If ever there was someone who a sitcom vehicle could be shaped around it’s Sally Field.
Given her experience with The Girl With Something Extra though, it may not be a surprise that she never tried the sitcom format again. The show aired for 22 episodes in 1973-74, and was created by Bernard Slade.
Field plays Sally Burton, a woman with ESP, who is newly married.
Field was very good in the role. She has that strong screen presence that kept the networks interested in working with her, and eventually launched her into feature films. Davidson is good too, and together he and Field made an attractive couple. They have chemistry together, particularly in their dramatic scenes. Those are the moments in which both leads really shine and when the series is at it’s best.
The real problem with The Girl With Something Extra was in the writing. It’s the type of program that in the 1980s would be branded a “dramedy,” a genre and term that quickly became extinct. The writers didn’t seem to know which direction they wanted the show to go in—was it a comedy or drama, an old-fashioned comedy or an attempt to explore the trials and tribulations of a modern marriage in the liberal ’70s.
TV Writer
For some reason NBC put the show on after Sanford & Son. It was a strong lead-in, being the number two show at the time, but to me at least, it seems like a bad match. It was moved mid-season, but its ratings never really recovered. It replaced the sitcom Needles & Pins.
