The other day, I found my cable TV company added a channel to the lineup, and it was showing the entire run of Julia.
Julia aired on NBC from 1968 to 1971, and I have fond memories of watching it when I was a kid. It starred Diahann Carroll as the title character, Julia Baker, a widowed single mom. This being 1968, husband Walt was a captain in the U.S. Army Air Cavalry who was killed in the Vietnam War. As the series begins, Julia and 6-year-old son Corey have relocated from the Midwest to Los Angeles to make a new way for themselves.
The series was lauded then for having Broadway star Carroll as the lead, although several sources -- including Carroll's autobiography The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way -- erroneously assert Julia was the first TV show headed by a Black woman. It was not. (I note this in my tribute to Carroll after she died: "Earth 'a Little Less Beautiful' Without Diahann Carroll").
When I ran across this show and watched a couple of episodes, I was transported back to 1968 and didn't want to leave. Especially after the news of the day each day for the past two months. My wife and I find it a comfort to put on an episode or two (or three) before, after, and sometimes instead of the news.
Part of the appeal is Julia's son Corey, played by Marc Copage, who is insanely cute. He's not a natural actor; he has a way of shouting his lines, and I get the sense through the editing that sometimes his statements are filmed separately from Carroll's responses. But they have a believable, loving rapport. And he is insanely cute. Some of the conversations he has with his mother just make my heart melt with joy.
Carroll herself is a big draw. She's stunningly beautiful and poised, with perfect diction. She's of average height, maybe five-foot-four, five-six as the most, but she has such presence that she seems like she's eight feet tall. And she is always stylish, even in the now old-timey nurse's uniform and cap Julia wears on her job as a nurse at the clinic at Aerospace Industries.
Although I have warm, fuzzy memories of watching the show, I don't remember any of the specifics of any episode I've watched with now-adult eyes; it's been too long. Which makes them all fresh.
I am aware that critics thought of the show as too saccharine and that it whitewashed (heh) the Black experience, and I say to that I don't want or expect every show featuring Black characters to be Good Times. Even Good Times didn't want to be Good Times, and got further and further away from being Good Times after John Amos got fired.
So I hope to crawl into the W.A.B.A.C. Machine and offer episode-by-episode thoughts about the show. I may not succeed, but I have or will save all the episodes on my DVR. (Now I need to find a way to get them off the DVR and save them elsewhere.)
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We've gotten through a little more than half of the first season, and already there are some recurring themes:
I remember watching Julia when it first aired. Not religiously---it depended on what was on the other channels---but often enough that what was on the other channels must have been not very appealing most of the time. I didn't give much thought to the fact that the lead character was black; perhaps I was supposed to, but I didn't. To me, it was just another single-parent sitcom.
Like most sitcoms of the era, it went straight down the middle: pleasant and mildly humourous, with only an occasional laugh-out-loud line. Unlike you, I found Corey to be annoying. He shouted most of his lines, pushing them a little too hard. I guess that's more due to Marc Copage's limitations as an actor, rather than how the kid was written. I did get a chuckle out of the way he always referred to his buddy as "Earl J. Waggedorn".
Last year, I discovered that one of the cable channels in our package was rerunning the entire series, so I watched it, wondering if my older, more experienced eye would discern something that the younger me had missed fifty years ago. Largely, I came away with pretty much the same impressions I had a half-century ago.
With one notable exception.
CK, you said you've viewed seventeen episodes so far. I wonder if one of them was the first season's Christmas episode, "I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas". And if so, I'm surprised that you didn't comment on it. Or maybe you didn't find it as appealing as I did.
Television series in the fifties and sixties did great Christmas episodes; they knew just how to leave a lump in your throat and a smile in your heart. Later on, television series started playing Christmas for laughs and the rare occasions when they did nod toward sentiment, it seemed forced, like the writers had been thinking, "Nobody cares about this sentimental crap, anymore."
I had never seen Julia's Christmas episode---it must have aired on one of those nights when there was something more interesting on another channel---until I saw it in my re-watching last year.
It was everything a good Christmas episode is supposed to be, like the kind of story Will Eisner did every year with this character, the Spirit.
Race wasn't often brought up on the show, but in this particular episode it was, and in a very logical way. Corey and Earl J. Waggedorn get into an argument about whether Santa Claus is white or black. Most of the empirical evidence is on Earl J. Waggedorn's side: all the advertisements, all the movies and television shows, all of the department-store Santas, show a white Kris Kringle. Corey desperately wants to believe that there is a black Santa, but when he asks the adults---Mrs. Waggedorn, his babysitter, and, most important, his mother---the answers are awkward and largely unsatisfying, at least to a six-year-old boy.
