Question: Why was the television series “That Girl” starring Marlo Thomas cancelled after 5 seasons? (https://www.quora.com/Why-was-the-television-series-That-Girl-starring-Marlo-Thomas-cancelled-after-5-seasons/answer/Jon-Mixon-1)

Marlo Thomas herself made the decision to end the series (https://web.archive.org/web/20140406114419/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3143561-that-girl/?view=getnewpost).

She had wanted to end it after the fourth season (https://jacksonupperco.com/2014/04/22/the-ten-best-that-girl-episodes-of-season-four/); however there were barely enough episodes for a strong syndication package, and so the producers (other than her, as she was producing the series through her own production company) convinced her to remain for one more season. Although Thomas saw herself in other roles, she decided to remain, and the fifth (https://jacksonupperco.com/2014/04/29/the-ten-best-that-girl-episodes-of-season-five/) and final season ended in 1971.

Here’s where things get a little unpleasant:


The series was never very popular when it appeared on network television. - It never broke into the Top 30s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Girl#Episodes) of programming and this was at a time when North American viewers had far fewer options, and despite it not have particularly strong competition many of the years that it aired.
Marlo Thomas has never been an appealing entertainer - That Girl! (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125202/http://www.jumptheshark.com/t/thatgirl.htm) represents the peak of her career and while she’s worked steadily over the decades, her acting and his personal life really didn’t lend themselves to her being successful. It seems that audiences sensed this when the series aired on network television and they stayed away in droves.
Thomas was frankly too old for the role - Had she been 5–10 years YOUNGER, she would have been passable as a young woman on her own trying to make it in the big city. However when you watch the series even now, it’s clear that Thomas was an adult (she was 30 when the series began) who had lived an exceptional life and who was just pretending to be something else.
The specter of Danny Thomas - Even though Thomas’ famous father largely steered clear of the series (he and her real-life siblings appeared in a third season episode) his presence seems to have been “felt” throughout the series run. Thomas’ character did not act like an adult woman, the writing had the characteristic “silliness” that had first endeared her father to audiences but which hamstrung his later efforts; and frankly Thomas did little to show that her own effort was radically different than what her father had done a decade earlier.

This was mostly a negative, unpleasant opinion piece along with irrelevant references. The author does not take into consideration that women and television were rather different 58 years ago. I am not sure what the author means by the statement that her acting, and his personal life did not lend a hand for her be successful? The show would not have lasted 5 years if the ratings were not high enough to be successful. Marlo was an adult who lived an exceptional life who was just pretending to be something else on her series? Isn't that what an acting is all about? Who wants to watch a comedy series about someone's exceptional life?

The ratings were not that good on the original run, but this was ABC, the perennial third-rated network. They would not break out of that mold until Happy Days a few years later.

The remaining bullet points are cheap shots and inaccurate, it seems to me.

?? "never been an appealing entertainer" and "too old" -- ?

I disagree -- maybe the reviewer needs to have his eyes checked for one thing.

And I agree with rcbrad in this thread on the "exceptional life" issue.

The writer of the piece allowed his obvious distaste for Thomas to overwhelm the information provided. Let's go bullet by bullet.

While it is true the series overall rating numbers were not good as I always say with ratings the devil is in the details. The show performed well enough with a very attractive demographic for advertisers, 18-49 year old women. In 1969 for example it was number 1 in its timeslot in that particular category. It was more popular than Here's Lucy (number 3 overall) and Carol Burnett (number 17 overall) with 18-49 women. Network sales people can sell a show with those numbers, that's why it was on the air for 5 seasons.

"Marlo Thomas has never been an appealing entertainer"

Let's be clear she's an actress, author, producer and she has been successful in all three areas, whether someone likes her or not this is just a fact to argue it the writer would need facts and he has none.

"Thomas was frankly too old for the role"

I always assumed Ann Marie was around 25 when the show started, so Marlo was 30, big deal! Donna Douglas was playing a teenager on the Beverly Hillbillies, she was 30 when the show started. Anson Williams was 24 when Happy Days began, Fred Berry was 25 when What's Happening began, Mary Tyler Moore was a few months from her 34th birthday when her series began, Mary Richards was described as 30, this is tomfoolery on the part of the writer.

I thought it was a good series, I didn't think of it as groundbreaking and in that particular category I believe it tends to be overrated. I seen it written that there would have been no Mary Tyler Moore Show without That Girl and I don't agree with that statement.

The writer of the piece allowed his obvious distaste for Thomas to overwhelm the information provided. Let's go bullet by bullet.

While it is true the series overall rating numbers were not good as I always say with ratings the devil is in the details. The show performed well enough with a very attractive demographic for advertisers, 18-49 year old women. In 1969 for example it was number 1 in its timeslot in that particular category. It was more popular than Here's Lucy (number 3 overall) and Carol Burnett (number 17 overall) with 18-49 women. Network sales people can sell a show with those numbers, that's why it was on the air for 5 seasons.

"Marlo Thomas has never been an appealing entertainer"

Let's be clear she's an actress, author, producer and she has been successful in all three areas, whether someone likes her or not this is just a fact to argue it the writer would need facts and he has none.

"Thomas was frankly too old for the role"

I always assumed Ann Marie was around 25 when the show started, so Marlo was 30, big deal! Donna Douglas was playing a teenager on the Beverly Hillbillies, she was 30 when the show started. Anson Williams was 24 when Happy Days began, Fred Berry was 25 when What's Happening began, Mary Tyler Moore was a few months from her 34th birthday when her series began, Mary Richards was described as 30, this is tomfoolery on the part of the writer.

I thought it was a good series, I didn't think of it as groundbreaking and in that particular category I believe it tends to be overrated. I seen it written that there would have been no Mary Tyler Moore Show without That Girl and I don't agree with that statement.

I agree with all of these observations, including that it was not groundbreaking. In 1966 there probably were plenty of young women trying to break into show business. And they went for laughs just like any sitcom--plenty of funny lines, and some slapsticks stuff here and there (toe stuck in a bowling ball, etc.).

It's my understanding that for sitcoms of the period, a 5-year contract was pretty standard for the starring actors -- so maybe that was a factor as well. Five is not a bad run when you consider how many series fell short of that.