Julie Andrews’ Short-Lived Sitcom: Julie (1992)
Several years ago, I did a series of blog posts about sitcom stars who tried to return to sitcom glory with a new concept. These short-lived shows fascinated me. What were they all about? Why did these fail while others succeeded?
In my research, I found a small collection of sitcoms that were not from sitcom stars but rather from big-screen established stars trying their hand at making a sitcom. After all, if the show is a success, it could live on in reruns and in people’s hearts just as much as the films. But if not, it’s nothing more than a very small part of a large filmography, and it is quickly forgotten.
Julie (1992) is one such example. Dame Julie Andrews, known for The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Victor/Victoria, and many others, was later introduced to new audiences through such hits as The Princess Diaries films and the Eloise TV movies, as well as providing her voice for the Shrek and Despicable Me franchises.
In 1991, Julie Andrews ventured into dramatic television for the first time since Rodgers and Hammerstien’s Cinderella, with the TV movie Our Sons. Following the airing of that film, Julie Andrews shot a pilot for a new sitcom, which went unaired. Later, the pilot was retooled and became the new pilot episode, called “A Delicate Balance”. Julie was created by Ruthie and Irving Shatz and developed by Madeline and Steve Sunshine.
Julie Andrews plays Julie Carlisle, who at the beginning of the pilot is the host of a successful variety show. She marries a Sioux City veterinarian, Sam McGuire (James Farentino), and moves with him to Iowa and becomes stepmother to Sam’s two kids, a teenage daughter named Alexandra “Alex” (Hayley Tyrie) and young son Adam (a pre-Boy Meets World Rider Strong!). The rest of the cast included Eugene Roche as Woody Woolston, Alicia Brant as Joy Foy, Laurel Chonin as Burnie Farrell, and Kevin Scannell as Dickie Duncan.
The Pilot (which IMDb calls “A Delicate Balance”) aired on May 30, 1992. The show lasted through June, with the final aired episode, “Stop and Smell the Horses,” (which Wikipedia called “Nick Wyler Visits” aired on July 4, 1992, with five total episodes aired and possibly one episode left unaired (see below).
Because there is very little information about the series, some of the information online is contradictory. Wikipedia gives different names for some of the episode titles. The first unaired pilot was called “Touch and Go” on Wikipedia while IMDb called the first pilot “Millie” and left three total episodes unaired, one of which was “Touch and Go” (thus, there are eight total episodes on IMDb). According to IMDb and Wikipedia, only five episodes aired (or were given an airdate), but a biography of Julie Andrews says that six episodes aired. The sixth unaired (?) episode was called “Put up Your Dukes”.
It would be interesting to imagine what would have happened if Julie had become a success. Strong would not have appeared on Boy Meets World, which premiered in 1993, just one year later. Julie Andrews, meanwhile, appeared at the Manhattan Theater Club in 1993 with Putting It Together, a revue by Stephen Sondheim, and that certainly wouldn’t have happened if she had been tied up filming a sitcom in Los Angeles.
Julie remains an interesting little blip in the life and career of one of the silver screen’s most beloved stars. On YouTube, you can watch all six episodes and the unaired pilot. Check out Julie, Julie Andrews’ short-lived sitcom.
Julie (TV Series 1992) - Episode list - IMDb
Julie Andrews : Richard Stirling : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
1992 Press Photo Julie Andrews as Julie Carlyle in the ABC show Julie - Historic Images
The below video starts at the opening credits if you want to check it out: