Marlo Thomas Reflects on 'That Girl' - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 06-23-2011, 10:49 PM

AVC: In the book, you mentioned the contribution of writer Ruth Brooks Flippen to That Girl. She had worked on Gidget a year or two earlier, which unlike a lot of other sitcoms at the time was really smart about developing the friendships between its female characters, and showing the way young women interact.

MT: Oh, I needed her. I think I wrote in the book about the way I was constantly battling with everybody. “Everybody” meaning the entire male staff. About how a girl would talk to her father. Or a girl would talk to her boyfriend. I got a lot of resistance. Because they would think something was funny, but I would say, “Yeah, but it’s not true.” The father/daughter relationship in that show was based a little on my relationship with my father, in that there was a very overprotective father. They adored each other, but he was overly protective. And that was a piece of my father, that relationship. Of course, the character of my father on television was not supposed to be funny like my dad was. But anyway, it had some of those elements in it. So there was a scene in which I have an argument with my father and I won the argument. And they had written something that was kind of me gloating about the fact that I won the argument. And I’m like, “Oh, no, a girl wouldn’t do that.” I mean, she wouldn’t want to hurt her father. The fact that she won the argument has a lot to do with his love for her. So I wouldn’t do that. They went, “But it’s funny!” And I said, “Maybe, but it isn’t true.”

I didn’t want to destroy the fabric of the relationship and the believability of this relationship to get a laugh. There’s one thing that I learned from my father that I have always remembered and that is, “Your audience will go with you anywhere. They’ll go down any yellow brick road with you as long as you don’t lie to them. But if you start taking detours just to get a laugh, you will lose them.” And I completely believe that to this day. I always think of that in my work. And so I would fight, tooth and nail.

Then when Danny Arnold came on board as a producer that second year, our show got much better. The first year was funny and darling and became a big hit, but the second year started to have more heart and soul. Because I had said to Danny, “I’m just battling this all the time. Can’t we have some more female writers?” And he said, “I think we need a female story editor.” And I said, “Great.” And that’s when he brought in Ruth. And as I say in my book, it was like we became the Red Army. I finally had somebody who could stand with me to say, “Yeah, you know, a girl wouldn’t say that.” That was a big help.

AVC: Was it difficult to come up with the opening “that girl” gag week after week?

MT: It probably was sometimes. I don’t remember so well. But do I remember when we first did it. It was Billy Persky’s idea. He and his partner, Sam Denoff, wrote the pilot and were the executive producers on the show for the whole five years. And Billy said to me when he gave me the draft of the script, “Now, I don’t know that we can do this ‘that girl’ freeze every week, but I think it’s great for the pilot.” And I read it and said, “Oh, I love it! I hope we can do it every week! It’s a great signature.” When we sold the show, the network said, “We loved that. Let’s do that every week.” And the writers all went, “How are we gonna do this every week?” But we did it. And it made the show singular. To this day I can’t walk down the street without somebody saying, “That girl!”

And the title… I actually thought up the idea for That Girl, but I called it Miss Independence because that’s what my dad used to call me. Ed Scherick, who was the head of programming at ABC at the time, said that it sounded too much like a 1930s Irving Berlin musical. Billy Persky came up with the title That Girl because he had a sister and his father always said, “That girl’s gonna drive me crazy,” or, “You know what that girl did today?” He thought it would make a great title.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/marlo-thomas,57914/

1960'sTVfan · 09-29-2011, 07:47 PM

It's strange That Girl hasn't aired in syndication for quite some time, with all the shows Me-TV/Me-Too has aired I'm surprised they haven't shown this series yet. Good thing Shout Factory came out with the DVD's.

rezny717 · 09-29-2011, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

It's strange That Girl hasn't aired in syndication for quite some time, with all the shows Me-TV/Me-Too has aired I'm surprised they haven't shown this series yet. Good thing Shout Factory came out with the DVD's.

