That Girl – Season One (Shout! Factory)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: B Episodes: B
In 1966, TV was in its silver age and produced some of the
greatest, most groundbreaking programming it ever did. Sometimes, the shows we hilariously outrageous
(Batman, The Lucy Show) while other times they were risky,
complex, innovative and brilliant (The Avengers, Mission: Impossible,
The Prisoner) in ways we have never seen again. This even applies to shows that broke ground
with ease without trying and by just being classy entertainment that also were
capable of being very for real. That
Girl is one of those shows.
Danny Thomas was a force to be reckoned with and was
producing his hit show Make Room For Daddy at Lucille Ball’s powerhouse
Desilu Studios. Marlo Thomas decided to
try acting and after an unsold pilot, the head of ABC and a sponsor liked her
so much that they wanted to make a show especially for her. After all the ideas were lame and tired, she
took enough control to be the second-ever TV producer (Lucy was first) and
hired the hot Bill Persky/Sam Denoff team to create a show. They created a classic!
The premise was simple.
A young lady wanting to become an actress leaves home and goes to New
York. This is much to the dismay of her
parents, but she is never too far from their reach or thoughts. As she becomes used to her independence, she
meets all kinds of people, is lucky to have interesting neighbors, a decent
agent and a new love interest in on Donald Hollinger (the great Ted Bessell)
who is very supportive. At first she
has to play dancing household objects, but she sees it as a way to get human
being roles and it might work out if she could just get that lucky break.
Sometimes the jokes are corny and the style is of another
period, but sometimes jokes that would not work otherwise do. Thomas is brilliant as Ann Marie, TV’s first
free spirit lady. Lucy was capable of
the height of lunacy, but Thomas was essentially doing a dramatic role in a TV
situation comedy that opened the door for women in TV comedy and in drama in
way she and the show never get credit for.
Ted Bessell was even ahead of John Ritter as the sometimes-oaf good guy
Donald who is about as reliable as he could be. Their chemistry together is nothing short of iconic.
Lew Ayers and Rosemary DeCamp are terrific as her parents
and I give the producers major credit for a knack in amazing casting that has
stood the test of time. Though the show
was shot at Desilu Studios on the West Coast, the combination of decent sets
and fantastic location shoots on location in New York created a special New
York all of its own. As a result, after
40 years, through cultural changes, construction, reconstructions and even a
devastating terrorist attack, it is like she is still walking around looking
for that big acting break and that is how it should be.
These are the 30 first seasons shows occasionally
including key cast members, often as they were just breaking into the business,
while shows marked * feature an audio commentary by Thomas and co-creator Bill
Persky. Also know that episode 11 is a
remake of the earlier pilot in the supplement section that was not aired for
decades:
1) Don’t’
Just Do Something, Stand There
2) Good-Bye,
Hello, Good-Bye*
3) Never
Change A Diaper On Opening Night
4) “I’ll Be
Suing You”
5) Anatomy
Of A Blunder*
6) Rich
Little Rich Kid
7) Help
Wanted
8) Little
Auction Annie (guest stars Michael Conrad & Ken Lynch)
9) Time For
Arrest (guest stars Herb Edelman & Richard X. Slattery)
10) Break A Leg (guest stars George
Carlin, Sally Kellerman)
11) What’s In A Name?* (FINAL
VERSION - guest stars Cliff Norton)
12) Soap Gets In Your Eyes (guest
stars Mabel Albertson)
13) All About Ann (guest
stars Rob Reiner)
14) Phantom Of The Horse Opera (guest
stars Sterling Holloway)
15) Beware Of The Actors Bearing Gifts
16) Christmas & The Hard Luck Kid (guest
stars John Fielder)
17) Among The Souvenirs
18) These Boots Weren’t Made For Walking (guest
stars Paul Lynde)
19) Kimono My House
20) Gone With The Breeze
21) Rain, Snow & Rice
22) Paper Hats & Everything (guest
stars Richard Dreyfuss)
23) What Are Your Intentions?*
24) A Tenor’s Loving Care (guest
stars Carroll O’Connor in the title role)
25) Leaving The Nest Is For The Birds (guest
stars Jerry Van Dyke)
26) You Have To Know Someone To Be Unknown
27) The Honeymoon Apartment
28) This Little Piggy Had A Ball (guest
stars Teri Garr, Rob Reiner & Burt Young)
29) Author, Author
30) The Mating Game (guest
stars Alejandro Rey)
Bernie Kopell and Dabney Coleman (who you might not
recognize) also show up. The chapters
of each show run at four a piece, with the final chapter the epilogue and end
credits.
The 1.33 X 1 color image was shot in EastmanColor and was
usually shot by Jacques Marquette, A.S.C., Lester Shorr, A.S.C. or Leonard J.
South. The footage looks amazing when
you see it in the supplements, but these prints vary in quality and are not as
clear, sharp, clear and detailed as they could be. The color still comes through nicely, but sometimes, the color is
not as strong and fresh as it could be.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is a little more compressed than expected,
most annoying in the opening and closing credits, since the song is clean and
stereophonic in the menus and extras, but strident and limited in the actual
episodes. Fortunately, dialogue fares
better. Earle H. Hagen did the classic
theme song, but other composers did the incidental music, all good and
welcome. The vocal theme was not
introduced yet, by the way.
Extras besides the great commentary tracks on most of the
discs and original pilot on DVD 1 (shot by cinematographer Fleet Southcott) are
all on DVD 1, including a few ABC promos for the show, great featurette on the
making of the show called That Woman…. That Show… The Creation Of “That
Girl” and segment of amazing film clips narrated by Persky and Thomas
that are in incredibly good shape with some memorable comments. If you love the show or have not seen it for
a long time, you’ll love this set, even with some reservations. If you have never seen it, here is your
chance to see one of TV’s greatest classics.
Hope we get the next seasons.
- Nicholas Sheffo
