The Trouble with Tracy

Many viewers and critics have cited this show as the worst comedy series in Canadian television history. They're almost right: it's the worst comedy series in the history of humankind.

You think you've seen bad TV? You haven't seen the worst until you've seen this gem. A few seasons were made and then rerun for years on Canadian stations to fulfill Canadian content rules.

The acting was atrocious, the direction non-existent, the production values were laughable, and the writing ... oh, the horror! Add in a tinny laugh-track and cheesy muzak and you've got Trouble. Flubbed lines were left in (and it was on video!), "jokes" were recycled ad nauseam, you could see the walls move when a door was opened or closed. Dyan Nylan as Tracy was cute in her micro-miniskirts but she had little acting ability or comedic timing, and the lines she was given to speak were cringe-inducingly lame. Every embarrassing stereotype was included, every Lucy and Honeymooners setup was ripped off, every stale Henny Youngman joke was massacred.

Simply excruciating, unredeemably puerile, so bad it's not funny! So why is it I wish I could see it again?

O.K, it sucked big time , but I learned english watching this show and Dyan Nyland was indeed a hot babe! I don't think this show was as bad as say,"Mork And Mindy" or "Laverne And Shirley" but it stands alone as the worst Canada has ever made.

For years I remember reading about this show "Trouble With Tracy" in the TV Guide. CFTO-TV Toronto every Saturday morning at 6 am! I lived about a two-hour drive north of Toronto and we couldn't get CFTO, but you know how it is - we always want what we can't have.

Well, I knew what I wanted and what I wanted was to see what this "Trouble With Tracy" was all about. Did it have a beautiful girl in the starring role? Was there nudity? Was there suspense? Was it a comedy? It would've been fine if there was some promotion of the show. At least I could've known what I was missing. But, NO! The mystery drove me bonkers, until CTV affiliate CKCO built a re-transmitter in Wiarton, Ontario and began to broadcast "Trouble With Tracy" at the same time as CFTO....Saturday mornings at 6 am!! One Saturday morning I got up and turned the TV on at 5:59 and at last I got to see what "The Trouble With Tracy" was. Yes, the "Trouble With Tracy" was that it was Canadian content and stuck in the harmless 6 am spot so no one would ever see how awful it was.

Talented Canadian Actor Steve Weston died a few years afterward, but many would argue he effectively "died" the first time he appeared on this show. When I saw it for the first time that cold Saturday morning and fell despondent back into my bed, part of me died, too.

This show was shot at the Agincourt CFTO studio of CTV. I was then a teenager (Bill Gregory Terlecki), and waiting around to sit in for extra work on a neighboring set of FAMOUS JURY TRIALS. With time to kill, I wandered over to the TRACY set to admire this fascinating process.Things halted when the scene called for ice cubes in a glass of scotch, but of course, none were to be found. I said to one of the production people to crumple up some cellophane wrap and jam that in and pour the liquid over it...not only would the lights pick up the refraction, but the "cubes" would not melt and the effect would be lasting. They did this, and it seemed to work as the show went on. I mention this as that memory stayed with me that the crew of both shows were very kind and appreciative to me at that wide-eyed age, and as my very first venture into TV, it was an honor that my suggestion was used. This show played late afternoons, and yes, it was always the same set, no outdoor scenes, but it was Canadian and well...gave work to many for a short time. It gave me the impetus to act.