You're right.If it weren't for Shout Factory and the DVD's ,this groundbreaking series of the 1960's would be just another forgotten(well,not really forgotten)comedy series. I too am surprised that the show isn't syndicated.

comedyfreak · 09-30-2011, 03:55 AM

That was very interesting. I wish ME-TV or Hub would pick up the show.

06-23-2011, 10:49 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Marlo Thomas Reflects on 'That Girl' AVC: In the book, you mentioned the contribution of writer Ruth Brooks Flippen to That Girl. She had worked on Gidget a year or two earlier, which unlike a lot of other sitcoms at the time was really smart about developing the friendships between its female characters, and showing the way young women interact. MT: Oh, I needed her. I think I wrote in the book about the way I was constantly battling with everybody. “Everybody” meaning the entire male staff. About how a girl would talk to her father. Or a girl would talk to her boyfriend. I got a lot of resistance. Because they would think something was funny, but I would say, “Yeah, but it’s not true.” The father/daughter relationship in that show was based a little on my relationship with my father, in that there was a very overprotective father. They adored each other, but he was overly protective. And that was a piece of my father, that relationship. Of course, the character of my father on television was not supposed to be funny like my dad was. But anyway, it had some of those elements in it. So there was a scene in which I have an argument with my father and I won the argument. And they had written something that was kind of me gloating about the fact that I won the argument. And I’m like, “Oh, no, a girl wouldn’t do that.” I mean, she wouldn’t want to hurt her father. The fact that she won the argument has a lot to do with his love for her. So I wouldn’t do that. They went, “But it’s funny!” And I said, “Maybe, but it isn’t true.” I didn’t want to destroy the fabric of the relationship and the believability of this relationship to get a laugh. There’s one thing that I learned from my father that I have always remembered and that is, “Your audience will go with you anywhere. They’ll go down any yellow brick road with you as long as you don’t lie to them. But if you start taking detours just to get a laugh, you will lose them.” And I completely believe that to this day. I always think of that in my work. And so I would fight, tooth and nail. Then when Danny Arnold came on board as a producer that second year, our show got much better. The first year was funny and darling and became a big hit, but the second year started to have more heart and soul. Because I had said to Danny, “I’m just battling this all the time. Can’t we have some more female writers?” And he said, “I think we need a female story editor.” And I said, “Great.” And that’s when he brought in Ruth. And as I say in my book, it was like we became the Red Army. I finally had somebody who could stand with me to say, “Yeah, you know, a girl wouldn’t say that.” That was a big help. AVC: Was it difficult to come up with the opening “that girl” gag week after week? MT: It probably was sometimes. I don’t remember so well. But do I remember when we first did it. It was Billy Persky’s idea. He and his partner, Sam Denoff, wrote the pilot and were the executive producers on the show for the whole five years. And Billy said to me when he gave me the draft of the script, “Now, I don’t know that we can do this ‘that girl’ freeze every week, but I think it’s great for the pilot.” And I read it and said, “Oh, I love it! I hope we can do it every week! It’s a great signature.” When we sold the show, the network said, “We loved that. Let’s do that every week.” And the writers all went, “How are we gonna do this every week?” But we did it. And it made the show singular. To this day I can’t walk down the street without somebody saying, “That girl!” And the title… I actually thought up the idea for That Girl, but I called it Miss Independence because that’s what my dad used to call me. Ed Scherick, who was the head of programming at ABC at the time, said that it sounded too much like a 1930s Irving Berlin musical. Billy Persky came up with the title That Girl because he had a sister and his father always said, “That girl’s gonna drive me crazy,” or, “You know what that girl did today?” He thought it would make a great title. http://www.avclub.com/articles/marlo-thomas,57914/
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09-30-2011, 03:55 AM	#4
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,059	That was very interesting. I wish ME-TV or Hub would pick up the show.
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09-29-2011, 07:47 PM	#2
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,087	It's strange That Girl hasn't aired in syndication for quite some time, with all the shows Me-TV/Me-Too has aired I'm surprised they haven't shown this series yet. Good thing Shout Factory came out with the DVD's.