This Star-Studded 10/10 Dramedy Is Still Criminally Underrated 15 Years Later

In the 2010s, Showtime became known for gripping female-led stories (Homeland, The L Word, and Nurse Jackie, to name a few). Yet, even in such good company, United States of Tara deserves more acclaim — and the star power of Toni Collette should have drawn the same viewership numbers that Claire Danes and Edie Falco brought to their shows.

Especially considering that Collette is far from the only big name on the series, it truly is a mystery how Tara flew so far under the radar. Every performance is strong, but the show also brings to the table a unique premise, memorable characters, and great writing. Even 15 years later, United States of Tara is worthy of a binge.

United States Of Tara Is Criminally Underrated

The list of Toni Collette’s memorable performances would go all the way to the floor, but United States of Tara deserves to be circled, bolded, and underlined. Collette plays Tara, a suburban mom with dissociative identity disorder — which means she also plays all of Tara’s alters: Buck, Alice, T, Gimme, Shoshana Schoenbaum, Chicken, and Bryce.

Tara often shifts personalities on a dime, which is almost always accompanied by a wardrobe change and a new accent. Collette succeeds in making each personality feel like a truly different, well-developed person, which gives the show an unexpected source of heart. Tara’s DID majorly disrupts her life, so we root for the improvement of her mental health, but we also grow attached to each individual alter.

But perhaps the most surprising and welcoming aspect of United States of Tara is the way the rest of Tara’s family handles the situation. From the show’s first moments, Tara’s husband Max, sister Charmaine, daughter Kate, and son Marshall are all well acquainted with Tara’s alters.

When Kate comes home from school to find T instead of Tara, she’s excited to go on a shopping spree. When Charmaine wakes from a breast augmentation to find Buck waiting to take her home, the two have an unexpected bonding moment. Even Max can roll with the punches and turn what he hoped would be a romantic evening with Tara into a boy’s night out with Buck.

Everyone In United States Of Tara Is A Star

Toni Collette is Tara‘s main attraction, but all those family members are played by commendable actors in their own right. Arguably rivaling Collette’s own fame is Brie Larson as Tara’s daughter Kate. Tara’s son, Marshall, is played by Keir Gilchrist, who went on to lead Netflix’s Atypical. And filling out the Gregson family is Sex and the City‘s John Corbett as Max.

Max’s best friend and business partner is Neil, played by Patton Oswalt. Neil has feelings for Charmaine, played by Rosemarie DeWitt (who’s been in everything from La La Land to Cinderella Man to The Staircase — where she again played Toni Collette’s sister).

United States Of Tara Has Big Names Behind The Camera

While the performances are award-worthy, the credit for Tara‘s strong dialogue, character development, and storytelling goes to the stars behind the camera. The concept for the series came from executive producer Steven Spielberg, while Juno, Jennifer’s Body, and Lisa Frankenstein writer Diablo Cody is the show’s creator.

Friends and Grace and Frankie writer Alexa Junge and Transparent creator Joey Soloway also served as showrunners throughout Tara‘s three-season run.

With such star power both on and off the screen, it’s both sad and surprising that the show was canceled by Showtime after only three seasons. Luckily, it’s never too late to add the masterful United States of Tara to your watch list.

Release Date

2009 – 2011

Directors

Craig Gillespie, Jamie Babbit, Tricia Brock, Adam Davidson, Brian Dannelly, John Dahl, Mark Mylod, Penny Marshall, Adam Bernstein, Bille Eltringham

Writers

Dave Finkel, Brett Baer, Sheila Callaghan, Tracy McMillan, Craig Wright, David Iserson, Rolin Jones, Ron Fitzgerald