Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Why That Girl Didn’t Marry That Guy

 
Does how a television show ends have any impact on its legacy? I explored that question in one of the chapters in my book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History. But that chapter was about St. Elsewhere. This piece is about That Girl.

All five seasons are available on DVD on well-appointed sets from Shout Factory! and I recently wrapped up my second journey through every episode. I like the show. And I think a lot of the credit that Mary Richards receives for breaking ground as a single female making her way in the world should really go to Ann Marie, charmingly played by Marlo Thomas.




The series revolved around two themes. The first was Ann’s struggles to make it as an actress, and the odd jobs she takes along the way to help pay the rent on an apartment that’s insanely huge for someone who works so sporadically; look at Ivy’s apartment on Smash for a more realistic look at how an actress lives in Manhattan – and she worked steadily on Broadway! The second was Ann’s loving but apparently platonic relationship with boyfriend Don Hollinger, who by season five must have been taking a lot of cold showers.

Then and now, what brings viewers to That Girl is the same comedic tone and breezy stories that fueled most sitcoms of the era. And the clothes. I’m a straight male but even I can’t resist the odd exclamation of “Fabulous!” when Ann the struggling actress strides out in some amazing high fashion ensemble that certainly made her the most colorfully chic character of the 1960s next to Emma Peel.

I’m sure we’ll talk more about other elements of the show in subsequent entries. But here let’s look at the final two episodes, which are strident to the point of unpleasantness, and clearly were conceived more as soapboxes for Marlo Thomas than adventures for Ann Marie.

The penultimate episode, “Soot Yourself,” finds “Ann” railing against polluters, including her fiancé’s employer, Newsview Magazine. There’s not much comedy here, just lots of self-righteous speeches, culminating in a wintertime dinner party during which Ann shuts off the heat to freeze her guests (because the building furnace is killing birds and grass and flowers and trees), and serves rancid food because…whatever.

The cause is not unworthy, but this kind of hammer-over-the-head approach, when people are just hoping for a pleasant 30 minutes of entertainment, tends to alienate more than it rallies the troops.

The final That Girl episode, “The Elevated Woman,” is a lazy clip show built around Ann’s attempts to get Donald to accompany her to a women’s liberation meeting. On one of their excellent commentary tracks, Marlo Thomas and series co-creator Bill Persky discussed how the network wanted the series to end with a wedding, which certainly made sense as Donald had proposed earlier in the season, and there had already been episodes devoted to his stag party and Ann’s bridal shower.

But Marlo was having none of that. “I said ‘No way,’ she recalled, with the same pride Susan B. Anthony felt when women got the vote. “I didn’t want all the girls to watch it and think the only happy ending would be to get married. It was really important that we didn’t do it.”

Yeah, take that, you silly, Neanderthal viewers. Why should you expect a series about a young couple in love for five years to end with a marriage?


The problem is that Ann Marie wanted to get married, and that should trump Ms. Thomas’s feelings on the subject. All actors exert some influence on the characters they play, but when personal beliefs contradict the established values and personality of that character, the result is a story that doesn’t ring true, exacerbated in this instance by it being the last time we will ever see Ann Marie. As a result, a very sweet series was left with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

If it’s any consolation, the point that Ms. Thomas was trying to make has certainly been embraced by the society at large, and every young girl grows up knowing that the world offers abundant opportunities besides marriage.

Forty years have passed since Ann Marie didn’t say ‘I do.’ And regardless of Marlo Thomas’s intentions, the story still seems incomplete. And what’s ironic is that today, in the Jersey Shore- Family GuyTwo and a Half Men era, a traditional wedding finale would be the most untraditional climax anyone could imagine. I’ll leave it to you whether that constitutes progress.

21 comments:

  1. Ty.😊 i was wondering. Too bad. They should have gotten married. Then, Ann Marie could have gotten a dream acting role. However, "Should have and could have are words we never use. They only depress us and give us the blues. ". i heard this on, " The Carol Burnett Show". Sincerely, janice bonser

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  2. One of the main differences that I have heard women use in why Mary Richards was more of a feminist icon than Ann Marie was the overall premise of their tv series. Ann Marie, an aspiring actress works at a series of odd temp jobs while waiting for her big break in show business. Mary Richards started off applying to Mary applies for a secretarial job at television station but she is hired as an Associate Producer. Later, Mary is promoted to News Producer when Lou becomes the station's news director.

    We never see Ann Marie break that glass ceiling. She is ALWAYS trying to make it big. Then there is Donald, there always seemed to be wedding bells just around the corner. Mary never had a steady boyfriend, or at least that wasn't the main focus of her show. Ann Marie had Donald, Mary had her career. Mary left her fiance when she realized they would never be getting married.

    I don't think it would have cheapened the show had Ann Marie and Donald tied the knot, but what I would have suggested was that she get mainstream success on stage or on film/tv and THEN get married. That way both or separate happy things in Ann Marie's life.

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    1. Oddly enough, around Season 6 of MARY TYLER MOORE, Mary was seriously dating a man played by none other than Donald Hollinger himself, Ted Bessell. Mary didn't marry him either.