What happens next is the stuff that the old television Christmas episodes are made of. On Christmas Eve, various people, all working independently, are determined to make Corey's Christmas happy by showing him that Santa Claus is black. Mr. Waggedorn gets one of the black officers in the L.A.P.D. to dress as Santa and drop by the Bakers' apartment. The babysitter gets her boyfriend to do the same thing.
Perhaps most endearing is Dr. Chegley, Julia's boss at the clinic. Chegley is pretty much a grouch most of the time as it is, but he spends about ten minutes of this episode grousing about the commercialism of Christmas. He's got no more use for Christmas, so take your holiday spirit somewhere else. He's not even dropping any money in the Salvation Army kettle.
So, of course, he slips a black man of his acquaintance a few bucks to show up at the Bakers' as Santa Claus.
It's quite a scene when three black Santas show up at the Bakers' door, one after the other. Corey is delighted, Julia is touched that her friends care about her son so much, and even Earl J. Waggedorn has to admit that maybe Corey is on to something, after all.
Yes, we did see "I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas"; it was Episode 14 of Season 1. It has two elements from the list above.
One is SURPRISE GUEST STARS. Jack Soo -- Sgt. Nick Yemana of Barney Miller -- is the salesman at the lot where Julia and Corey buy a raggedy Christmas tree. The spindly sapling he sells them makes Charlie Brown's tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas look like a Great Northern pine.
The other is EARL J. WAGGEDORN IS A BAD FRIEND. Not only does he start the argument "Santa Claus is White," he won't drop it. Or, as noted above, he "doesn't listen to you, doesn't agree with you, thinks he's always right, and thinks he succeeds only when you fail." Before we got to the end, I was halfway thinking Earl J. Waggedorn was a budding young White supremacist, which I'm sure is not the vibe the producers were going for. (But then, I'm watching it with adult eyes.) Fortunately, the capper is letting Earl J. Waggedorn see the LAPD Santa in his living room.
One note about Dr. Chegley: The gentleman he invites to don the Santa outfit is Corey's Uncle Lou, who used to play Santa for Corey when he and Julia still lived in the Midwest. For the doctor to arrange for Uncle Lou to travel halfway across the country on Christmas Eve to make the boy happy was, indeed, gratifying and heartwarming.
ClarkKent_DC said:
Thank you, CK. As I was typing my post, I recalled that Corey's uncle was involved as one of the Santas, but I couldn't recall exactly how. That it was Chegley who arranged for him to travel to L.A. is probably why I remember his contribution as being so touching.
As for Earl J. Waggedorn, I doubt he's a budding racist; he would have been just as much of a jerk friend to Corey if Corey had been white. Earl J. Waggedorn is a budding horse's ass, though.
"Mama's Man" (Season 1, Episode 1), original airdate Sept. 17, 1968
From the first, we know they don't make 'em like this anymore: The pilot episode has an actual title, one that was considered an alternate title for the series. Today, the average TV show pilot has the boring title "PIlot."
After the quick-cut opening credits with the breezy theme tune, we are then greeted by what today would be considered a frightening sight: a 6-year-old wielding a butcher knife. But the lad is doing so for the most innocuous of purposes: Our boy Corey is making fresh-squeezed orange juice for his mom, slumbering on the sofabed in the apartment living room.
He wakens her with a gentle kiss, and moments later, they are sharing breakfast. Julia has a job interview, and instructs Corey to stay in the apartment until she returns in two hours, and don't leave or let anyone in.
At the Aerospace Industries campus, Julia meets the head of Human Resources, who reacts like she's an alien from outer space. He tells he there aren't any vacancies and to try again in several weeks.
Back at the apartment, Corey hears a knock on the door. It's neighbor kid Earl J. Waggedorn, who had noticed Corey and Julia moving in and wants to play. Being good, Corey refuses to open the door, so their conversation is shouted. But Earl produces a whistle, and Corey lets him in.
Returning to the apartment with a bag of groceries, Julia sees what in any age would be a frightening sight: The butcher knife on the kitchen floor, covered in blood! Startled, she calls for Corey and races through the rooms. Not finding him, she runs downstairs and notices more blood in the lobby. She turns, and then hears behind her, "Mama?"
