Julia (TV series)

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
Composer(s)	Jeff Alexander Elmer Bernstein
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hal Kanter
Producer(s)	Hal Kanter
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	24 mins.
Production company(s)	Hanncarr Productions Savannah Productions
Distributor	20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (current)
Release
Original network	NBC
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 17, 1968 (1968-09-17) – March 23, 1971 (1971-03-23)

Julia is an American sitcom notable for being one of the first weekly series to depict 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 stars 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. 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.

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 is Earl J. Waggedorn (called by that precise full name each and every time). The Waggedorns lived downstairs in the same apartment building, with Len (Hank Brandt), Marie (Betty Beaird), son Earl J. Waggedorn (Michael Link) and infant son.

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 5 years old at that point.) The second and third season included Richard (Richard Steele) as a character some one or two years older than Corey. Chegley's uncle, Dr. Norton Chegley (also played by Lloyd Nolan) made three appearances.