Julia (1968 TV series)

For other TV series with this name, see Julia § In film and television.

Julia
Diahann Carroll, Lloyd Nolan, and Marc Copage.
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Hal Kanter
Directed by	Don Ameche Luther James Fletcher Markle Coby Ruskin Barry Shear Ezra Stone Bernard Wiesen Hollingsworth Morse
Starring	Diahann Carroll Lloyd Nolan Marc Copage Michael Link Betty Beaird Lurene Tuttle
Theme music composer	Elmer Bernstein
Composers	Jeff Alexander Elmer Bernstein
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Hal Kanter
Producer	Hal Kanter
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	24 minutes
Production companies	Hanncarr Productions Savannah Productions 20th Century-Fox Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 17, 1968 (1968-09-17) – March 23, 1971 (1971-03-23)

Julia is an American television sitcom and the first weekly series to star an African-American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African-American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann Carroll, and ran for 86 episodes on NBC from September 17, 1968, to March 23, 1971. The series was produced by Savannah Productions, Inc., Hanncarr Productions, Inc., and 20th Century-Fox Television.

During pre-production, the proposed series title was Mama's Man. ^[1] The series was among the few situation comedies in the late 1960s that did not use a laugh track; however, 20th Century-Fox Television added one when the series was reissued for syndication and cable rebroadcasts in the late 1980s.

Julia was among the first acquisitions made by ASPiRE for its inaugural season in 2012. ^[2]

Synopsis

Julia and Corey at home.

In Julia, Carroll played widowed single mother, Julia Baker (her husband, Army Capt. Baker, an O-1 Bird Dog artillery spotter pilot had been shot down in Vietnam), who was a nurse in a doctor's office at a large aerospace company. The doctor, Morton Chegley, was played by Lloyd Nolan, and Julia's romantic interests by Paul Winfield and Fred Williamson. Julia's son, Corey (Marc Copage) was approximately six to nine years old during the series run. He had barely known his father before he died. Corey's best friend was Earl J. Waggedorn, whom Corey almost always addressed and referred to precisely by his full name, though other characters (particularly his mother) would refer to him simply as Earl. The Waggedorns lived downstairs in the same apartment building, with father, police officer Leonard (Hank Brandt), stay-at-home mother Marie (Betty Beaird), and two sons, Earl and an infant whose first name is never revealed.

The first two seasons included nurse Hannah Yarby (Lurene Tuttle), who left to be married at the beginning of the third season, just as the clinic's manager, Brockmeyer, ordered downsizing — and removal of minorities from employment. (Chegley let Yarby go but kept Julia in defiance of the manager's edict. She was also kept after Chegley reminded Brockmeyer that such a move was a violation of the Civil Rights Act, which was just five years old at that point.) The second and third season included Richard (Richard Steele), a boy some one or two years older than Corey. Chegley's uncle, Dr. Norton Chegley (also played by Lloyd Nolan), made three appearances. The series' first episode was filmed in October 1967, a year before the pilot was picked up.

Cast

• Diahann Carroll as Julia Baker
• Marc Copage as Corey Baker
• Betty Beaird as Marie Waggedorn
• Ned Glass as Sol Cooper (17 episodes, 1968–1970)
• Janear Hines as Roberta (1970–71)
• Eugene Jackson as Uncle Lou (1968–69)
• Michael Link as Earl J. Waggedorn
• Don Marshall as Ted Neumann (1968–70)
• Alison Susan Mills as Carol Deering
• Lloyd Nolan as Dr. Morton Chegley
• Mary Wickes as Melba Chegley (Dr. Chegley's wife)
• Steve Pendleton as Mr. Bennett (6 episodes, 1968–1970)
• Eddie Quillan as Eddie Edson (17 episodes, 1968–71)
• Lurene Tuttle as Nurse Hannah Yarby (32 episodes, 1968–70)
• Hank Brandt as Leonard Waggedorn ^[3] (27 episodes, 1968–71)
• Fred Williamson as Steve Bruce (1970–71)
• Paul Winfield as Paul Cameron
• Diana Sands as Cousin Sarah Porter (1970–1971)

