That Girl: There Was a Time Ann Met a Pie Man

That Girl: There Was a Time Ann Met a Pie Man
ABC
February 13, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Milt Rosen's second of two TG scripts is kind of odd because Ann and her father both react to her getting a pie in the face on TV as if she's done a nude scene or something equally "shameful."  Still, I like the scene where Ann uses Donald as a sounding board and herself looks at both sides of taking the part, while he calmly eats and doesn't say a word.

This time Jesse White plays Hal Grissom, and he warns Ann against "hypothetical needles."  Maida Severn was Miss Stoddard on Gidget and is the Elderly Lady here.  Wardrobe Lady Lea Marmer had been made two earlier TG appearances.  Gene Baylos, who's Mort here, would be an Agent later.  And Renata Vanni plays Mrs. Brentano for the last time.

That Girl: 7 1/4, Part 2

That Girl: 7 1/4, Part 2
ABC
October 24, 1968
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While the interwoven threads of Donald writing a series on violence in the media (a very hot topic in '68 by the way, especially after the RFK and Dr. King assassinations) and Ann doing death-defying soda commercials don't really pay off as well as they could (for one thing, why not just hire a stunt woman for the distant shots?), this is definitely one to watch for its guest cast.  Jesse White is back, this time as director Phil Bender.  Thirty-year-old Peter Bonerz plays his assistant,  Larry Yorkin.  Stuart Margolin is director Leonard Stanley, who makes the point (not original with him) that he'll stop making war movies when wars stop.  The episode's director Hal Cooper appears as the Interviewed Screenwriter.  Frank De Vol plays cartoonist Mr. Barber.  And, yes, that's an uncredited 14-year-old Barry Williams as the Autograph Seeker, around the time that he was being cast on The Brady Bunch.

Ken Lynch, who's Carl Sheldon here, was previously Officer Dombrowski.

That Girl: Old Man's Darling

That Girl: Old Man's Darling
ABC
April 25, 1968
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This Richard Baer script doesn't work, although it is in a way the culmination of Season Two's trend towards people thinking that Ann is having sex with various men.  This time the fourth/seventh/eighth/tenth richest man in America keeps giving her expensive gifts.  Her former press agent, Eddy Edwards, sees this as an opportunity to get a play backed.  Lew and Donald try not to jump to conclusions.  And Ann is incredibly naive about the situation.

Arlene Golonka had played Jerry's bride Margie (later changed to Ruthie and a different actress for some reason), while she's Bonita Lesalle here.  Joe Besser plays a Messenger here and would later be a Foreman.

The season averages out to a high B-.  There are some pretty good, good, and very good episodes, and one pretty bad one.

That Girl: Just Spell the Name Right

One of my favorite of Ann's outfits.

That Girl: Just Spell the Name Right
ABC
March 28, 1968
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While the plot of this Richard Baer script doesn't really work, this is worth watching for the cast.  Jesse White returns, this time as cut-rate p.r. man Eddy Edwards.  He plants a gossip item saying that Ann is having an affair with an actor, played by Robert Alda.  There's some farce, including Lew believing the story despite the Ethel Merman kerfuffle, but eventually Ann reconciles the actor with his wife, played by Joan Blondell.  Johnny Silver again is dry-cleaner Siegfried S. Newman.

That Girl: Call of the Wild

That Girl: Call of the Wild
ABC
January 25, 1968
Sitcom
DVD
B

Milton Pascal's last TG script has Ann hired for a soap commercial by a director (Jesse White in his first of five TG appearances) because she's wholesome-looking, although the director ends up sexually harassing her in her apartment.  In between, Ann doubts her sex appeal, and neither her father nor her boyfriend know how to react to that.  As often happens on the show, what could be tasteless is actually intelligently handled, with the wholesome girl and her wholesome series tentatively dealing with changing mores while keeping her and its integrity.