It’s all Ullman all the time

Tracey Ullman’s back and apparently she’s a U.S. citizen now, a fact she would like to celebrate in her own special way -- by making merciless, often hilarious fun of a bunch of Americans. (And, to be fair, a handful of Brits.)

In “Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union,” which debuts Sunday on Showtime, Ullman flexes her considerable talent for mockery and impersonation -- it is hard to imagine another who could channel Renee Zellweger and David Beckham via Arianna Huffington.

No one, as they like to say in the satire business, is safe -- from an r-rolling newscaster named Linda Alvarez to Dame Judi Dench, from a laundry-hanging Nebraskan housewife to airport security agent Chanel Monticello, a host of real and representative characters get the Ullman treatment, which is always spot on and almost never kind. (Memo to Ullman: You might want to reconsider all the Shiloh Pitt jokes -- she is only a baby, after all.)

“State of the Union” should not, however, be considered a resurrection or retread of the Emmy Award-winning “The Tracey Ullman Show.” “State of the Union” is not a variety show. There are no musical numbers, no moments with the real Tracey, no “The Simpsons” or its equivalent. There isn’t even much of a cast. It’s all Ullman, in character, all the time. Which can be laugh-out-loud funny and maliciously satisfying -- it is difficult not to cheer as such self-satisfied souls as the Beckhams and Laurie David get taken down a peg or six. But still, you can’t help but wondering: Is that all there is? To a television show?

Structured as a day in the life of America, “State of the Union” is bracketed with social messages -- the plight of undocumented workers, the deplorable state of health care -- and certainly politics infuses, as it always has, Ullman’s work. But this scaffolding is flimsy at best. At worst, it’s an alarmingly self-righteous attempt to disguise the fact that this is, essentially, a half-hour of stand-up, with a lot of costume changes and terrific sets, during which Ullman can comment on whatever the heck she feels like in whatever funny voice she can muster while wearing what is perhaps the best collection of wigs in the history of television.

The blogosphere, airport delays, fertility fetishism, Hollywood activism, journalist fear-mongering, the pharmaceutical industry, endless military tours, foreign adoption -- the list goes on and on. Not surprisingly, given the scope of the show, some topics are nailed brilliantly -- Chanel, the airport security agent, is perhaps among the greatest TV characters in recent history, and the adoption of an American child by an African actress is equally hilarious -- while others, like local newscaster Alvarez or the pregnant senior citizen, are flat and trite or flat and weird.

If it’s not focused thematically, “State of the Union” does tend to favor the great state of California over the rest of the nation, if favor is the right word. Ullman is not exactly a woman of the people any more -- at least half of her recurring characters are connected with Hollywood and/or Los Angeles. This could be pitched as an attempt to take down our celebrity-obsessed culture -- every “celebrity” interviewed is acknowledged to have “Oscar buzz” -- even as Ullman capitalizes on it. But while most people recognize Renee Zellweger and Cameron Diaz, are folks in, say, West Virginia or Iowa, really all that familiar with Laurie David and Arianna Huffington? The two occupy a disproportionate amount of screen time -- are they friends of Ullman’s? Enemies? Frenemies? -- which seems awfully Brentwood, even to me.

Still, impersonation is a dying art and few do it as well as Ullman. To parody Huffington or Beckham or Dina Lohan (mother of Lindsay) may be a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but it’s still pretty darn funny. Not the least because we don’t see it all that often any more. Yes, we’re meaner than we used to be, fueled with take-down websites and snarky entertainment columnists, but personal satire is a rare commodity these days. Gone are the variety shows that once showcased talents like Rich Little -- pickings are so slim nowadays that “Saturday Night Live’s” choice of an Obama impersonator is front-page news.

And it’s refreshing and reassuring to see a brilliant comedic talent embracing her chosen genre instead of ditching it for the glory of drah-mah. (Eddie Izzard, are you listening?) This does not, however, in any way excuse Ullman’s decision to include Andy Rooney in her lineup. Andy Rooney? Tracey, Tracey. That went stale during the Reagan administration.

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mary.mcnamara@latimes.com

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‘Tracy Ullman’s State of the Union’

Where: Showtime

When: 10 p.m Sunday

Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)