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    2. You have a point, BUT..... Ann Marie could have gotten married right away gave up her dream of acting. She CHOSE to put off the wedding (or at least didn't rush it) and wanted to keep working and trying to have a career. Whether she 'broke the glass ceiling' or not is NOT the point. The point is that she CHOSE to work rather than rush into a marriage and thus (probably) being a stay-at-home wife.

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  3. Well, I have been binge watching the entire series for almost a week. All five seasons on Hulu and when I got to the last episode The Elevated Woman....I asked silenty....Is that all?

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  4. I had never seen this show either..and I just tonight finished the entire series on Hulu...what a crock of an ending!..after you have a stag party and bridal shower (after dating for 5 stinking years...lol) you get married... we should have seen a beautiful wedding. I wish I'd never even watched it. Stupid and unrealistic way to end a show in my opinion.

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  5. I have been watching "That Girl" off and on for about 2 years, holding off the viewing of Season 5. I never realized that Ann and Don never married. While I understand Marlo Thomas' take on women's lib, it is a bit disappointing to know that they ended the show without the two getting married.

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  6. I wished that Ann and Don would have married,but with Ann continuing her career.Mario Thomas in real life,has a happy marriage with Phil Donohue while continuing her career.It is possible to have both.

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    1. Indeed, but THAT'S with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. At the time Marlo was not married herself and thus could not perceive that.

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  7. Stringing the boyfriend along for years just because she wanted to have a career? I agree with others, why not both? The show ended up being a disappointment, it didn't say much for true love. And I never saw Ann as an independent women since she always ran to & relied on Donald for help.
    And the hovering father. The message seemed to be she didn't need sex to be happy, more than anything else. Why not show, you can be a independent career woman & be married?

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  8. I think the reason Ann Marie didn't get married had to do with where Marlo Thomas was in her life. She did not get married until 1980. That influenced her to focus on Ann Marie's single life. Marlo wasn't focused I'm getting married. And that's perfectly fine. :-) In the end, the fact that Ann Marie didn't get married created a stronger message that Anne Marie was a single working woman.

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  9. Really, Ann Marie had a chance to show women could have a career and marriage.
    She was not progressive enough.
    She did the talk, not the walk.

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  10. Ann Marie could have shown that a woman could have a career and marriage.
    Marlo Thomas wasn't progressive enough to let her character develop fully.

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  11. Fun series but yes, the last episode was a let down. Women's lib or not, seeing 2 people join together in marriage is timeless and there's nothing wrong with it. A "lib" feature could have been woven into a wedding episode. Oh well.

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  12. One of my favorite shows as a child. Seemed like the last show would have been the wedding. That would have common sense. A couple that dated for four years should have gotten married. What was wrong with Marlo Thomas? She should have married Donald in the last show but she was too selfish to give her fans what they wanted and expected.

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  13. Yes- a truly disappointing ending- you watch a tv series or a movie to end happy and not left hanging - we’re not watching to compare to real life - what was she thinking? - think about your audience not yourself ! Yes I agree, she was truly selfish. Why did she bother to have a boyfriend on the show then, if that was she was gonna do- she might as well have been Mary Tyler Moore- they choose career first - crazy and sad.

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  14. I haven't even finished the series yet. I am so obsessed with Ann and Donald and their show "That Girl". I've been reading all the comments and can honestly say, I won't be finishing the show (I just watched where her dad got bit by a stray dog in her apartment and Don made a joke about rabies and everyone freaked out lol). I am absolutely let down by marlo Thomas, and all the plastic surgery she has had, and to read how rude she was in real life! I was born in 1990 (I'm 30 now), and just started watching this show about a month ago. I am absolutely heartbroken! Shame on you Marlo!

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  15. I was really disappointed that Ann and Don didn't get married. I just started watching the series in January 2022 because I needed something to take my mine off of the terrible times that we Americans are going through now. Added to my disappointment I learned that Ted Bessell died in 1996. Marlo and Ted were a great team and brilliant actors. I loved the fashions. Oh well, I will watch all of the seasons again up to but not including the last two episodes in season five.

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  16. I was really disappointed that Ann and Don didn't get married. I just started watching the series in January 2022 because I needed something to take my mine off of the terrible times that we Americans are going through now. Added to my disappointment I learned that Ted Bessell died in 1996. Marlo and Ted were a great team and brilliant actors. I loved the fashions. Oh well, I will watch all of the seasons again up to but not including the last two episodes in season five.

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  17. I suspect that Marlo's claim that she was responsible for Ann Marie not getting married is probably hyperbole on her part.
    My guess is that the the marriage episode probably would've happened in the next season, if there is been another season. But the show was canceled and Ms. Thomas just seized the opportunity to pretend to be a feminist heroine who called off the wedding.
    There was no indication on the show that the wedding was about to be called off, not even in the last episode. The show simply ended, with the wedding still in the works.
    Marlo Thomas had spent five years portraying a rather conventional, Immature young lady, a virgin who was clearly "saving herself" for marriage to Don, whose parents were still very active in her life and decisions.
    Marlo Thomas may have been liberated woman, but Ann Marie definitely was not. If Marlo had the clout to influence the character that much, she had plenty of time to do it during those five years, but she did not – or could not. So I question whether she had the influence on the show to dictate a major plot point such as the character's upcoming.marriage. I think not. I think Marlo may be grandstanding in retrospect

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