That Girl

1 9 6 6 - 1 9 7 1 (USA)
136 x 30 minute episodes

Marlo Thomas (the very beautiful wife of Phil Donahue and daughter of Danny Thomas), starred as Ann Marie ("Marie" is her surname), an aspiring actress who moves from the small town of Brewster, NY to the big smoke of Manhattan to try and make it. In the Big Apple she finds a boyfriend in Don Hollinger (a reporter for Newsview magazine), an agent in George Lester and a drama coach in Jules Benedict.

While she waits impatiently for the world to discover her talent, she takes odd jobs (selling shoes & perfume and working at Macys and as a waitress), copes with parents  who don't understand her and rushes from one audition to the next while having the time of her life.

Most of the acting assignments she receives are truly ridiculous (eg: dressing up as a chicken to sell Chicken Big) and include a scenario where she opens her eyes while playing a corpse on a live TV show!

The character of Ann Marie was arguably the first true feminist on TV, single and independent. But while she is an adamant supporter and defender of women's rights, she still expects men to behave like gentlemen in her presence. Her boyfriend (later her fiancé) Don is constantly exasperated by the chaos and confusion which seems to follow Ann around.

Ann never got a chance to tie the knot with Donald before the show left the airwaves. 

That Girl virtually pioneered the independent-woman genre on TV (predating Mary Tyler Moore by four years) despite Ann Marie's devotion to the dream of getting her man to stroll down the aisle with her. In recent times, Marlo Thomas has featured as Rachel's mother, Sandra Greene, in Friends.