Marlo Thomas | 08/01/2008 12:00 am

Marlo Thomas on the Last Word

In response to: If you were writing your obituary, what would you title it?

I don’t like talking about my obituary. Not because I’m afraid of dying — we all have to go sometime — but because I know I’m not going to have the final edit. Don’t you hate that?!

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I know I’d be absolutely devastated. Keep up the good health!

By James the Game on 08/01/2008 12:21 am

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Just have the “That Girl” logo put on it. No, wait, I’m going to have the “That Girl” logo put on mine.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/01/2008 8:03 pm

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I’ve pre-ordered Season 4 of “That Girl” from Shout Factory. It comes out 12th Aug. That Girl should have her own radio or TV show; she’s got so incredibly much to offer.

By James the Game on 08/01/2008 9:32 pm

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I have seasons 1 and 2 from Shout Factory. My kids have been giving them to me for my birthday, so I’ll probably get 3 in October! I loved that show as a kid and when I watched first season about 2 years ago I was expecting it to seem silly and dated. But to my surprise, it was not silly at all. Innocent yes, but not silly. Compared with what passes for sitcoms these days, it was so much better. More detail, not just a bunch of one-liners. Smarter in a lot of ways, not sarcastic. And then there was just that nostalgic feeling, the sets, and the clothes, remembering my first impression of it all. I had a blast watching them all and can’t wait to get 3! It also brought back how in love I was with Donald!

By DeBúrca obj on 08/01/2008 10:10 pm

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I’ve always had a crush on Marlo; I had one as a kid, and it rekindled 10 times stronger about three years ago. I also have one on my friend, Lori - first time in my life I’ve had a crush on two women at the same time.Two of the prettiest women God has ever put on Earth. Thing is, they are even more beautiful as people, IMO. Both incredibly smart and terrific senses of humor! I really like the interplay between the characters. Lew Parker was just phenomenal as the father, and Donald’s mother, Mabel Albertson, was off the charts. I believe Mabel was also playing on “Bewitched” at the same time, so her appearances were sporadic. But one of the great episodes of TV sitcom history was the one titled “Odpdypahimcaifss” (Season 2), in which Mabel stumbles across a pair of Don’s pants in Ann’s closet and assumes the worst. Mabel and Lew end up getting in an argument not to be believed. Hilarious! Of course, TV was really strict about such stuff back in the ‘60’s, but the episode still resonates. I really enjoyed the “Bad Day at Marvin Gardens” episode in Season 3, centering around a Monopoly spat between Lew & Don, believe it or not. Marlo’s and co-producer Billy Persky do a great voice-over commentary. The voice-over commentaries were a little thin at times, and I think if this had been done 20 years ago, both would’ve remembered so much more about the individual episodes. Over top of several episodes, Mar comments, “I really don’t remember this episode”. But I liked that her comments were off-the-cuff, without her having seen the footage before the voice-over. That way, you can really enjoy the fresh sound of her enjoying revisiting the episodes. The first episode involving Ethel Merman may’ve been the best one of the entire 5-year run. It was just so loving. You could sense a certain chemistry between Ethel & Mar that transcended the acting. It was palpable. I’ve read where Marlo has said she wasn’t ‘That Girl’ - that was just a character - but I disagree with her on so many levels. For example, I could just tell Marlo - not just Ann Marie - dug Ethel, that she really liked Ted and Lew. She did a charades scene or two, as well, and I said to myself, “Mar really likes charades!” Sure enough, look at her bio page!

By James the Game on 08/01/2008 10:52 pm

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I loved all those episodes and when I saw them again on the dvd set it all came back to me. Very nostalgic! Every character was so developed and stayed in character throughout the show, yet evolved too. An episode would revolve around a simple idea. In the commentary they mentioned that in those days they had less commercial break time so that left more time for the show thus they were able to spend the time just showing “Ann Marie” walking around her apt. etc., setting up a scene. After hearing that a lightbulb went on for me and I realized just what was so different about the show compared with shows today. Today, everyone talks so fast, the banter is too quick and instead of a situation being funny, it’s just a bunch of one liners. Also, because they don’t spend the time with the character just doing things quietly, like sipping a coffee and reading the paper for a moment, you never get the feel that the set is a real place. On That Girl, her apartment was a character! And like I said, I loved “Donald” but after watching the series again I really appreciated Ted Bessell’s contribution to the show. It was definitely 50/50 as far as the importance of both main characters, neither would have been as great without the other. I was so sad to hear he passed away.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/02/2008 8:45 am

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Yeah, kind of a fluke heart aneurysm-type thing, a la Jack Ritter. My understanding is that there was a possible movie re-make or something in the works with Ted before that happened. I liked Ruth Buzzi on that show, too.

By James the Game on 08/02/2008 11:34 am

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I read that too, about the reunion show or movie. That would have been fun to see. Yes! I remember Ruth Buzzi in it too. Actually, I was surprised to see so many well known people as guests. Probably as a child I didn’t even know who many of them were.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/02/2008 1:30 pm

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Hi, just got back from playing tennis. It’s sunny and about 85 here. Still have to mow the yard. Another great episode was “My Sister’s Keeper” - very spiritual. Danny, Terre and Tony all cameo’ed in it. Terre Thomas displayed an awesome singing voice. Marlo sang a song that didn’t fit her voice at all, although I’ve heard her sing beautifully on the “Free to Be” projects. Cheers!

By James the Game on 08/02/2008 2:01 pm

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I remember that episode. I really loved Danny Thomas when I was little. Sláinte!

By DeBúrca obj on 08/02/2008 4:10 pm

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Me, too. You could tell he was a very loving, humorous kind of guy. He was another guy God called home early.

By James the Game on 08/02/2008 10:49 pm

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Well, I looked him up and it said he lived to be 79, which isn’t real old, but is a pretty old for a man born in 1912.

By DeBúrca obj on 08/03/2008 12:38 am

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Yeah, it just seemed like he died at an early age, because it happened so long ago (2/91). Bob Hope lived to 100, though, and George Burns was 97 or something.

By James the Game on 08/03/2008 1:05 am