When one thinks souffle, one conjures images of Julia Child whipping up the delicate delicacy on her seminal PBS cooking show, “The French Chef.” So it’s fitting that “Julia,” the umpteenth bio-pic about the larger-than-life American icon, should emulate the  elegant dessert by emerging overly inflated and full of hot air. 

That the HBO Max miniseries plays like a spin-off of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is no coincidence given Daniel Goldfarb created both shows. But where “Maisel” is entirely fictional and befitting the whims of Goldfarb’s fancified storytelling, Julia Child is not. She’s real and so well-known that the numerous fudged facts cause one to question the validity of all that's stuffed into the eight episodes set to begin streaming March 31. And therein resides the folly.

Don’t we already know everything there is to know about Julia: that she co-wrote “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (1961); turned a guest shot on Boston’s WGBH into a long-running TV series (1963-73); was madly in love with her equally besotted and less-dominant husband, Paul; and, given her feminist stance, promoted a skill that inadvertently kept housewives chained to their stoves? It’s all here in excruciating detail, rendering “Julia” more overstuffed than farce duxelles.

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Yet, I remained glued to all six hours. Part of that is because it IS like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” but mostly it’s thanks to a thoroughly engaging performance by Sarah Lancashire as Julia. The towering Brit fills Julia’s sensible size-12 shoes with aplomb in plumbing the depths of a woman who instinctively knew how to make a viewer feel like she was talking only to them. She’s the (filet of) sole reason – well, there are those Boston locations – to stick out a series that constantly struggles to justify its existence. Goldfarb can’t seem to decide if the focus should be on Julia’s marriage, her shattering of the glass ceiling, or her role in establishing public television as a legit tool in the education of America.

Lancashire handles all facets flawlessly. Not so her myriad co-stars led by David Hyde Pierce as Paul and Bebe Neuwirth as Julia’s BFF, Avis DeVoto. At times, especially when Pierce and Neuwirth share a scene, it plays like a “Fraiser” reunion. In fact, Pierce’s entire performance reeks of a rehash of his Emmy-winning portrayal of Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom. I kept half-expected Kelsey Grammer to burst into the room. Pierce was not Goldfarb’s first choice to play Paul, and he should have been his last. He’s so Niles, you never buy him as Paul. Same with Neuwirth; you keep thinking Lilith, Frasier’s haughty ex. Didn’t Goldfarb anticipate this being a distraction?

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It doesn’t help that the enterprise is brimming with clunky, expository dialogue “crafted” by head writer Natalia Temesgen, who, apparently, never met a cliche she couldn’t embrace. Her characters, except for Julia, are all caricatures, sans a lick of gravitas. The series, set in 1963-'64, almost universally renders the GBH staff as bumbling idiots without a clue about operating a viable TV station. They make Ted Baxter look like a Peabody winner.

Some are fictional, like Robert Joy as scatterbrained GBH president Hunter Fox, and Brittany Bradford as put-upon production assistant Alice Naman (a variation on the real Ruth Lockwood). And some are real, such as Fran Kranz (writer-director of “Mass”) as “French Chef” director Russ Morash, and Jefferson Mays as pompous literary professor Albert Duhamel, whose weekly show, “I’ve Been Reading,” introduced Julia Child to hungering viewers.

Her appearance on the show sparked such a positive response that GBH offered Child the opportunity to host her own cooking program. For some unreasonable reason, Goldfarb opted to rewrite history by making it Julia’s idea to create the show, a proposal met with an extreme amount of resistance by the sexist powers that be.

I assume Goldfarb was hoping to present Julia as even more like an innovator, equipped with a vision others could not see; but the attempt falls flat. Plus, it’s a colossal waste of time, since we know going in that “The French Chef” was a giant hit that played for 11 seasons. Ditto as to whether Julia will sign her contract for Season 2.

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That’s what Goldfarb considers dramatic fodder. It doesn’t work. What does is Episode 5, when Julia accidentally runs into her idol, James Beard (Christian Clemenson), during a promotional tour in San Francisco. What ensues is a hilarious night on the town, culminating with Beard taking Julia to an underground gay bar where our heroine meets a sweet, adoring man whose act is impersonating Child. It’s a scene that’s as funny as it is moving, with Julia overtly displaying the openness and compassion that made her an instant TV celebrity.

Less successful are attempts to convey Bradford’s Alice a marginalized microcosm of the civil rights movement via her struggles to win respect from her white, male peers at GBH; and a completely unnecessary ploy for tears when Julia’s famed book editor, Judith Jones (Fiona Glascott), rushes to the aid of her boss, Blanche Knopf (Judith Light), after learning her mentor is going blind. What does this have to do with Julia Child? Nothing, and it comes at the expense of ignoring Julia’s fraught relationship with her frenemy, Simca Beck (Isabella Rosellini), the co-author of “Mastering.” Barely a word is exchanged between the two of them.

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Missed opportunities like that one, and an occasion to explore Julia’s equally complex relationship with her wealthy, judgmental father (James Cromwell), are repeatedly swept aside in favor of the cute and pandering. Lancashire seldom fails to keep it grounded, serving a performance that won’t make you forget Meryl Streep’s Oscar-nominated portrayal of Child in “Julie & Julia,” but it’s no less satiating. 

Just as delicious are the plentiful scenes of Boston, Quincy and Cambridge shot pre- and post-pandemic. Like the entire series, the cities look lofty, thickly settled and a tad too enchanted for such a frazzled feast. Bon appetit!

Cast: Sarah Lancashire, David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Fiona Glascott, Fran Kranz, Brittany Bradford

How to watch: Premiering with the first three episodes on March 31 on HBO Max and continuing with one episode per week through May 5

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