That Girl

That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.

This is one of those shows that I remember watching as a kid. I was born in 1966 and I remember watching the opening when I was five. I couldn't wait to hear those words "That Girl". I guess I use to get really mad when my folks wouldn't make my newborn sister stop crying, just so I could hear the opening of each episode! I recently borrowed the first season from the local library system and I'm loving all the cars, clothes, and styles from the year I was born. There are five seasons and I can't wait to see how things change from the mid-1960's to the early 1970's! Marlo Thomas does a fantastic job in this, IMHO. ESPECIALLY when you watch the DVD extras and see where it was her idea to make Anne Marie a "modern, working woman". The original ideas pitched had her playing a "Lucy meets Donna Reed" character. I'm glad she changed the producers' and writers' minds! Yes, it's a silly show, but remember that Batman came out the same year and was even more silly... You'll see a LOT of guest stars, early in their career: George Carlin and Dabney Coleman are in the episode I'm currently watching. If you like vintage scenes of New York, classic cars when they were brand new, and stars before they were well know, I'd recommend giving Season One a go!