Tracey Takes On...

The only character to return from ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is [[Kay Clark]], as Ullman was the sole creator and Fox owned the rights to all the other characters that appeared on that show. "I love Kay. I'm very fond of her. This little British spinster – she's so courageous, and to think she's sort of on national television in America is rather thrilling to me when I used to witness her in the local bank in my village. She'd say, 'Hello, Miss Ullman. How's Hollywood?' And to think she's on American television and – she doesn't know!"

The only character to return from ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is [[Kay Clark]], as Ullman was the sole creator and Fox owned the rights to all the other characters that appeared on that show. "I love Kay. I'm very fond of her. This little British spinster – she's so courageous, and to think she's sort of on national television in America is rather thrilling to me when I used to witness her in the local bank in my village. She'd say, 'Hello, Miss Ullman. How's Hollywood?' And to think she's on American television and – she doesn't know!"

[[Ruby Romaine]], who Ullman has described as "pure Hollywood white trash",{{cite news|last=Avasthi |first=Sarubhui |date=17 January 1997 |title=Tracey Ullman Defies Characterization |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/296428181 |work=[[The News Journal]] |access-date=March 16, 2018}} was based on many of the Hollywood union makeup artists sent to make her up over the years. Ruby's look and surname were based on Romaine Greene, a hairstylist who worked on many of [[Woody Allen]]'s films, while her voice was inspired by Florence Aadland, mother of actress [[Beverly Aadland]], who at 15 had an affair with the then 48-year-old actor [[Errol Flynn]]. Ullman played Florence in the one-woman Broadway show ''[[The Big Love]]'', which she had prepared for by listening to hours of recordings of Florence dictating her life story to writer Tedd Thomey for the book of the same name.{{cite news|first=Hilary |last=De Vries |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-03-ca-102-story.html |title=Interview: Voice No. 1,001: Her TV show is history, but Tracey Ullman has found another offbeat American misfit to play, this time on Broadway |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 3, 1991 |access-date=January 1, 2018}} There are parallels between Ruby Romaine's early days in Hollywood and those of Beverly Aadland, specifically Beverly's affair with Erroll Flynn.

[[Ruby Romaine]], whom Ullman has described as "pure Hollywood white trash",{{cite news|last=Avasthi |first=Sarubhui |date=17 January 1997 |title=Tracey Ullman Defies Characterization |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/296428181 |work=[[The News Journal]] |access-date=March 16, 2018}} was based on many of the Hollywood union makeup artists sent to make her up over the years. Ruby's look and surname were based on Romaine Greene, a hairstylist who worked on many of [[Woody Allen]]'s films, while her voice was inspired by Florence Aadland, mother of actress [[Beverly Aadland]], who at 15 had an affair with the then 48-year-old actor [[Errol Flynn]]. Ullman played Florence in the one-woman Broadway show ''[[The Big Love]]'', which she had prepared for by listening to hours of recordings of Florence dictating her life story to writer Tedd Thomey for the book of the same name.{{cite news|first=Hilary |last=De Vries |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-03-ca-102-story.html |title=Interview: Voice No. 1,001: Her TV show is history, but Tracey Ullman has found another offbeat American misfit to play, this time on Broadway |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 3, 1991 |access-date=January 1, 2018}} There are parallels between Ruby Romaine's early days in Hollywood and those of Beverly Aadland, specifically Beverly's affair with Errol Flynn.

The characters Fern and Harry Rosenthal and Linda Granger were created for ''[[Tracey Ullman Takes on New York]]''. Fern and Harry were based on Betty and Fred Valk of [[Baldwin, New York]], the parents of Ullman's friend, Katie Valk. Ullman met the couple after she flew to New York to act as a guest [[video jockey|VJ]] on [[MTV]]. She toyed with the idea of giving Fern her own show but found that playing the character left her feeling like a "limp rag" and that her husband avoided her like the plague. She described Fern as "Loud, emotional with 'I'm from the suburbs' written all over her. She sat behind me at matinees of ''Cats'' and ''Les Misérables'', not too shy to shout out to the performers, 'Speak up, darling, we can't hear you!'" When asked who had inspired washed-up Hollywood actress Linda Granger, Ullman responded, [[Loni Anderson]] and actresses who ended up guest starring in episodes of ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'', "the kind of women that Ruby Romaine made up."

The characters Fern and Harry Rosenthal and Linda Granger were created for ''[[Tracey Ullman Takes on New York]]''. Fern and Harry were based on Betty and Fred Valk of [[Baldwin, New York]], the parents of Ullman's friend, Katie Valk. Ullman met the couple after she flew to New York to act as a guest [[video jockey|VJ]] on [[MTV]]. She toyed with the idea of giving Fern her own show but found that playing the character left her feeling like a "limp rag" and that her husband avoided her like the plague. She described Fern as "Loud, emotional with 'I'm from the suburbs' written all over her. She sat behind me at matinees of ''Cats'' and ''Les Misérables'', not too shy to shout out to the performers, 'Speak up, darling, we can't hear you!'" When asked who had inspired washed-up Hollywood actress Linda Granger, Ullman responded, [[Loni Anderson]] and actresses who ended up guest starring in episodes of ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'', "the kind of women that Ruby Romaine made up."