United States of Tara

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United States of Tara
United states of tara.png
United States of Tara promotional poster
Genre Comedy-drama
Created by Diablo Cody
Starring Toni Collette
Rosemarie DeWitt
John Corbett
Brie Larson
Keir Gilchrist
Theme music composer Tim DeLaughter
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 36 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Steven Spielberg
Diablo Cody
Alexa Junge (season 1)
Jill Soloway (season 2–3)
Darryl Frank
Justin Falvey
Eduardo Peixoto
Craig Zisk (season 2–3)
Producer(s) Dan Kaplow
Location(s) Overland Park, Kansas (setting)
Los Angeles, California (actual filming location)
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time approx. 30 min.
Production company(s) DreamWorks Television
Showtime Networks
Broadcast
Original channel Showtime
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Audio format Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Original run January 18, 2009 – June 20, 2011
External links
Website

United States of Tara is an American television comedy-drama created by Diablo Cody, which began airing on Showtime in 2009. The series follows the life of Tara (Toni Collette), a suburban housewife and mother coping with dissociative identity disorder.

The series was based on an idea by Steven Spielberg who is the executive producer, under his DreamWorks Television label. Other executive producers include writers Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Eduardo Peixoto, director Craig Zisk, and showrunners Cody and Jill Soloway. Former executive producer Alexa Junge quit as showrunner after the first season.

Principal photography takes place in Los Angeles, California, while the show's setting is located in Overland Park, Kansas. Collette won the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award and 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role; the opening title sequence also won an Emmy. The show's third season premiered on March 28, 2011.[1]

On May 23, 2011, Showtime announced that the series would not be renewed for a fourth season,[2] and the series finale aired on June 20, 2011.[3]

Contents

Plot [edit]

Tara Gregson is a wife and mother of two children in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, who has been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (DID). When stressed, Tara often transitions into one of her alternate personalities: wild and flirty teenager T; 1950s housewife Alice; and male, loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet Buck. A fourth personality, Gimme, is introduced later in the first season. During the second season of the series, two further personalities were introduced. The former, called Shoshana, is Tara's "therapist" of sorts, while the sixth personality's name is Chicken, an infantile representation of Tara when she was 5 years old. Another personality emerges in Season 3; that of Tara's previously unknown half-brother Bryce. Tara is supported by her husband Max, daughter Kate, and son Marshall. Her sister, Charmaine, is initially not very supportive of Tara, expressing doubts about the validity of her sister's disorder, though she becomes increasingly more understanding and receptive as the series progresses. The show is a representation of a seemingly typical American family who must cope with the daily struggles of Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Cast and characters [edit]

Main article: List of United States of Tara characters

Episodes [edit]

Main article: List of United States of Tara episodes

Broadcasting information [edit]

The series premiered on the US network Showtime at 10 p.m. on January 18, 2009, premiering before the second season of ITV's Secret Diary of a Call Girl. The season aired 12 episodes.

In late December 2008, Showtime offered free viewing on its website for the pilot of United States of Tara.

Customers of cable and satellite services that offer On Demand who subscribe to Showtime got the episode one week early via On Demand during Season 1. This was not the case for Season 2.

On May 23, 2011, Showtime canceled United States of Tara.

Critical reception [edit]

Initial critical response to the show was positive, with many reviewers praising Collette's acting. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the show's first season holds a score of 67 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 24 reviews.[4] Variety magazine was the first to review it and gave it a very positive review.

Awards [edit]

Nominations [edit]

DVD releases [edit]

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Content
The First Season 12
  • Sitting Down with Diablo Cody
  • Audio Commentary
  • Tara's Alters

  • Podcast interviews with Toni Collette, John Corbett, Rosemarie DeWitt and Brie Larson
  • On The Set
  • First two episodes of Californication season 2
  • Episode 2 of The Tudors season 3
  • Bonus Disc: The first two episodes of Nurse Jackie (Best Buy exclusive)
The Second Season
  • Region 1: December 28, 2010[6]
 12
  • "Chats with the Cast" – Short interviews with the cast
  • Cast bios
The Third Season
  • Region 1: August 2, 2011[7]
 12

Episodes 1 and 2 were also available as bonus features on DVD disc 4 (of 4) of Dexter, Season 3; and on disc 4 (of 4) of The Tudors, Season 3.

Renewals [edit]

On February 10, 2009, after only four episodes had aired, Showtime Networks president of entertainment Robert Greenblatt announced that United States of Tara would be renewed for a second season, to consist of twelve episodes and air in early 2010. He said the early renewal decision came after the show averaged 2.67 million viewers per week, giving the network its highest ratings since 2004, when Nielsen Media Research began counting original shows on premium channels in its prime time ratings.[8] Season two premiered on March 22, 2010.[9]

On March 25, three days after the season 2 premiere, it was announced that it would be picked up for a third season which aired in spring 2011.[10] Season 3 officially premiered on March 28, 2011.[1]

On May 23, 2011, it was announced that the series would not be renewed for a fourth season.[2]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Carlbert, Michelle (January 18, 2011). "NURSE JACKIE and UNITED STATES OF TARA Season 3 Premiere Date Announced". TV Equals. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  2. ^ a b Carlbert, Michelle (May 23, 2011). "Showtime keeping NURSE JACKIE But Giving UNITED STATES OF TARA The Boot". TV Equals. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  3. ^ "United States of Tara: Showtime Comedy Cancelled; No Season Four". TV Series Finale. May 23, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  4. ^ "United States of Tara - Season 1 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  5. ^ Lambert, David (October 5, 2009). "United States of Tara - A Change Comes to 'Tara': DVD Delayed, Extras Revealed". TVShowsonDVD.com. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  6. ^ Lambert, David (September 7, 2010). "United States of Tara - The 2nd Season DVDs: Date, Bonus Material, Cover Art". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  7. ^ Lambert, David (May 16, 2011). "United States of Tara - 'The 3rd Season' Announced: Date, Details and Early Cover Art". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  8. ^ "Showtime United With Tara For Second Season". Multichannel News. February 10, 2009. [dead link]
  9. ^ Caitlin, Roger (November 6, 2009). "'Nurse Jackie,' 'Tara' Both Back March 22". Hartford Courant. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  10. ^ "Showtime renews 'Nurse Jackie,' 'United States of Tara". HitFix. March 25, 2010. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 

External links [edit]

Works written by Diablo Cody
Films
Television
  • United States of Tara (2009–2011)
Book
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