son. Not sure how they're going to strike the balance between drama and comedy - a fair few smile moments in this, but few laugh out loud. Definitely will watch the second episode.

amacachi

Can the episode on the official site be watched from Ireland?

Basq

I really enjoyed this actually.. Toni Collette it must be said was fantastic in her performance(s).

I'd agree with ixoy that the the personalities are quite exaggerated and slightly 2 dimensional (hopefully this will be fleshed out in future episodes).

I think what was most refreshing was

that we joined Tara's life when the family were completely aware of her personalities and had (somewhat) accepted them as routine. It would have been a piss-poor opening episode if we had her first outburst and watch as the family deal with it.

Definitely will watch the second episode.. I'd recommend everyone give the pilot a watch!

JP Liz

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Showtime-renews-Tara-1002741.aspx

renewed for a second season

Basq

It's a good show but it's definitely became a bit formulaic!

pickarooney

I just caught the first episode of this new series and it's really grabbed my attention. The multi-faceted Toni Collette stars as a 40-year-old mother of two with multiple personality disorder. Though presented in a fairly light-hearted way, there's an almost unbearable tension about the show, in particular the way her family, and Tara herself, deal with the presence of, essentially, a sequence of uninvited lodgers who take the place of their mother. Who knows how it will stand up, but I got a similar feeling to the first few minutes of Breaking Bad last year as Collette brought out her bag of tricks and laid them out for us. John Corbett of Northern Exposure plays the where-the-hell-do-I-know-that-guy-from husband and Mad Men's Rosemarie Dewitt appears as the long-suffering, jealous, sister of the eponymous protagonist.

Definitely the best pilot I've seen since... well, True Blood.

Mr E

Threads merged (sorry pickarooney)

pickarooney

All the search results featured the sassy chick from True Blood... ;D

fugazied

JP Liz wrote: »

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Showtime-renews-Tara-1002741.aspx

renewed for a second season

That's good news I think it has a lot of potential, but I'm not sure the current characters will be sufficient to give it a long lifespan. I guess writers can do a lot with the various personalities, but I'm not sure how much can be spun out of the rest of the family.
It's interesting in the same way I found six feet under interesting. A character study.

Richard Dower

Don't like Toni Collette or those other Aussie actresses...so i won't watch.

pickarooney

Richard Dower wrote: »

Don't like Toni Collette or those other Aussie actresses...so i won't watch.

It's actually the same Aussie actress playing all the alters. I know, crazy, huh?

RobertFoster

pickarooney wrote: »

It's actually the same Aussie actress playing all the alters. I know, crazy, huh?

I think he just doesn't like Sheilas.


Must give the pilot a go. How many episodes in are they now?

Basq

RobertFoster wrote: »

I think he just doesn't like Sheilas.


Must give the pilot a go. How many episodes in are they now?

5 I think...

EDINBRO

Just after watching the first 8 episodes. Its a great show. Really well written and Toni Collete is great in it!

Richard Dower

It's been given a second season.

Richard Dower

Watched the first two eps, i'm converted...i shall watch all the others now Toni Collette can sure act.

JP Liz

Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy) is joining the Showtime comedy’s season 2 cast as Pammy, a funny and warm barmaid who has a history of picking the wrong guys. Her luck changes the day she meets “Buck” and falls head over heels in love.
Adams is on board for at least three episodes.

Tara’s 12-episode second season debuts in early 2010.

Poochie05

Bump.

Just spotted on Digiguide that the pilot is being shown on RTE2 tomorrow night at 23:30.

dubmick

just starting watching this, I've watched four episodes so far. Some great acting by Collette.

JP Liz

Toni won best actress comedy Emmy Award Tina Fey not so happy

lovinit

Have watched a couple of episodes so far and i have enjoyed it, its great that she can be very different from each tara and the hubby (aden from sex and the city) just deals with it, and she deals with kids in different ways in her different personalities, will certainly be sticking with it.

JP Liz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltD3-S3D9xA

Richard Dower

The excellent and award winning USOT returns for season 2 on March 22nd!
Toni Collette won an Emmy this year for her portrayal of Tara.

ziedth

Great show actually,

TC is excellent in it. Any word on if/when rte will have second season?

JP Liz V1

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Tara-Eddie-Izzard-1022504.aspx

British comic Eddie Izzard has been tapped for a recurring role on United States of Tara, Deadline reports.
In the Showtime series about a woman grappling with Dissociative Identity Disorder, Izzard will play a brilliant psychology professor skeptical about the disease. However, his growing fascination with Tara (Toni Collette) will lead him to explore the condition further.
The role will mark Izzard's return to American TV following his work on the short-lived 2007 FX drama The Riches. Izzard, 48, recently appeared on another Showtime original series, The Green Room with Paul Provenza.
Production on the third season of United States of Tara begins next month for a premiere in 2011.

Richard Dower

Not really a fan of Izzard, he was ok in Oceans 13 though, or was it 12?

eimearcmh

Love this show. Its on a bit late but sure with the recorder...happy days:)

Richard Dower

S3 promo; http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/02/united-states-of-tara-season-3-promo.html

I've seen every ep. - think it's a really good show.

Basq

Got really bored of it myself mid-way through last season..

.. thought 'Nurse Jackie' was far stronger!

fisgon

Richard Dower wrote: »

S3 promo; http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/02/united-states-of-tara-season-3-promo.html

I've seen every ep. - think it's a really good show.

Surprised that there is a S3, the way S2 ended it looked like they were trying to tie up all the loose ends in a rush in case they it didn't get the green light. hope it goes on, it's quality.

pickarooney

I still haven't got around to watching season 2. Not sure if it's worth it.

JP Liz V1

Season 3 starts tonight

Richard Dower

the first two eps. of season 3 have been great!, really enjoyable and funny. Eddie Izzard as a psyche teacher is great, loved him saying D.I.D. is junk psychology and Tara changes right in front of him.

Imo i think there first two eps. have certainly been stronger then alot of season 2, but the ratings aren't great...i know it's Showtime, but even they can't renew a show if no one is watching!

Richard Dower

Final ever episode on Monday, i've seen everything ep. - imo the last five episodes have been excellent, lots of plot and arc progression.....i hope that the final has at least some closure, even though it was never planned/plotted to be the final ever episode.