“That Girl” planted feminism in three TV episodes from 1967. You might have missed them if you weren’t paying attention. I watch a lot TV for the podcast and can often identify an exact moment when I see something profound. Six years ago, three 1967 episodes of That Girl caught my attention, as Ann Marie found herself in two quid pro quo situations. Of course one happened while she was doing Donald Hollinger a favor. Hear the whole story in my 2018 podcast How “That Girl” Tackled Sexual Harassment in the 1960s.

Through 21st century #MeToo lenses, I pondered what producer and star Marlo Thomas was thinking when that script was written. I never thought of her as a change agent. It took some digging, but Marlo has occasionally spoken of how feminism worked in the early days.

Since 2018’s episode, I’ve spent hundreds of hours of research and writing with my colleague Mary Trevor. Our law review article was published in 2025 and contains a solid clue straight from Marlo. Our article examines 20th century women and progressive television’s battle of quid pro quo harassment. The episodes we wrote about occurred in school and work settings.

The 20th century women (activists, lawyers and plaintiffs) and the TV people were stubborn and tenacious. But after all my study, evidence shows “That Girl” planted feminism into TV plots. Dozens more have aired, illustrating quid pro quo sexual harassment still occurs where power is wielded. Generations of viewers – men and women – have a better understanding of boundaries and the law.