Doll-A-Day 2023 #143: Barbie as That Girl

   Today's doll is one you may not be old enough to understand. She's Barbie as That Girl.

"What girl?", you may ask. And my answer would be, "That girl!" If you have ever  watched the TV show, "That Girl", you'll get the joke. Every show opened with someone referring to the show's main character as "That Girl", usually when she had just caused a disaster or done something stupid.

  The TV show "That Girl" ran for five seasons, from 1966 to 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as Ann Marie, a small town girl who has come to New York City to try to make it as an actress. In those days Marlo Thomas was best known as the daughter of Danny Thomas, himself known for the TV series, "Make Room for Daddy"/"The Danny Thomas Show", and for being the founder of St. Jude's Children's Hospital. These days she's better known as the wife of TV host Phil Donahue.

  The doll has the usual Barbie head sculpt, not a special one to resemble Marlo Thomas. I don't think they did a bad job recreating her likeness though.

    The doll is dressed in a recreation of the outfit Ann Marie wears in the show's opening sequence, showing her traipsing around New York City being cute and personable. She has a huge hat, and a navy suit, consisting of a skirt and matching jacket.

She also has a little red purse, and a pair of white fishnet tights. And of course, whote gloves. Ann Marie was a well mannered lady, after all.

The shoes veer from the original a bit. Ann Marie wouldn't have worn such high heels, but they do have the ankle strap.

  Although the character of Ann Marie spent five years dating a stiff guy named Donald, as the show neared it's finish,  Marlo Thomas, who was one of the producers of the show, and who remained single until marrying Phil Donahue at the age of 42, decided to end the show with Ann Marie and Donald, only engaged, and not finish off with a big wedding. (Whew! That was a long sentence!)

  When we were kids, my sister used to pretend her Francie doll was Ann Marie, and Ken was Donald. When Francie wasn't busy being Ann Marie, she was Cher, to GI Joe's Sonny.

  Just as a note of interest for those old enough to remember Phil Donahue, when I was a kid, Phil Donahue was a reporter on one of our local TV stations. In elementary school there was a terrible car accident just down the road from my house, and Phil covered it on the local news. I watched it on TV and it was weird to see someone from TV standing in the yard of the kids who rode my school bus. Then Phil got all high falootin' and became a big TV star.

  This doll  and her box were perfect before our foyer flooded. Look at her now. The doll is probably good, but the box has seen better days. 

  That's it for today. See you tomorrow.