Don't Just Stand There, Do Something! - That Girl (Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon)

The first episode of That Girl premiered on September 8, 1966 on ABC. It was called "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There," which is a fun bit of wordplay.

via sparklejamesysparkle

Before we continue, this post is part of the 9th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts. Click the link to read through all the posts this weekend!

And for a show all about 'That Girl' Marlo Thomas, its first featured characters are men. They're stalking the lobby of an office building plotting out a commercial. All they need is an actress. But why go looking for one when you can ask...

Every episode (just about) started the same. Bit players would have a conversation and work Ann Marie into it by pointing out "That girl!" and then the camera would pan over to Ann and freeze as the title popped up. As far as TV gimmicks go, it's one of my favourites, trying to figure out how they'll work it in. 

Here's why I love the first episode of That Girl: it sets up the series perfectly. You see Ann Marie's spunk, you see why Don Hollinger is such a charming beau, and you get the landscape of what their relationship will be. She's going to be kooky, he's going to be the straight man, and they're going to make it work out in 30 minutes each week. 

Ann Marie, played by Marlo Thomas, if you don't know, is an aspiring actress. Most of the episodes occur as Ann's trying to book an acting gig. There's the occasional appearance by her overbearing father and prim mother, and a rotating set of neighbours, and overall it's fun and funny. 

On many occasions I've watched an episode and thought to myself, "Ah yes, this trope." Then realized that That Girl was the template for the shows that came after it. The Mary Tyler Moore Show is one of my favourites and it leans into the That Girl connection in some ways. Marlo Thomas really pioneered the leading lady. 

Enough about how much I love That Girl (for now, anyways) and let's get to the episode. 

The commercial scouts approach Ann Marie and frame their question poorly enough for her to tell them, "There's a doorman outside, 6'5", all I've got to do is whistle." 

They tell her they want her to appear in their commercial, and when she asks for a script or any direction to prepare, they tell her that her mouth will be covered with tape so she'll have to express fear and panic with her eyes. So she begins practicing after they walk away. 

And then she meets Don Hollinger, a writer who works in the building. All he wants is Spearmint gum and her emoting is delaying his order. 

And here's where I have to wax poetic about Don Hollinger because I love this awkward, slightly self-important writer to death. Honestly, when thinking about TV's best leading men, he's the tops for me. He complements Ann perfectly and Ted Bessell, the actor who plays him, plays straight to Marlo Thomas's kookiness like nobody else could. 

Anyways, Ted walks off and I guess that's supposed to be the last we see of him, but fate has other plans. 

Enter Shirley McChesney from Custom Interiors on the 16th floor. The business is going under and having a close out sale, and she wants to advertise at Ann's candy stand. Ann agrees and asks if there's a roll-top desk up there. Her father has been dying for one. Shirley tells her they do have one and it's 50% off, and "now's the time to buy it." 

Since Ann can't get up there until her lunch break, she delays putting up the sign, hoping to keep away any would-be buyers until she has a chance to buy it.

But with her luck, you know who else beat her to it and is already measuring the roll-top desk when she gets up there? Don Hollinger. They get into a charming exchange over who actually has claim to the desk.

Ann: Are you Mr. Rudolph, the owner of this shop?

Don: No, I'm Don Hollinger, the buyer of this desk.

Ann: How can you be? I'm buying this desk.

Don: I... I'm sorry, but I was here first.

Ann: I didn't see you, and I was standing right here.

Don: I didn't see you, either.

Ann: Well that's because you were behind the desk.

Don: Right. And since I had to be in front of the desk in order to get behind it, I must have been here first.

Ann: But if you didn't see me come in last, how do you know I wasn't here first?

He tells her to scram, that he was there first and she was probably downstairs "making faces in the mirror." She rightly calls him out for that comment. And then they realize that nobody can buy the desk because the store owner is out to lunch. 

So Ann figures that if they're both there when the owner gets back, nobody was technically there first. It's just going to look like they were both there at the same time to the owner. And then she figures that they should both put down a $10 deposit to ensure that nobody else can buy the desk. Since they both have to get back to their respective desks—her at the candy stand, him at News View Magazine—it's the only way to keep things fair. 

"There's only one thing," Ann tells him. "Could you lend me $10?"

Later that evening, Ann's all tied up and ready to film her commercial. It's apparently for perfume, which tracks for the insanity that most perfume commercials are, when you think about it. The director tells her a lot of flailing, a lot of nose screaming, and a lot of panic and fear in her eyes. 

And if you were to guess who would interrupt the take, assume it's an actual kidnapping in process, and slug the actor before rushing Ann off to safety, you'd guess Don, right? Because that's what happens. 

"Don't worry, don't worry. This is an express elevator to the 16th floor. When we get there, we take the express to the 32nd floor. They've got to take the locals up. By the time they get to the 16th, they won't know if we took the locals back down or the express up. And by that time, we can call the police, the whole building will be surrounded," Don tells her. 

"You're tearing my face, you're ripping my face, you crazy person. What do you think you're... What are you doing?" Ann screams back at him once he removes the tape from her mouth. She explains that she's an actress and he ruined a commercial take, and that she's probably going to get fired (that he was trying to do the right thing isn't as high a priority on her list at the moment). Don's so embarrassed about what happens that he runs off and leaves her there, tied up. 

Ann later tells the story to her neighbour Judy, filling her in on the shenanigans. She eventually got back to the ground floor and they filmed all night. She got home at 4am. She doesn't know what happened to Don, but she tells Judy, "You know, I've been thinking about it all night. He was really very brave. He didn't know those men were actors. He thought they were real crooks. It took a lot of courage. He's not a monster at all. He's a regular three musketeer."

Plus, she says, he's cute. And she knows she owes him more than just an 'I'm sorry.' So she figures she'll let him have the roll-up desk. 

Judy reminds her that he was technically there first, and it is his by the parameters of ownership. "Judy, that has nothing to do with it," Ann tells her. She wants him to have it because he did something nice, not because he was technically there first. 

So she returns to the interiors store and meets the creepy owner, who's more interested in her than the desk. And of course her good deed is about to be ruined when Don appears at the most inopportune moment and sees it unfold from this perspective: 

He takes off before he hears what Ann has to say. 

Don later appears at the candy stand for 'the usual' and Ann tries to explain that she was trying to buy him the desk "to thank you for rescuing me last night." And Don calls himself Captain Dumb-Dumb for not recognizing that they were filming a commercial. 

So Ann then tries to explain that she'd gone upstairs that morning to buy him the desk; he tells her that he'd gone up to tell him that she should have the desk as an apology for ruining the shoot. And then he opens his big mouth and says that it looks like she didn't need his help to get the desk after all (hint hint). She's rightly insulted by the comment and they begin to fight over how he can't recognize when people actually need help and how she isn't good at letting people know that she needs help, and then he storms off. 

And Ann goes back upstairs to get the desk after all (good for her). The owner doesn't care anymore about who buys it, he just wants it gone. Before she commits to buying it, though, she wants to make sure the roll-top actually works. It gets jammed again, leaving Ann and the owner in a compromising position (though he's not actually coming onto her this time) as Don walks in yet again. 

This time Don attempts to read the situation and thinks that Ann's in trouble, so he pushes the owner. Who then punches him in the stomach. Turns out he'd come upstairs to get his deposit back. He tells her to stay away from him and leaves.

Then Ann has a change of mind about the desk. She still wants it, but it's not to be delivered to her father. It's going to Don's office.

Don comes downstairs later to thank her for the desk. They trade the $10 back and forth; him returning her half of the deposit and her returning the money she'd borrowed. He wants gum but she's closing and the cash box is already gone with the owner. And he doesn't want to owe her anything, since he already technically owes her a desk. 

They decide to go out to dinner and Ann pays him back for the gum, since the "change is great" there. 

When they get to the restaurant they both want the same dessert: a Napoleon. There's only one left and they decide to split it. "We should have thought of this with the desk."