That Girl

Production
That Girl opening title.
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Bill Persky Sam Denoff
Starring	Marlo Thomas Ted Bessell Lew Parker Bernie Kopell Rosemary DeCamp Ann Guilbert
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	136
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Daisy Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 8, 1966 – September 10, 1971

Description

That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City. Ann had to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts, though she nonetheless was able to afford a spacious Manhattan apartment as well as an extensive wardrobe of mod fashions. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lou Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell and Ruth Buzzi played Ann & Donald`s friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (which Thomas` father Danny Thomas was closely associated with) earlier in the 1960s. Each episode began with a pre-crs teaser in which an odd incident would occur or a discussion would foreshadow the episode`s story. The scene would almost always end with someone exclaiming "...that girl!" just as Ann wanders into the shot or the character notices her. The words "That Girl" would appear over the freeze-frame shot of Ann. The opening crs featured Thomas, in character, ambitiously strolling the streets of New York and flying a kite. In the last season, lyrics were added to the theme song. That Girl was the first sitcom to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or living at home. Some consider this show the forerunner of the highly successful Mary Tyler Moore Show and Murphy Brown, and an early indication of the changing roles of American women in Feminist-era America. Thomas`s goofy charm, together with Bessell`s dry wit and the strong chemistry they shared, made the show a strong performer during its five-year run. In the beginning of the fifth season, Don and Ann became engaged, although they never actually married. The decision to leave the couple engaged at the end of the run of the series was largely the idea of Thomas herself. She didn`t want to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them.1 Although never officially cred as such (and Persky and Denoff are the "official" creators and executive producers), Thomas was, in fact, the de facto creator and executive producer of the series through her Daisy Productions, which she formed specifically for the series; it was cred on-screen as the production company.23