Storyline
Each episode begins with a pre-credits teaser in which an odd incident occurs or a discussion foreshadows the episode's story. The scene almost always ends 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 credits during the first season featured Thomas, in character, strolling the streets of New York. From the second season on, the opening shot was the view from a high-speed train, then Thomas in character flying a kite in Central Park, and seeing (and exchanging winks with) her double in a store window. In the last season, lyrics, written by series co-creator Sam Denoff, were added to the theme music, sung by Ron Hicklin.:
Diamonds, Daisies, Snowflakes,
That Girl
Chestnuts, Rainbows, Springtime...
It's That Girl
She's tinsel on a tree...
She's everything that every girl should be!
Sable, Popcorn, White Wine,
That Girl
Gingham, Bluebirds, Broadway...
It's That Girl
She's mine alone, but luckily for you...
If you find a girl to love,
Only one girl to love,
Then she'll be That Girl too...
That Girl!
That Girl was the first sitcom to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or living with her parents. Some consider this show the forerunner of the highly successful Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murphy Brown, and Ally McBeal, 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, made That Girl a solid performer on the ABC Television Network, and while the series, in the overall ratings, never made the top thirty during its entire five-year run, the series did respectably well.
At the end of the 1969–1970 season, That Girl was still doing moderately well in the ratings; however, after four years, Thomas had grown tired of the series and wanted to move on. ABC convinced her to do one more year. 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 was largely the idea of Thomas herself. She did not want to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them and she was worried that it would have defeated the somewhat feminist message of the show.
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