In case you haven’t heard, The United States of Tara is a comedy pilot that Showtime just picked up for a full season. And no, it’s not the long-awaited sequel to Tara Reid’s Taradise, but rather a scripted series focusing on a woman who has severe dissociative identity disorder (commonly known as multiple personalities). Sound like something you’d check out? Hold on, don’t answer yet! Did I mention that this series is created by Steven Spielberg, exec-produced and written by Diablo Cody, and starring Toni Collette (pictured)?
Tara’s premise is obviously way, way out there. Mental illness is a very tricky subject to handle well, and this particular disorder is pretty controversial in the medical community. So I’m a little nervous about a Showtime exec’s promise in that Hollywood Reporter story that the show will feature "a combination of humor and real drama." Does that make this, like, A Beautiful Mind with sex jokes? I feel like it would be pretty awkward to fit a serious exploration of dissociative identity disorder into a sea of LOL-worthy punchlines. And much though I loved Cody’s Oscar-winning Juno script (and her regular EW column!), I’m not sure her rapid-fire, super-snarky style would necessarily be a good match for this material — or for Spielberg’s sentimental tendencies.
But enough preemptive second guessing. Everything else aside, Cody, Spielberg, and Collette are three hugely talented people. And the pay-cable nets have long since demonstrated their ability to make good, smart TV about majorly complicated themes. So I’m willing to give The United States of Tara the benefit of the doubt, at least until I see a couple episodes. How about you?
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steven spielberg + diablo cody = gold mine
I’m excited for John Corbett as Tara’s husband.
It’s about time Toni Collette gets a lead in a (hopefully) quality cable show. Will watch and pass judgment once I’ve seen the final product. Can’t wait!
Toni Collette has long been one of my favoite actresses (a “person I’ll watch in anything” in EW speak) so I will totally be there.
Didn’t Mr. Corbett say a few years back that he was quitting acting? I’m pretty sure he did…
Ehh…I’m hesitant about this one, especially after reading the sobering Wikipedia article. I mean, is there a way to make severe abuse and serious mental disorders funny? I’m not sure even the Toni-Steven-Diablo dream team can do that.
I want to check it out for sure. That’s a lot of talented people working on it so it has lots of potential.
That’s an awful lot of talent…Me thinks I will give this a shot. Anything Toni Collette does is at least watchable and Diablo Cody is pretty much my hero at the moment. I’m totally there!
I’m with postsoviet:
Toni Collette has been long overdue for a lead, high-profile role in something.
Also, I’d actually be very interested to see a fairly honest and accurate portrayal of this disease that doesn’t devolve into a cartoon like Cynthia Nixon’s over-the-top guest spot on L&O: SVU. Given the talent on board, I’ll trust them to put on a quality show.
Yep. I don’t care about the Spielberg and Cody peidgrees. I’m a Toni Collette fan and will watch her in absolutely anything.
I’m conflicted. I hate Diablo Cody. But I love John Corbett.
I’m pretty excited. I love Diablo Cody, Toni Collette, and Steven Speilberg, so I think it will be good.
Can’t wait for the premiere… T
I read the script of the first episode and gotta say its funny as all hell. You would think this serious a subject would be somber but I laughed out loud at least 3 times. I can’t wait to see it on screen.
Toni Collette is there. That means I’m there. How wonderful that two of the best actresses working today (Mary Louise Parker being the other) found great material on Showtime. Consider my subscription renewed indefinitely.
I was lucky enough to be in a focus group where we watched the pilot. This show is amazing, it’s done well and we were lucky that we had no idea what the show was about. It’s kinda that the idea is public news, the pilot does a fantastic job of setting up the show. I saw an early cut of the pilot, so alot can change.
This show reminds me of Weeds and Cali fornication.