User Reviews

I gave this delightful series a straight 8. I remember watching Julia Child when I was a little girl and thought she was funny. The woman always seemed out of sorts but ended up with the most wonderful dishes...This series gives us a looks at this complex woman's life and it is a joy. I liked the interaction between her and her husband even though sometimes it was strained he must have really loved her. The cast playing her circle of friends are great. Sarah Lancashire is a fine actress and I feel she portrays Julia perfectly. She has her look and voice and mannerisms down pat. I think I will like this one.

Like a lot of biography series/films there are some fictionalised elements, but this doesn't stop Julia being an enjoyable show to watch. The casting is great. Sarah Lancashire (from Oldham, UK) seems like an unusual choice to play the main role, but she does it really well. Since seeing Julie and Julia I've always had an interest in Julia Child. That film goes into how her book was written whereas this series goes into how she got on to television.

I don't know just how much is fictionalised in this series but it looks great and manages to mix comedy and serious very well. I binged the first 4 episodes in a day and am really looking forward to the next one!

So many things to like about this show... For openers, I grew up in Boston in the 1960's, and they did such a good job of recreating that city in that time that I was feeling nostalgic just watching the scenes with Julia walking down the street.

The casting is spot-on - I am so glad they went with Sarah Lancashire because I don't think an American actress could have replicated Julia Child's odd accent nearly as well. David Hyde Pierce is terrific in his usual understated way, and Bebe Neuwirth is always a joy to watch.

The show has a leisurely pace, but I don't mind that - it just provides more opportunity to enjoy the details. And they really got them right.

I did not think I would like this series; for one, Meryl Streep owned the character in "Julie & Julia", along with Stanley Tucci as Paul, but half way into the first episode, I was totally absorbed into the story and the characters. Just superbly cast, well acted, the sets and the locations bring back a lot of memories.

I lived in Cambridge MA for a year or so back in the 80's, and Julia Child was a frequent sighting around Harvard Square - I would see her frequently in the bookstores and coffee shops. She was a presence, even without muttering a word.

Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde-Pierce are superb. They are Julia and Paul Child. Boston of that era was a bastion of equality, but still a product of it's time. I am glad to see that the writing is not telling a "woke" story, but an honest characterization of that time. There are times the show is as gritty as it WAS back then. Having LIVED through those times, this is about as honest portrayal as I could imagine.

Kudos HBO for bringing this story to the screen.

Since the Julie and Julia film, I fell in love with Mrs Child., that movie is excellent and this series is so effing good. The sincerity and acting is impeccable. As a cook and artist myself, I appreciate the attention to detail that brings this series alive. It's amazing!

It's nice to watch something that doesn't involve murder or bloodshed these days.

This is a fun and interesting show with lots of insight into Julia Child's early days as a TV personality.

Great acting and interesting sets, what's not to like!

I can't believe I waited this long to start watching this show. Top notch cast with Sarah Lancashire (who is an absolute revelation and deserves an Emmy for this performance), Bebe Neuwirth, David Hyde Pierce, Fiona Glascott, Judith Light, Brittney Bradford, Isabella Rosselini...all in the same show? Yes please, more of that. The show is one of the best hidden gems of the year. While there's definitely still room for growth, "Julia" is, all things considered, a well-written, superbly acted, charmer of a show. I can definitely imagine enjoying another serving. I'm begging HBOMAX for a season two.

Edit: Okay, we got a season two and it's just as magnificent as the first season. The show is my favorite of all shows in the last year. Utterly fantastic performances all around.

Well, the show dropped a few hours ago and I've already seen the first two episodes, and I must say - it's great! Sure I may be a smidge biased as I have fond childhood memories of my own mother watching on our rather modest 13" black and white set - and sure, the nostalga plays into my love of this, but it's much more than that - Masterfully acted by Sarah Lancashire and dealing quite deftly with both the biolographical aspects of a real life heroine as well as the challenges of being a female (and celebrity) in the early 1960s - this is just a real treat - bon Appétit my friends ;)

I've watched the Documentaries and the movies and Mrs. Child was an endlessly charming woman. A woman of Substance.

And Sarah Lancashire has captured it all wonderfully. I discovered Ms. Lancashire on the BBC show, "Happy Valley". I've wanted to see more of her ever since as "Happy Valley" seems to be in an endless hiatus.

The supporting cast is perfect with David Hyde Pierce as husband Paul and Bebe Neuwirth reunited from their days on "Frasier". What chemistry they have! They are superb in their roles.

I remember Julia on my local PBS afternoons. She did help me cook an omelette when I just burned one attempting to cook without oil. I was afraid of her man hands & voice. It wasn't until I realize her many verbal faux pas were her dry jokes. What an amazing "the little engine that could" career in a patriarchal world.

However, so much fiction overpowers her reality. I've read her biography & don't appreciate Goldfarb's culture substitute of Ruth Lockwood with the fictional Alice. Why obscure her courage & struggles? It taints every episode she's in & it's hard to empathize with her.

Being more inclusive doesn't mean fabricating a heroine's drama-biography.

I don't get the hate.

I was engrossed from the first second.

And if, if she doesn't have the perfect American accent, it's 100 times better than Dominic West's accent in The Wire, so who cares! I find the slight Yorkshire inflection works well with her idiosyncrasies anyway.

Can't wait for the rest.

The story of Julia and Paul Child is so beautiful on it's own merits that altering the historical facts does a major disservice to this series. Paul was Julia's champion: never doubting or thwarting her efforts. I was appalled at how Paul was vilified. How (and why) would they do this? I wanted so much to like this show, but ultimately am horrified at how they facts have been so mangled and misrepresented.