Julia races to Corey and hugs him. He tells her he's not hurt; it's Earl J. Waggedorn, who cut his thumb when they made more orange juice. Earl's mother Marie scolds an apologetic Julia, who explains she's new in town and had no one to leave Corey with. Marie invites Corey to stay with her, and all is well. Left with Marie, Corey explains that his father is in heaven, teaching the angels to fly. After a bit, a TV repairman arrives with the Waggedorns' repaired set.
Back at Aerospace Industries, the Human Resources chief meets with Dr. Morton Chegley, who is difficult to please. Chegley demands to interview Julia for the vacancy in the clinic he heads, and the H.R. guy is surprised, both because Chegley knew about this candidate and has rejected every other prospect.
Julia gets a telegram, instructing her to call Dr. Chegley. She doesn't have a telephone yet, so she leaves Corey to make a call from a pay phone at the neighborhood pharmacy. Chegley is impressed with her credentials and reference from an old crony, and invites her to an interview the following day at 9. "And look pretty," he tells her.
The TV won't turn on, and Corey asks if they can buy a color TV. She says they can't but they can get it fixed. However, Corey objects to the repairman who comes to the Baker home; he isn't the same one who was at the Waggedorns. The second guy explains they go where they're dispatched, but he'll call the first guy and see if he's available: "Maybe you would be happier with him."
The first TV repairman returns -- "He's the one!" Corey shouts -- and quickly diagnoses the trouble: the set is unplugged. He gives Julia his card for the future and waives the service charge for this call. All ends happily as Julia and Corey hug and tickle each other.
This episode contains:
MICROAGRESSIONS. The H.R. chief is visibly discomfited because Julia is Black. A repairman who enters his office while Julia is being interview speaks to her a bit when they are left alone, asking her what job she's after. "I'm a registered nurse," she answers. He tells her, "You're not going to register with Mr. Colton."
SURPRISE GUEST STARS. The repairman at Aerospace Industries is Charles Lampkin of The Legion of "Hey, It's That Guy!" Character Actors, who has a long list of credits. The first TV repairman is Lloyd Haynes, the year before he became a history teacher at Walt Whitman High School on Room 222. The second TV repairman is Steve Pendleton of The Legion, who also has a long list of credits.
COREY WANTS A DADDY. When Corey sees the tall, handsome soul brother bring back the Waggedorns' TV, he starts plotting. Unfortunately, the man says he has three sons. "You got a wife?" Corey asks. "Yes, sir," he responds. "Then the first guy could have fixed it!" Corey says, ruefully.
EARL J. WAGGEDORN IS A BAD FRIEND. From Day One! Not for enticing Corey to let him into the apartment, nor for cutting his hand with the knife; that's just kids being kids. It's for his reaction when Julia declares Corey should be punished for disobeying her.
"You gonna spank him?"
"Maybe."
"Could I watch?"
THE BABY DOESN'T HAVE A NAME.
Marie leaves Corey and Earl alone to change the baby's diaper, and this is their conversation:
Corey: "What's his name?"
Earl: "Who?"
Corey: "The baby!"
Earl: "I don't know."
Corey: "If I had a baby I would know his name."
Earl. "What is it?"
Corey: "I don't know, because I don't have him."
Earl: "If you did, then it would be 'Baby,' same as ours."
Corey: "Would not."
Earl: "Would so."
Corey: "His name would be George Washington Doctor Rosenquist Willie Mays Baker."
Earl: "Would not."
Corey: "Would so."
(This also fits under EARL J. WAGGEDORN IS A BAD FRIEND, since he didn't listen, didn't agree, and thinks he's right.)
Watch here:
...As far as Christmas episodes go, perhaps the Christmas episode of FAMILY GUY I recently encountered on Adult Swim. It shows the FG cast acting out the Nativity story, as a story told by Peet-ah. It's unconventional - It's FAMILY GUY, after all! - but perhaps you may find it interesting.
"The Interview" (Season 1, Episode 2), original airdate Sept. 24, 1968
As Julia encourages Corey to drink his milk with breakfast, Earl J. Waggedorn knocks on the door. He's smartly dressed in a sailor suit, and when Julia asks why, he tells her they're going to shoot the baby. Julia tells Earl to stay with Corey while she investigates.
