United States of Tara

Tara's multiple personalities include "T" the wild-child teenager, "Buck" the rough and tumble biker dude, and "Alice" the type-A homemaker. But with a family that loves her just the way she is, Tara never gives up hope that someday she can just be herself.

United States of Tara (2009-2011) is an American Showtime dramedy created by Diablo Cody. Toni Collette plays Tara Gregson, a suburban mother whose dissociative identity disorder brings out alternate personalities: the wild teenager T, the rough biker Buck, and the controlling homemaker Alice. Her husband Max (John Corbett) and teenage son Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) try to keep ordinary family life together, while her sister Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt) and daughter Kate (Brie Larson) feel the strain of each switch. Each half-hour episode builds its engine from everyday frictions: school pressure, marriage strain, and the small public embarrassments that come when a personality surfaces at the wrong moment. Across three seasons of twelve episodes each, the series keeps returning to one question, whether Tara can ever simply be herself. The tone is warm and sardonic, with sharp comic timing sitting beside real sorrow about mental illness and family loyalty. Its suburban, domestic setting and frank treatment of trauma place it in the company of Weeds and Dead Like Me for viewers who like dark family comedy with emotional weight.

Audiences broadly rate the series positively, praising Toni Collette's multi-character performance and its warm, unusual take on dissociative identity disorder within a family.

• Weedsdark family comedy-drama with a dysfunctional household and mental health at its center
• Dead Like Meserialized family drama built on a protagonist's psychological struggle and emotional honesty
• Dysfunctional Family dramedysingle-mother dramedy blending humor with raw emotional vulnerability
• Desperate Housewivestone of sharp, irreverent dark comedy rooted in a messy family unit

Created by

Diablo Cody

Release Date

2009-01-18

Episode runtime

30 min

Rating

8.0 / 10 (175)

What is United States of Tara about?

A suburban mother with dissociative identity disorder shares her life with her alter personalities, and her family fights to keep her whole.

What is United States of Tara like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of United States of Tara as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is United States of Tara violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in United States of Tara.

What did critics think of United States of Tara?

Audiences broadly rate the series positively, praising Toni Collette's multi-character performance and its warm, unusual take on dissociative identity disorder within a family.

Which shows are like United States of Tara?

Shows with a similar feel include Weeds, Dead Like Me, Dysfunctional Family dramedy, and Desperate Housewives.

How long is United States of Tara?

United States of Tara: 3 seasons, 36 episodes.

Is United States of Tara still running?

No, United States of Tara has ended.

Where can I watch United States of Tara?

In United States, United States of Tara streams on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Apple TV channel, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel.