User Reviews

One of the better-written episodes from "That Girl"'s second season (by Jim Brooks, of all people) has perky-but-scatterbrained Ann Marie getting a bit part in a stage revival of "Gypsy" starring Ethel Merman. Ann simply cannot contain her enthusiasm for Ms. Merman and nearly makes an unprofessional pest out of herself. Luckily, Merman (doing a fantastic comedic turn) is just a regular, down-to-Earth kinda gal and soon winds up in Ann's kitchen cooking dinner! I have always had a few nitpicks about this show, starting with Ann's name. 'Ann-Marie' is great as a first name, but it always sounded strange to me hearing her father introduce himself as 'Mr. Marie'. Why couldn't their surname be Murray--Ann could be 'Ann-Marie Murray'? Another problem is with the casting of 'Mr. Marie': Lew Parker continually played this role on the verge of mental exasperation (and he was certainly exasperating!); no one ever gets to put the man in his place (when he's wrong, he just looks pig-headed, yet nobody calls him on it). Ann was another frustrating writers' creation: sparkly, flirtatious, but constantly silly-acting, she's the lovable klutz--a throwback to the gals of screwball comedy. If Ann had been conceived as somewhat more savvy, she might have been a great pre-feminist character. As such, she's a well-groomed imp, a little girl playing dress-up, and one waits patiently for her to turn that patented spunk into some street-smarts.