Earl's mother Marie clears up the confusion; Earl's dad, the LAPD officer, is going to the target range, and then Marie's taking the baby to the pediatrician for his vaccinations. Unfortunately, Marie is confused; she scheduled the doctor appointment the same day she promised to watch Corey while Julia goes on her job interview (noted above). Julia resolves to bring Corey with her.
At Aerospace Industries, Julia tells Corey -- smartly dressed in a blazer and bowtie -- to sit in the car and don't talk to strangers; she should be back in 20 minutes. And cross your fingers for luck so I'll get the job, she tells him. Corey protests that if he crosses his fingers, he can't hold a crayon.
Inside, Doctor Chegley and his head nurse, Hannah Yarby, are, as always, bickering like an old married TV couple. The job interview doesn’t go well, however. Between Chegley’s digs at her motives (“So, you think we should give you employment because you’re the widow of a war hero.”) and Yarby's hostile reaction to Julia’s credentials (“You’re not going to stampede me into hiring the first pretty face that comes along!”), an upset Julia tears up her application and runs out.
Back at home, Julia tells Marie she and Corey spent the afternoon at the beach after she didn’t get the job. Later, she gets a surprise visitor: Yarby, bringing a box with a nurse’s uniform and telling her she starts tomorrow at 8. “I’m not satisfied I want the job, Miss Yarby,” Julia says. Yarby answers, “You will,” and explains that Chegley is a very good man “in every sense of the word, but he’s sarcastic, cantankerous and perverse.”
“If I say it’s a nice day, he says it smells,” Yarby says. “If I want a vacation, I tell him I don’t and he makes me take it. The only way you’re going to get along with that stubborn, assiduous old … teddy bear is if you know that.” Julia asks if Yarby’s mean response earlier was an act, and she says it was. “If I told him how I really feel about you, he’d say ‘Let’s look at some more girls!’ But I know that you and I are going to get along just fine.” She asks Julia to accept the uniform.
Then Chegley shows up. He declares Julia will start tomorrow at 8 and tells her about Yarby: “Yarby’s a fine woman, heart of gold. There’s just one thing to remember – she is stubborn. She is perverse. If I say it’s a nice day, she says it stinks. The only way to get her to do anything is to take the opposite tack. Now you just remember that and you’ll get along just fine.”
Yarby, who was hiding in the kitchen, overhears and she and Chegley start bickering. Corey comes out, and they meet him. He says they didn’t wake him; he was about to say his prayers and wanted to know if anyone needed anything. “No, Julia answers, “tonight I think all of us have everything we need, Corey.”
This episode contains:
MICROAGRESSIONS. Hoo-boy! Chegley begins with a sexist crack -- as Julia enters his office for the interview, asks if she recognizes what he’d doing, which is reading a chest x-ray, asks her when was the last time she had one, and tells her, “You have a healthy-looking chest.” Yarby bristles when reading Julia’s resume, saying she’s never heard of the nursing school Julia attended in Indiana and bluntly asking “Is it Black?” Julia responds, cooly, “No, it’s a lovely old red brick.” Yarby continues to pick apart her resume, complaining that it doesn’t reflect industrial nursing experience. Maybe it was a ruse to get the old man on Julia’s side but it’s ugly, and neither of them apologize when they visit Julia, and they don't offer her the job; they declare's she's starting tomorrow. In fact, Chegley pointedly says he’s not apologizing for anything.
EARL J. WAGGEDORN IS A BAD FRIEND. When Julia leaves Earl and Corey alone, she tells Corey to give him some milk. Here’s their conversation:
Corey: “Come here, Earl J. Waggedorn.”
Earl. “Hi.”
Corey: “Hi.”
Earl: “Your mother said I could have some coffee.”
Corey: “She did not.”
Earl: “She did so.”
Corey: “Did not.”
Earl: “Did so.”
Corey: “She said milk.”
Earl: “She did?”
Corey: “Yes. You have to pay attention.”
Afterward, Earl stumbles back home with a tummyache, because he ate two bowls of cereal with Corey … despite eating breakfast at home before he went there.
THE BABY DOESN’T HAVE A NAME. Marie mentions only, “We’re taking the baby to the doctor for his shots.”
And a new category, COREY SAYS SOMETHING CUTE. His prayer at the end of the episode:
“Our Father who art in Heaven, thank Thee for this day. And bless my daddy, who art in Heaven with Thee, and my mother and me, and Earl J. Waggedorn who art on Earth. Amen.”
See it here: