
MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO, THE: WILLIAM S. PALEY TELEVISION FESTIVAL 1996: THAT GIRL {TAPE 2 OF 2} {LONG VERSION}
Summary
Continued from T:49087. Tape two of two. One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Museum of Television & Radio's William S. Paley Festival in Los Angeles. Held this year at the Directors Guild of America Theatre Complex, the festival celebrates the excellence and diversity of American television, and is dedicated to television's creative community. This evening honors "That Girl," the popular comedy series that starred Marlo Thomas as Ann Marie, a struggling young actress living on her own in New York, who divides her time between a succession of memorably awful acting jobs and her journalist boyfriend Don Hollinger, played by Ted Bessell. Museum television curator Ron Simon moderates a panel discussion with the following members of the "That Girl" creative team: actors Alice Borden and Bernie Kopell; director Hal Cooper; executive in charge of production Ronald Jacobs; the former head of ABC programming, Edgar Scherick; coexecutive producers Sam Denoff and Bill Persky; and actress Marlo Thomas. The panel discusses the following topics, among others: Thomas's performance in a London production of "Barefoot in the Park," which led to interest in developing a sitcom for her; the origin of the title "That Girl"; Danny Thomas's protectiveness toward his daughter Marlo in the early stages of her career; Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz's jobs on the show as messengers for the William Morris Agency; the network's resistance to casting Ted Bessell as Thomas's boyfriend, and the consideration of comedian George Carlin to play the role; Bessell's reputation for cheapness, as illustrated by a birthday party anecdote; the evolution of Bernie Kopell's role on the show; the charmed nature of the Desilu studio, which housed many popular shows; the "difficult" reputation of Joey Bishop, who also worked at the Desilu studio; Thomas's refusal to have Ann and Don marry in the final episode; Lucille Ball as the model of a talented, powerful woman in the entertainment industry; the reasons Thomas produced and owned the show; and the volatile arguments between Thomas and Denoff, which prompted Danny Thomas's paternal concern and interference. The panel then takes questions from the festival audience, discussing the following topics, among others: the other boyfriends who threatened Ann and Don's relationship; the convention of referring to writing teams as "the boys"; the restraint displayed in the portrayal of Ann and Don's romantic relationship; the positive viewer response to Ann's independence; Thomas's evolution as a feminist activist; the significance of Ann's character as the first step in an evolving archetype of the independent woman in sitcoms; Thomas's use of wigs on the show; Bessell's desire to make a "That Girl" reunion television movie; the impetus for Ann and Don's engagement; differences in the difficulties faced by Thomas running her own show in the "That Girl"-era and those faced by contemporary figures such as Roseanne; the changing nature of television production; the difficulty of not having a studio audience; the enduring affection people feel for the show; the necessity of greater creativity in the absence of explicit sex scenes; and favorite episodes of the panel members.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: October 11, 1996 8:20 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:01:25
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:49088
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Marlo Thomas)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Moderator
- Alice Borden … Panelist
- Hal Cooper … Panelist
- Sam Denoff … Panelist
- Ronald Jacobs … Panelist
- Bernie Kopell … Panelist
- Bill Persky … Panelist
- Edgar Scherick … Panelist
- Marlo Thomas … Panelist
- Lucille Ball
- Ted Bessell
- Joey Bishop
- George Carlin
- Barry Diller
- Michael Ovitz
- Roseanne (See also: Barr, Roseanne; Arnold, Roseanne)
- Danny Thomas