The Brady Bunch - General Discussion

[Snow Apple]

9 minutes ago, Waterston Fan said:

I really liked that episode because Mike is excited and there was a big misunderstanding and some feelings might be hurt. I'm sure that happens in real life. 

And watching as an adult, you realize who  Frank Lloyd Wright is and what a big deal he is to architecture (or as Mike calls Greg, Frank Lloyd Wrong).

[VCRTracking]

Knowing it was actually Jan out of the kids who became the architect makes that talk between Jan and Mike at the end of  "Jan, the Only Child" more poignant to me somehow. It's definitely Eve's best performance on the show and one of Robert Reed's best.

Edited September 16, 2019 by VCRTracking

[jenniferhartwell]

I have an audio tape of a cartoon short repeated on "The Bugs Bunny Show" with young me and my young brother talking over it. We couldn't afford a VCR but Thank God for audio cassette tapes.

We got looked down for buying the cheap audio cassettes, but the last laugh is on the snobby kids, as their expensive tapes have shed oxide and are unplayable.

[smittykins]

On 9/10/2019 at 12:18 AM, jenniferhartwell said:

Didn't they put stuff in Susan Olsen's hair too? That's in addition to the Buffy Davis look.

Yes, for several weeks, they dyed both Susan’s and Florence’s hair in a matching shade—until Susan’s hair began falling out.  When she asked her parents to tell Sherwood Schwartz to “stop or get another Cindy,” they told her to do it, “so he knows it’s coming straight from you.”  To his credit, he promised to never dye her hair again.

[Katy M]

42 minutes ago, smittykins said:

Yes, for several weeks, they dyed both Susan’s and Florence’s hair in a matching shade—until Susan’s hair began falling out.  When she asked her parents to tell Sherwood Schwartz to “stop or get another Cindy,” they told her to do it, “so he knows it’s coming straight from you.”  To his credit, he promised to never dye her hair again.

I actually love everything about that story.  I love that Susan's parents from a very early age taught her to speak up for herself.  And I love that Sherwood actually listened to a child.  Gasp. 

[VCRTracking]

It's a shame Robert Reed didn't want to appear in the final episode but I like that Mike is the focus of the final moments of the Christmas reunion movie, the last canon Brady thing that the general public remembers(I don't think anyone watched "The Bradys" show).

[jenniferhartwell]

When you consider that Family Affair was less than two years from cancellation and was a dying show, making Susan look like Anissa doesn't make much sense.

[Waterston Fan]

43 minutes ago, jenniferhartwell said:

When you consider that Family Affair was less than two years from cancellation and was a dying show, making Susan look like Anissa doesn't make much sense.

I realize its not fair in saying this but I just think that Sherwood had an unhealthy fascination with Anissa and just couldn't let her go. 

[smittykins]

I thought Susan asked her mom to fix her hair like Buffy’s for the audition.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

(I don't think anyone watched "The Bradys" show).

My mom did.

[jenniferhartwell]

1 hour ago, Waterston Fan said:

I realize its not fair in saying this but I just think that Sherwood had an unhealthy fascination with Anissa and just couldn't let her go. 

Yeah I never believed that Susan *wanted* to look like Anissa Jones on national television. Audition, maybe. On TV? That's purely Sherwood's creepy and unhealthy obsession with Anissa Jones/Buffy Davis  Sherwood's interest in Anissa Jones seems horribly Jimmy Savile like level in creepy.

[Waterston Fan]

Even though there are times where Robert acted like a jerk on the set, I really do wished he had directed more episodes. I thought he directed some good episodes, even the silly Getting Greg's Goat. lol

[smittykins]

And I like that he appeared in the cheesy The Brady Girls Get Married, saying “Nobody’s gonna marry off my girls but me.”

[Glendenning]

Thank Fate that he died before his HIV developed any further. The tabloids/gutter press reaction to "Mike Brady" with full-blown AIDS would have been horrible for Robert.

[smittykins]

The HIV-positive revelation was bad enough(“OMG!!! Mr. Brady was GAYYY!”).

