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 fiancĂ©’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.

Welcome to Comfort TV

 
Why do so many people love old television shows, to the point of collecting seasons on DVD and watching them over and over? I’m sure there are a wide range of answers to this question, but one of the most prominent is that they are the pop culture equivalent of comfort food.

I had planned to write a book on this topic. Having several TV titles to my name already (details in the ‘More About Me’ section), I thought this might be an interesting area to explore. But publishing has changed and bookstores are closing, and old TV shows are not a topic most editors expect to ring the cash register (especially from authors old enough to remember when cash registers actually did ring).

As a professional writer since my days in college, whether on assignment for a company or as a freelancer, I thought I should always be paid for my work. So when the concept of a ‘Comfort TV’ book wasn’t picked up, I put the idea away and moved on to other concepts, some of which I enjoyed, others I wrote to pay the cable bill.

But now I’m in my late 40s, and I’ve started to better appreciate the experience of writing simply for the joy of expressing one’s thoughts on a favorite subject. I wanted to share television memories with those who have the same feelings about TV as I do.

This blog is the result.

Topic? Classic TV. That means different things to different people. Heaven help them, there are those of a certain age who consider Full House classic now. I grew up in the 1970s and 80s, and absorbed through syndication many of the great shows from the 1950s and ‘60s. That is the classic TV era for me, and that is where I will find inspiration.

I would be delighted to hear from you. Like many classic TV fans, I prefer staying home and watching Aunt Clara frustrate Darren on Bewitched to going to clubs or bars or even movies. Many of us who feel this particular affection for old shows tend to live somewhat solitary lives, but through the Internet we’ve been able to find others who share our passion and don’t think it’s silly. Websites like Home Theater Forum, and my friend Chris Mann’s blog Retroality are other great places to visit, and my hope is to join them in offering some unique and hopefully humorous thoughts on the television landscape that readers will share and enjoy.

Comfort TV is simply a place to talk about wonderful television. It aspires to no more than that.