This series is right on target portraying Julia Child. Sarah Lancashire does a wonderful job. In the very first episode, she has to deal with the onset of menopause. Sarah showed in a very subtle way Julia's regret for never having had, and now becoming unable to have, a baby. Her regret hits home when she later runs into a friend who has had a baby.

The Alice Naman character stands in for an actual assistant producer at WGBH. She represents how women in the early 60s, regardless of race or ethnicity or education, were dismissed by the men they worked with, if they could get a job at all outside traditionally, and subservient, female occupations. Even by the end of the decade, job listings were separated by gender and women were not allowed to apply for jobs whose qualifications they met.

We learn how Russell Morash initially did not think something like a cooking show met the purpose of educational TV. He later went on to produce not only many years of The French Chef but also This Old House and Victory Garden, equally non-academic. His wife, Marian Morash, begins as a typical American housewife of her time, thinking tuna casserole was great food. She went on to give her own cooking lessons featuring home-grown produce on Victory Garden. We can only imagine how much Julia inspired her.

This is one of my favorite shows right now.

I look forward to a new episode every week.

It is a few good show. The story and acting is great.

I hope they have 10 more seasons of this show.

Having seen the movie with Meryl Streep I started to watch half heartedly thinking what more was there to say about Julia Child? But I am a great fan of Sarah Lancashire and have enjoyed many of her performances.

The series really is wonderful if you are a fan of the 1960s. It is very encouraging to watch a woman of the time who through her good nature, perseverance and humour succeeded in a male chauvinist society.

David Hyde Pierce is also a great choice as her husband as they appear much like the real Julia and Paul Child. I also greatly admire Bebe Neuwirth . Despite today's abundance of cook books and chefs the show still makes you want to go out and buy Julia Child's cookbook.

I rarely write reviews but I was incensed by the pillock who slated this show. Sarah Lancashire is fantastic in this and I would expect her to receive industry award(s) for her performance.

Well who would think when one watches dross like 'moon knight' that tv can still produce sutch delights as this, Sarah Lancashire is perfect, as are the rest of the cast, the sets, are like a moving Norman Rockwell Saturday Post cover, the music, spot on, if this were a meal in a restaurant, it would warrant 4 michelin stars.

I watched the 1st 3 episodes in one day and liked it so much I watched then a second time that night. I am a Julia Child fan, and though I've never seen her television show, I have seen "Julie and Julia" several times, and read her autobiography "My Life in France," own both her cookbooks and the book "Always, Julia." I found this series accurate, charming, and eye-opening. Set in 1962, I learned about the early days of Public Television and Julia's contribution to it and to cooking shows and food television in general. It illustrates the disrespect the male-dominated industry displayed toward her and to women in general, and how she overcame their disinterest in her idea for the cooking show. I was never aware of any of that and admire her even more now. Forgive me if I've made it sound dry, because it was anything but that. I found it engaging and entertaining. The acting was terrific, with Sarah Lancashire as Julia, David Hyde Pierce as her husband Paul, Bebe Neuwirth as her best friend Avis, James Cromwell as her father, and appearances by Isabella Rossellini and Judith Light. It's full of humor and history. What more can one ask for?

Really sorry they felt the need to rewrite history, vilifying Paul and generally tweaking the world to present a more politically correct one. Good actors, disappointing representation of the real people making this unique history.

I grew up in a house where my mother could not literally boil water and my father's idea of fine dining was turkey in a tin foil tray and a cold beer. Luckily, our local PBS station ran reruns of The French Chef when I was growing up in the 1980s and I fell in love with the idea that food was fun! I also fell madly in love with Julia Child, who was everything my family was not: sophisticated, educated, classy and joyously in love with life.

Sarah Lancashire nails Julia from the start. She is big, brassy, loud, and defies anyone not to like her. If they don't, she shoves Mousse au Chocolat framboise in their face until they submit. David Hyde Pierce is brilliant as always, playing Julia's husband and love of her life, Paul Child.

There are a few historical oddities and a few liberties taken with the story. I don't care! Julia captures the essence of a magnificent life force who is still remembered as a brilliant person nearly 60 years after the debut of her no-budget little show on educational TV that became a world-wide phenom. I love you Julia. Bon Appétit!

Sarah Lancashire does a sufficient job in a role that has been well-worn by others and her performance can best be described as "caricature" rather than acting. One of my few complaints about the production, however, is that the "F" and "S" words are sprinkled throughout, as if people in the 60s routinely spoke that way. They didn't. It's not only inaccurate for the period, but signals a feeble attempt by the writers to bring the dialogue up to what they dimly feel are current standards. It's just sloppy, and seems terribly contrived.

After watching a few more episodes, I'm forced to change my review. Too much modern day wokeness which is not true to the times nor a true representation of Julia Child's biography. Such a shame everything is sacrificed for the woke and social warrior crowd. Including truth. Started out so wonderfully. Ended up not so much.

People are going to compare it to the oscar worth performance of meryl streep and it would utterly justified. She dazzled with her performance and even if not completely accurate her presence on camera was captivating. Now this is a though act to follow but follow she did. I really liked her more grounded represantation of julia child as this series does her life story justice. You not only see her camera work on tv but also very niche and neat domestic scenes that tries to deepen people's understanding on her character.

The show has very good pacing and every episode adds more to the character. Filmed with a lot of love and humor this is a good watch.

Never too heavy or too light, the show has a most agreeable tone. LOVE Sarah Lancashire in this (and everything else), and she feels perfect for this part. Whether true to life or not, it's gratifying to see a partnership - Julia and Paul - that is mutually respectful and supportive, esp. One in the 60s. The supporting cast is well chosen. Though 8 episodes feels as if it might strain my good will if each isn't substantive, I think I'll make it through just fine since it's a wonderful cross stitching companion.