[Glendenning]

Worse are those in the LGBT community who criticise Robert (and Dick Sargent, Paul Lynde, Rock Hudson etc) for not coming out and proud when they were at their height of fame. These children don't understand how ruinous that would been for all of these men, and possibly dangerous.

[Katy M]

40 minutes ago, Glendenning said:

Worse are those in the LGBT community who criticise Robert (and Dick Sargent, Paul Lynde, Rock Hudson etc) for not coming out and proud when they were at their height of fame. These children don't understand how ruinous that would been for all of these men, and possibly dangerous.

Even if it wouldn't have been, it's their choice

[JTMacc99]

A lot of the old episodes really don't hold up very well, but I saw a bit of Episode 05.11 The Cincinnati Kids a while back, and that one is still fun. It's the one where Mike loses the important papers at the amusement park. There's just a lot of fun stuff in that episode. (I liked Greg trying to find a girl he just met who works at the park dressed as an animal, but Greg doesn't know which one. Sounds like the kind of stupid thing that would happen to me.)

[Glendenning]

OT: Speaking of Family Affair, Anissa is great and all, but Sasha Pieterse "Buffy" in the remake has been given a bubbling dark undercurrent that is really enjoyable ("You're beginning to ANNOY Mrs. Beasley!")

[libgirl2]

Poor Anissa Jones. What a sad short life. 

[Glendenning]

All Anissa wanted to do that night was get stoned. 

[MarkHB]

Folks, this thread is for the show with 6 kids, 2 parents and a maid, not 3 kids, 1 uncle and a butler. Please and thank you.

[VCRTracking]

Schwarz thought making Cindy an idiot was funny but I never did. I think Bobby was the funniest Brady child to me until Peter's voice changed.

Edited September 23, 2019 by VCRTracking

[Waterston Fan]

Bradymania books, are there 1 or 2? 

Before it got lost, I did have one but I think it was the 92 version. Or the 25 year anniversary one.... dang... 😞

Is there only one Barry Williams Book, I was a teenage Greg? 

I do remember having only one 'The Brady Bunch book'. Looks like only one... thank god. lol

EDIT: Oh Amazon..... 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Waterston Fan

[mmecorday]

Quote

In the "Cincinnati Kids" episode the ADR(Automated Dialogue Replacement) when they're at the picnic table is distracting. I realize a crowded amusement park would be too noisy to use the actual sound during filming but it's so weird.

OMG, yes! This has annoyed me for years and years. Marcia's dubbing is especially obnoxious. "What's everyone having for lunch?" She just sounds so unnatural. I imagine that was a very tricky shoot, filming in a crowded amusement park.

I was watching the one about Bobby kissing Millicent. The subplot involved the Bradys getting ready for a roaring 20s party. It occurred to me in the 70s, the 20s were 50 years ago and now that 70s are.

[Glendenning]

@mmecorday Weird Timey Thing, yeah. The same amount of time has passed since the Buck Rodgers TV show as had between it and the Buster Crabbe serial. But in 1979, 1939 felt like ancient history. 1979 feels like yesterday.

[VCRTracking]

14 hours ago, mmecorday said:

OMG, yes! This has annoyed me for years and years. Marcia's dubbing is especially obnoxious. "What's everyone having for lunch?" She just sounds so unnatural. I imagine that was a very tricky shoot, filming in a crowded amusement park.

I was watching the one about Bobby kissing Millicent. The subplot involved the Bradys getting ready for a roaring 20s party. It occurred to me in the 70s, the 20s were 50 years ago and now that 70s are.

13 hours ago, Glendenning said:

@mmecorday Weird Timey Thing, yeah. The same amount of time has passed since the Buck Rodgers TV show as had between it and the Buster Crabbe serial. But in 1979, 1939 felt like ancient history. 1979 feels like yesterday.

I think it felt like a novel to be listening to 20s music because nobody was listening to them anymore in the 70s, while music from 50 years ago can still be heard EVERYWHERE. The last two Guardians of the Galaxy movies had hits from the Brady Bunch era.

