Julia's Day

In honor of Mother's Day 2015, here's one of the coolest, classiest moms of vintage TV: Diahann Carroll, from the 1968-71 series Julia. For anyone who wasn't there, it may be difficult to understand that this gentle, charming comedy series was seen as ground-breaking in its day. But it starred an African-American actress as a lead character who wasn't a maid or a housekeeper, and back then that was still a novelty for network TV.

Miss Carroll played a widow whose husband had died in Vietnam. Julia was now raising Corey (played by Marc Copage, above) alone, while managing a successful career as a registered nurse. Despite network skepticism, audiences embraced the show. Julia was sometimes criticized for failing to depict the harsher realities of race relations in 20th century America. Yet it did offer viewers of all kinds the chance to visit a place where kindness and acceptance usually prevailed -- and perhaps that helped us picture making the real world a bit more like that.

Credits Where Credits Are Due

Diahann Carroll and her "frequent" co-star.

They're hugely important to many actors (and their agents), but how many viewers pay strict attention to the credits opening and closing their favorite shows? Is "also starring" better than "co-starring"? What does it mean if one actor's name is in bigger type than another's? And how did Jonathan Harris get to be a "Special Guest Star" for three full seasons on Lost in Space?

One man who took a light touch with this issue was writer-producer Hal Kanter (1918-2011), who often eschewed the standard language when giving his colleagues the credit they deserved. According to the titles for his 1968-71 sitcom Julia, the show is "frequently starring Lloyd Nolan as Dr. Chegley." On the short-lived Jimmy Stewart Show, Kanter promises us a cast that includes "very often John McGiver as Luther Quince." And on his earlier Valentine's Day (1964-65), the sponsor was introduced with non-standard phrases like, "intentionally brought to you by..."

Nowadays, most shows don't even have an opening titles sequence, per se -- they just jump right into the action, and flash the actors' names over the opening scenes. Call me old-fashioned, but I kind of miss the way things used to be -- especially when there was someone like Kanter checking to see if we were paying attention.