Controversy

Although Julia is remembered today as groundbreaking, during its original run the series was derided by many critics for being apolitical and unrealistic. In 1968, Diahann Carroll remarked: "At the moment we're presenting the white Negro. And he has very little Negroness." ^[4] The Saturday Review's Robert Lewis Shayon wrote that Julia's "plush, suburban setting" was "a far, far cry from the bitter realities of Negro life in the urban ghetto, the pit of America's explosion potential." ^[5] Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" refers to Julia in the same breath as Bullwinkle, implying that the character was something of a cartoon. Ebony published a somewhat more supportive assessment of the program: "As a slice of Black America, Julia does not explode on the TV screen with the impact of a ghetto riot. It is not that kind of show. Since the networks have had a rash of shows dealing with the nation's racial problems, the light-hearted Julia provides welcome relief, if, indeed, relief is even acceptable in these troubled times." ^[6] The series also came under criticism from African-American viewers for its depiction of a fatherless Black family due to the father's death in American military service. Excluding a Black male lead, it was argued, "rendered the series safer" and "less likely to grapple with issues that might upset white viewers." ^[7]

Nielsen ratings

Season	Rank	Rating
1) 1968–1969	#7	24.6
2) 1969–1970	#28	20.1
3) 1970–1971	Not in the Top 30

Cancellation

Julia received good ratings the first two seasons but dropped out of the top 30 most-watched shows during season 3. In 1971, the series was canceled, reportedly because of Carroll's and series creator and executive producer Hal Kanter's desire to work on other projects. ^[8] Kanter created and produced the short-lived The Jimmy Stewart Show for NBC the following season.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1969	American Cinema Editors	Nominated	Best Edited Television Program	John Ehrin (For episode "Mama's Man")
	Emmy Award		Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role	Ned Glass (For episode "A Little Chicken Soup Never Hurt Anybody")
			Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series	Diahann Carroll; this nomination made Carroll the first African-American woman to earn an Emmy nomination in this category [9]
			Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series	Lloyd Nolan
			Outstanding Comedy Series	Hal Kanter
1970			Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Comedy	Lurene Tuttle
1969	Golden Globe Award		Best Television Series	-
		Won	Best TV Star – Female	Diahann Carroll
1970		Nominated	Best TV Actress – Musical/Comedy	Diahann Carroll
1969	Photoplay Magazine Medal	Won	Actress of the Year	Diahann Carroll
2003	TV Land Awards	Won	Groundbreaking Show	Diahann Carroll

References

1. Weiner, Ed (1992). The TV Guide TV Book: 40 Years of the All-Time Greatest Television Facts, Fads, Hits, and History . New York: Harper Collins. p.  174. ISBN   0-06-096914-8.
2. "Magic Johnson's Multi-Million Dollar Aspire Network Projected To See Great Success". MadameNoire.
3. "Few Movies Have Escaped Cop on 'Julia'". Muncie Evening Press . Muncie, Indiana. February 15, 1969. p. 35. Retrieved November 13, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
4. Morreale, Joanne; Aniko Bodroghkozy (2003). Critiquing The Sitcom. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p.  138. ISBN   0-8156-2983-4.
5. Farber, David R.; Beth L. Bailey (2001). The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s . New York: Columbia University Press. p.  400. ISBN   0-231-11372-2.
6. "'Julia': Television network introduces first black family series". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. November 1968. p. 68.
7. Spigel, Lynn; Denise Mann (1992). Private Screenings: Television and the Female Consumer. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. p. 161. ISBN   0-8166-2052-0.
8. Acham, Christine (2004). Revolution Televised: Prime Time and the Struggle for Black Power. University of Minnesota Press. p. 126. ISBN   0-8166-4431-4.
9. Kate Stanhope (23 September 2013). "Diahann Carroll on African-American Emmy Nominees: "We're a Little Behind"". TVGuide.com.

External links

• Julia at IMDb