It's funny in season 5 Jan running for "Most Popular Girl" at school considering her image, but thinking about it she actually IS the most "popular" character with the general public with Marcia a very close second. It's ironic that each sister has made the other so memorable. Jan saying "Marcia, Marcia Marcia" and that gif of movieMarcia's sarcastic "Sure, Jan" are ubiquitous.

[Glendenning]

it was often asked at the height of Brady Reunion Mania why more shows did not do it. But, for example, Bewitched, too many important cast members were dead by the 1980s (Agnes Moorehead) or incapacitated (Dick York).

[Waterston Fan]

MeTV seems to be all over the place with this show. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, Waterston Fan said:

MeTV seems to be all over the place with this show. 

I’m not sure what that means, but tomorrow’s episodes are the “memorable “ ones they’ve chosen to sit in celebration of its premiere 50 years ago. They’ll resume the rest of season five, in order next week.

[Glendenning]

It's hard for us old codgers to understand the fifty years ago temporal perspective.

[LexieLily]

If anyone in here has the Decades channel, tomorrow (well, today), 9/29, all ten episodes of The Brady Brides air in the morning and in the evening, the three Brady movies (which are really the six episodes of The Bradys condensed into three movies)

[Waterston Fan]

9 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I’m not sure what that means, but tomorrow’s episodes are the “memorable “ ones they’ve chosen to sit in celebration of its premiere 50 years ago. They’ll resume the rest of season five, in order next week.

Ah... that makes sense. Today is the day it premiered 50 years ago. 

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

If anyone in here has the Decades channel, tomorrow (well, today), 9/29, all ten episodes of The Brady Brides air in the morning and in the evening, the three Brady movies (which are really the six episodes of The Bradys condensed into three movies)

Lucky.... 

[Snow Apple]

7 hours ago, LexieLily said:

If anyone in here has the Decades channel, tomorrow (well, today), 9/29, all ten episodes of The Brady Brides air in the morning and in the evening, the three Brady movies (which are really the six episodes of The Bradys condensed into three movies)

I might watch a few episodes of Brides, but I've been pretending The Bradys never existed and I'm not going to stop today.

One thing I like about The Brady Brides was the theme song. It tells the entire story right there, just like the original. Using the original music was genius. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

[LexieLily]

9 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

I might watch a few episodes of Brides, but I've been pretending The Bradys never existed and I'm not going to stop today.

One thing I like about The Brady Brides was the theme song. It tells the entire story right there, just like the original. Using the original music was genius. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

All I remember of The Bradys is Bobby being paralyzed (and Cindy on the radio at the racetrack with her dramatic "Bobby! My brother Bobby, he's been hit!") and that for some reason or another Marcia had a drinking problem. And then I vaguely remember Bobby's wife going into labor at their wedding. Or just a wedding, Greg was there and he delivered the baby?

Edited September 29, 2019 by LexieLily

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

that for some reason or another Marsha had a drinking problem

I think that was probably because she was married to Wally.

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

And then I vaguely remember Bobby's wife going into labor at their wedding.

I don't think that happened. Bobby stood up from his wheelchair at their wedding.  I doubt they were married long enough for her to go into labor at someone else's wedding.  Maybe someone else went into labor at someone else's wedding?  Labor and a miraculous standing seem a bit much for the same wedding.

[LexieLily]

34 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I don't think that happened. Bobby stood up from his wheelchair at their wedding.  I doubt they were married long enough for her to go into labor at someone else's wedding.  Maybe someone else went into labor at someone else's wedding?  Labor and a miraculous standing seem a bit much for the same wedding.

Hm. I might be thinking of a different show but I'm pretty sure it was some iteration of the Brady Bunch movies because there were the stairs. And whoever the bridesmaids were wore peach-pink dresses. (I don't know why I remember vague details about TV shows like this and not things that are actually important! Hah.)

[Katy M]

11 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Hm. I might be thinking of a different show but I'm pretty sure it was some iteration of the Brady Bunch movies because there were the stairs. And whoever the bridesmaids were wore peach-pink dresses. (I don't know why I remember vague details about TV shows like this and not things that are actually important! Hah.)

