June 27 Julia Duffy

Happy Birthday Julia Duffy, Jason Patrick and Toby Maguire.

To celebrate Julia Duffy’s birthday I watched Together Again for the First Time. A happy dysfunctional Christmas film. Julia plays the family matriarch with two boys 18 & 24 married to David Ogden Stiers who has 3 girls 19 - 23. Only the youngest boy lives in the house, all the rest are visiting. They are together as a family for the first time since the parents married 7 years ago. Julia has a radio program about homemaking. She has decorated the house with every possible Christmas decoration. The house has more than 3 stores worth of decorations. It is Christmas Eve and she is getting ready for the dinner celebration. She puts a plate on top of a place setting and decorates the plates. Fake snow with a figure or figures that represents that person. She uses a fork to shape the fake snow.

The family all come home and the fireworks begin at the airport. The youngest son picks up everyone at the airport. The two brothers physically fight. He has a small hatchback and one girl (the mean sister) insists on driving and has so much luggage they have to hold it to the roof of the car. She is mad that her dad did not pick them up at the airport. The plan is, set by Julia, to eat dinner, go to the studio for a television spot and then comeback and have a party at midnight. The parents squabble and they don’t like how each parent treats their children. The youngest girl announces her engagement to a man that once dated the mean sister. He actually hides in the bushes so she won’t see him. He finds a packet of cocaine in the boys room. He tells his fiancé and they are going to wait till after the holidays to tell the parents. The mean sister finds out.

At the television station, the family are to read from the teleprompter and pretend they are having a good time and doing what action is required. Julia reminds everyone to be happy and remember this is her job. It may lead to a television program for her. The mean sister accidentally burned her top while ironing. At the show the oldest boy teases her by hanging ornaments on her back and threading string all around the set. He pulls the string and the decorations fall everywhere on live television. The mean sister then states that he is doing drugs. Everything comes to a halt but Julia goes on and finish the program. The boy leaves. Back at the house they try to get ready for the midnight party. The other son disappears. It turns out the drugs are the younger boy. The family goes out looking for him. They get him back and the family makes up.

The first I heard of Julia Duffy was as Stephanie on Newhart. She played a socialite turned maid at the Stratford Inn. The expressions she had, the room full of clothing racks because her closet was full of shoes. The huffing and stamping of her feet were more child like than adult. The character matured and grew over the years. When she went back home she would do more for herself than have the maid take care of it for her.