That Girl: The Beard

That Girl: The Beard
ABC
April 11, 1968
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Richard Baer story has Donald returning from a two-week hunting trip with a beard.  Lew of course calls him a beatnik and a hippie.  Ann dislikes the beard but tries to be understanding.  Pete (Buzzi) gives her advice but she ends up solving the issue by pretending to get a haircut.  (Pixie, which is quite fetching on her, although Donald misses the flip.)  Then it turns out he's tricked her.  And there's another switch in the tag.  So the writing is cleverer than in the previous episode.  I was annoyed that Ann's Aunt Delia's 50th birthday party is mentioned and then dropped, but oh well.

That Girl: Sixty-Five on the Aisle

That Girl: Sixty-Five on the Aisle
ABC
January 18, 1968
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Don Penny returns as Ann's agent Seymour Schwimmer, with no explanation of how.  (My guess, the producers saw how good he was.)  Norman Fell appears as director Bernard Paperny, with facial hair!  The episode is pretty good, but I keep thinking (about halfway through the second season) that Ann really isn't that great an actress yet.  And getting stuck in the elevator is a bit cliche, as Donald notes.

Buddy Lester's role as Barney is his first of four on TG.

That Girl: It's a Mod, Mod World, Part 2

That Girl: It's a Mod, Mod World, Part 2
ABC
December 14, 1967
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Well, there are some mod fashions, but not much is shown of L.A., odd considering the series actually was filmed in L.A. (like most TV series of the '60s and beyond) and such footage would've been easy to obtain.  (I think they go to Grauman's Chinese Theatre though.)  The love triangle aspect doesn't really work, since we never see Ann as that interested in Noel, just amused by him at most.  Still, it's not a bad end to the two-parter.

Sidney Clute, who plays the Policeman here, would be a Desk Sergeant on a later episode.

That Girl: It's a Mod, Mod World, Part 1

That Girl: It's a Mod, Mod World, Part 1
ABC
December 7, 1967
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Gary Marshal (with that spelling) makes his first of three appearances as British fashion photographer Noel Prince.  Donald isn't worried at first but Lew is.  Then Lew decides not to worry since Donald isn't.  But then Noel tells Donald he's after Ann.  The "tune in next week," with narration by Donald is cute, but I feel like more could've been done in this episode, including with the "mod" fashions.  I will note that I think the photographer is one of the inspirations for Austin Powers.  The next week's episode will be set in L.A., so that should be interesting.

James Milhollin again plays a Hotel Clerk.  Laurie Main, who'd recently been a Maitre D' on the show, plays Grimsley, as he would on Part 2.  Lea Marmer, who plays the Woman in Automat, would appear twice more on TG.  Richard Ramos, one of the Men in Automat, would later make an uncredited appearance on M*A*S*H.  This two-parter would be the last writing Tom and Helen August would do for TG, although they'd go on to write for The Brady Bunch among other shows.

That Girl: Pass the Potatoes, Ethel Merman

That Girl: Pass the Potatoes, Ethel Merman
ABC
September 7, 1967
Sitcom
DVD
C+

As you'll guess from the title, Ethel Merman makes her first of two TG appearances playing herself.  Unfortunately the script by James L. Brooks needed a rewrite.  Why is there a scene of Ann calling everyone in Brewster about her role in a show with Merman and then a later scene where her father seems to have no awareness of the identity of Ann's dinner guest?  Why does Donald gently throw all the neighbors out and then later Ann's living room is packed to the gills?  The episode is basically a showcase for Merman, with Ann very starstruck, and as such it's not terrible, but it's never as great as it thinks it is.

Joy Harmon had been on Gidget twice and is Miss Bridges here.  Sandy Kenyon had also been on Gidget, and his role as Ed Burns is his first of two on TG.  Renata Vanni makes her first of five TG appearances, playing Mrs. Rose Brentano like usual.  Carolan Daniels takes over as Jerry's wife (and now Ann's neighbor) Ruth Bauman.  This is the first of five TG episodes directed by James Frawley.