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Title: Once Upon a Mattress (18 Dec 2005)
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| Episode credited cast: | |||
| Carol Burnett | ... | Queen Aggravain | |
| Tracey Ullman | ... | Princess Winnifred | |
| Denis O'Hare | ... | Prince Dauntless | |
| Zooey Deschanel | ... | Lady Larken | |
| Matthew Morrison | ... | Sir Harry | |
| Michael Boatman | ... | The Jester | |
| Tom Smothers | ... | King Sextimus | |
| Edward Hibbert | ... | The Wizard | |
| Michelle Harrison | ... | Princess #12 | |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Scott Augustine | ... | Dancing Knight | |
| Paul Becker | ... | Knight | |
 |
Linda Bernath | ... | Dancer |
|
|
Jordan Cable | ... | Dancing Knight |
|
|
Stephenos Christou | ... | Dancing Knight |
| Dave Cote | ... | Court Small | |
In this hilarious tweaking of the fairy tale, "The Princess and the Pea", Queen Aggravain has ruled that none may marry until her son, Prince Dauntless marries. However, she has managed to sabotage every princess that come along. When Sir Harry and Lady Larken learn that they are going to be parents, wed or not, he goes off to the swamps and brings back Princess Winnifred ("Fred" to her friends). The queen is horrified and immediately begins to scheme, but Winnifred, with some help from Sir Harry, the King, and the Jester, isn't going to be quite so easy to get rid of. Written by Brad Pardee
I barely remember the 1972 television version of this, so it's probably unfair to say that one was better. But my impression is it was better, simply because Burnette played Winnifred. This is not to say Tracey Ullman was bad. Ullman is tremendously talented and she does a good job, but she was too restrained in the part. Burnette perfectly captured the world's least appropriate princess, but Ullman actually comes across as fairly sweet and gentle, at most mildly eccentric and occasionally slightly loud. It doesn't help that Burnette cannot completely contain her inherent wackiness; the play feels as though it should be a contrast between a cold, imperious queen and a wild, tomboyish princess, but the distance between Ullman and Burnette doesn't seem that great.
Still, it's a fun musical with many amusing moments and a good cast. And who knows, maybe if I saw that 1972 version I'd say, this isn't nearly as good as I remember.