RIP "United States of Tara" 2009-2011

Since this blog will also focus on television developments, I felt it was necessary to divert away from my thoughts on this years Cannes Film Festival winners (not that I've seen any of them yet anyway) to a news topic that caught my eye (but not surprise) this afternoon. While Edie Falco's rather overrated dramedy Nurse Jackie has been renewed for Season 4, Toni Collete's frequently underwhelming "comedy," The United States of Tara, has been (thankfully) cancelled and will not return for another season. Though I've read from reviewers who have seen the show's upcoming season finale really functions better as a series finale than a season finale, this development still came as kind of a surprise to me. This is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning cable series, after all. I didn't think the ratings were that bad. Showtime does have a reputation for not staying with deserving original series that aren't called Dexter.

Having been a viewer since season one, I can tell you the only thing aspect of the show that kept me watching was the performance of Miss Toni Collette. It's like she took her character from The Night Listener and made her into a likable, inoffensively suburban, audience friendly spectacle. It's a show full of easy answers, no real suspense, sitcom cliches not very well disguised as dramatic development. Even its creator, Oscar-winning writer/skank, Diablo Cody, publicly stated she hated the first season. I'm right with her. My first reaction upon watching the 1st season was, "anything this dreadfully unaware of how unfunny it actually is has to come from Steven Spielberg." The characters and all of their problems are nauseating, to say the least. The casting of the resentful gay son, Marshall, has sent me up the wall since day. Rosemarie DeWitt's cloying Charmaine character didn't do much for me. Her silly internet porn star turned flight attendant daughter didn't help matters much either. The male characters were always underwritten as unreliable buffoons. I didn't see any reason why the show had to practically send up its own campiness while seemingly biting the hand that feeds it. The entire first season basically built up to what amounted to little more than an acting showcase for Toni Collette's inevitable Emmy nomination/win.

As hackneyed as I found the whole charade, I couldn't take my eyes off Tara and her alters. Miss Colette's transitions will be the only reason why this show will be remembered and replayed when Toni Collette is remembered as the talent Goddess she is. I have seen any great multiple personality shows, but none where the performer was this seamless in her understanding of every nuance of her alter personas.  The only problem I had with her subsequent performances in Seasons 2 & 3 is that the writers seem to think that creating more of these multiple characters will make the show more dramatically convincing. It has only really seemed to make Miss Collette's performance even more difficult to appreciate b/c she now comes off as little more than an acting smorgasbord than an actual character. I personally loved the "Alice" character the best (I have a thing for 50s housewife characters, I admit it), although I also enjoyed the cutely obnoxious "T" one as well (The "Buck" and "Chicken" ones kind of gave me the creeps and the New York psychiatrist one annoyed me, even though they were flawlessly portrayed).

The beefing up of the supporting characters as the series went on didn't help like it could have. I still cannot figure out what the purpose of Viola Davis' character was last season and why she was given such a large role in a character who really should have only been a cameo, but I have been amused by Eddie Izzard's caustic professor character. I must admit, this third season has been my favorite of the three seasons. So, while it will be sad knowing that Toni's monumental performance is coming to an end (just in time to catch her in the Fright Night remake, weirdly enough), at least the show itself is going out on a high note and won't overstretch its one joke premise, even though it kind of should have several times by now. Instead of continuing to lament its inept presence, let's just check out this clip and images of Toni's personas just so we can appreciate her amazing performance before it's too late, the likes of which I doubt we'll see on any type of television again.

Did you enjoy this show? What are your thoughts of the cancellation? Will you miss it? Was Showtime stupid to let it go this early in its run? Have you only just heard of it for the first time? Let your comments be heard!