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Episodes
Toni Collette stars as a housewife with a personality disorder and a dysfunctional family. John Corbett costars as her husband. The show was penned by Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"), who serves as executive producer with Steven Spielberg.
Tara's alternate personality, perfect housewife Alice, steps in to deal with a disagreement between Marshall and his English teacher (Tony Hale), as well as a behavioral problem involving Kate.
When their physical relationship ebbs, Tara worries that Max is more interested in some of her alter egos than in her, so she heeds the advice of her therapist and schedules a "sex date" with her husband.
Tara and he new friend Tiffany join Charmaine for a girls' night out, where Tiffany asks to "meet" one of Tara's alternate personalities.
Marshall seizes the opportunity to throw a big bash when his mother turns into "T" and hightails it away in her car with Max and Charmaine in hot pursuit. One of the teen's ulterior motives for having the party is to get closer to Jason, on whom he has a crush.
Tara's parents (Pamela Reed, Fred Ward) visit, ostensibly for Charmaine's birthday, but Max discovers that they are there to take the kids to live with them while Tara deals with her mental-health issues, and Max tries to keep his wife from finding out the true purpose of the visit.
After getting her breasts done, Charmaine wakes up in the recovery room, where she is surprised to find "Buck" at her bedside, and even more surprised when they bond. Meanwhile, Kate's romantic advice to Marshall is for him to play hard-to-get with Jason (Andrew Lawrence).
Max has his hands full while "Alice" is out again; Marshall fears Jason's father knows about his crush on Jason.
Kate and Tara take an impromptu road trip; Max searches for answers about Tara's past.
Tara has a total meltdown when Dr. Ocean unexpectedly terminates her treatment; one of Tara's alters betrays Marshall in a way that could destroy the family.
United States of Tara: Season 1 Photos
Tv Season Info
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for United States of Tara Season 1
All Critics (23) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (4)
It will be interesting to see if future episodes address [the] trauma while maintaining the half-frivolous tone of this smart aleck's answer to Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and sundry other sitcoms about the voodoo of domestic happiness.
It's got a good shot, and at its best, it reaffirms an observation by that wise folk philosopher Kinky Friedman: Anything worth crying can be smiled.
I'm on board with "Tara," but so far mostly for the supporting characters.
The performances are the main reason to seek it out --Collette is a revelation, and the supporting cast is sterling. The writing, while often high-caliber, is also spotty and somewhat colorless.
Some of these characters are stereotypical, to be sure, but Cody, Junge, and their writers give them all revealing storylines, and most of them are interesting.
If one can simply check disbelief at the door, Tara's wacky world starts to make some sense and to draw the viewer in.
A flawed but fascinating series.
Problem is this dramedy is neither funny nor sad. What next? Fun with diabetes?
It's a disposable half-hour - fun and frothy, only weighted down by more profanity than allowed on the networks. But that's also its biggest fault: With the talent behind it, I'd hoped for something darker, more riveting.
Stick a laugh track on it and it wouldn't feel much different from a generic family sitcom with a gimmick, where one-liners trump characterization.
While the portrayal of the disorder is gimmicky, the show sustains a particular charm, thanks to solid performances and its honest treatment of the complex relationships in this unconventional family.
"Tara" has something lacking in other Showtime series: heart.
Audience Reviews for United States of Tara: Season 1
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Jul 03, 2020I can't believe I bearly found this, I was stuck on it from the beginning. Another great show that I wish had more seasons. Where does one go to petition for more seasons?! Someone needs to make a site for this reason. Let's get you guys back out there and bring more episodes please.
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Jun 02, 2020This show is entertaining and the acting was excellent-I watched all 3 seasons in one week! I hope there will be a follow up to the last season because it kind of left you hanging but what can you do? I felt bad for Max and the kids because Tara was selfish, even when lucid and I wish they had a better life but hey, it's just TV. And to everyone saying that this portrayal of DID is false and it's triggering them well, it's just a TV show. No one said it was based off of real life. Everyone is much to sensitive these days.
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Nov 29, 2014UST is very clever and well-acted, but I feel it would survive better as a serialized show.
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Feb 07, 2014Thanks to the brilliant writing from screenwriter Diablo Cody and an excellent lead performance from Toni Collette, US of Tara is a stand-out in the world of TV sitcoms. The premise is interesting and the characters are intriguing; I particularly enjoyed seeing the many "alters" of Tara, but the other members of the family are equally as entertaining. The show manages to be supremely hilarious, but it also has a dramatic body to it too that works equally as well. Season 1 is excellent!
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