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.