Acceptance Of That Girl In The 1960's

Who is... That Girl?! (cue theme song) The 1950’s and 1960’s was an amazing time for television, kids would rush home to watch their favorite adventure show, women would pause their chores briefly to watch the drama unfold on their preferred soap opera, and men would come home after a long day of work, plop their butts down on their couch, and watch sports recaps and news shows for hours on end. Entertainment was the name of the game, and many shows like The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Bewitched came out in the 1960’s to try and fill this demand. One of these shows was That Girl starring Marlo Thomas, and it soon came to distinguish itself as both innovative on camera and off during its span of five years and five seasons

That Girl was unlike any other sitcom at the time, Ann was neither defined by simply being a daughter, a wife, or a secretary: she had her own story to tell. Ann was a young, single woman coming to New York to pursue her career as an actress, which could be considered controversial to more conservative audiences. However, the writers tried to remedy this by giving Ann a long term boyfriend(and clearly establishing that Ann was a virgin and would remain that way) and making her parents a constant presence in the show(A&E 7:50). Of course, as time went on and feminism started becoming more prominent in society, the writers began to openly weave the feminist agenda into the plot line of the show. Ann’s and Donald’s physical relationship began to come more into question and the writers also debated whether or not it was appropriate towards the general tone of the show for them to get married. Despite these controversial issues and some disinterest from Marlo, That Girl was received surprisingly well by audiences, and ABC wanted to make a total of five seasons(A&E 49:40). Another distinct feature of the show was Marlo herself. She was a woman who worked as the leading actress, a writer, and the main producer. Women producers weren’t particularly uncommon at the time, as seen with Lucille Ball

This is most likely done in order to emphasize Ann’s beauty and stylish appearance, which is what commonly drives the plot. People notice her, and then from there, the story unfolds by virtue of her getting a new opportunity or being able to tell an old story. Another important factor in the visual style of the show is the costume design. When the series began, Marlo had just come back from London, where she fell in love with the modern styles of the time that were inspired by Mary Quant and Twiggy(A&E 31:45). Since the show was in color, the costume designers were known to select outfits for Ann that would make her pop from the back ground. A good example of this is the beginning of the “When in Rome” episode, when Ann is seen wearing a bright yellow dress and matching earrings and standing in front of a red curtain. Since color is a prized commodity after it’s initially use on TV in the 1950’s, this use of costume color and design was accentuated by the well lit lighting. The vivid colors also gave the show a whimsical feeling, aided by Ann’s beauty and her comedic situations, all of which helped the audience disregard the idea of what an actual young woman living in New York alone may have looked