I'm the same way. I can remember a ton of unimportant things.  But, if something's important, forget it.

Anway, I found it:

Bobby's wife's sister (who I think looks like she's 50) goes into labor.  So, you were right.  That was an eventful wedding.  And she's in labor for the duration of the vows and then the baby pops out.  

[LexieLily]

10 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I'm the same way. I can remember a ton of unimportant things.  But, if something's important, forget it.

Anway, I found it:

Bobby's wife's sister (who I think looks like she's 50) goes into labor.  So, you were right.  That was an eventful wedding.  And she's in labor for the duration of the vows and then the baby pops out.  

So I was half-right. Thanks! I'm recording these to watch later, but not the dumb "other" Brady movies that have Shelley Long and Gary Cole.

[LexieLily]

The last episode of the Brady House renovation was tonight and one of the spaces they did was Greg's attic, which brought up in that forum the origin need for the attic and poor Cindy lamenting that it would be until 2000 (!!) that it would be her turn to take over the attic.

Even as a child watching this Cindy's lamentation on being the last to take over the attic made no sense to me because the entire point of the attic bedroom was because Greg/Marcia wanted privacy from their younger siblings, and by the time Jan got the attic Cindy would have her own room. (Same with Peter/Bobby). The four oldest kids are were all within one-three years of age so Greg, Marcia, Peter and Jan would only get the attic each for a year or two before heading to college - Greg got the attic at the end of season four when he was 17. Marcia would get it when she was 16, after Greg left for college. Peter would then get it when he was 17 after Marcia left and then after Peter left, it was Jan's turn at 16/17.

The two youngest actually made out the best in terms of getting a room to themselves for the longest in terms of years. Bobby would have had the boys' room to himself at 14, Cindy the girls' room to herself at 13. 

And I have thought about this more than the show ever did, I'm sure. 

[MarkHB]

7 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Even as a child watching this Cindy's lamentation on being the last to take over the attic made no sense to me

Even given your last note about overthinking it, I'd explain it all with one word: "Cindy". They never let making sense be her strong suit.

[melanie.hiscock]

Ooopth.

[blondiec0332]

9 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Even as a child watching this Cindy's lamentation on being the last to take over the attic made no sense to me because the entire point of the attic bedroom was because Greg/Marcia wanted privacy from their younger siblings, and by the time Jan got the attic Cindy would have her own room.

This occurred to me as a child watching it. It is best to watch this show without logic interfering.

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Even given your last note about overthinking it, I'd explain it all with one word: "Cindy". They never let making sense be her strong suit.

1 hour ago, blondiec0332 said:

This occurred to me as a child watching it. It is best to watch this show without logic interfering.

I'd forgotten all about Cousin Oliver so Cindy made out better than all of her siblings, even Bobby. Lol. 

[Katy M]

10 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

I'd forgotten all about Cousin Oliver so Cindy made out better than all of her siblings, even Bobby. Lol. 

Or did she?  Because in the last episode they clearly forgot all about this arrangement and had to decide what to do with the attic.  Oliver suggested making it a guest room and he'd be the guest.

[LexieLily]

1 minute ago, Katy M said:

Or did she?  Because in the last episode they clearly forgot all about this arrangement and had to decide what to do with the attic.  Oliver suggested making it a guest room and he'd be the guest.

I don't remember that, but I think I blocked out everything about Cousin Oliver 🙂

[merylinkid]

8 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Or did she?  Because in the last episode they clearly forgot all about this arrangement and had to decide what to do with the attic.  Oliver suggested making it a guest room and he'd be the guest.

Because Greg will never come home from college and need a place to sleep?  Or any of the other kids?  One thing I dislike about TV shows is they act like going off to college means never seeing the kid again unless there is suddenly a Harvard level university  in the neighborhood.

[Katy M]

16 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

Because Greg will never come home from college and need a place to sleep?  Or any of the other kids?  One thing I dislike about TV shows is they act like going off to college means never seeing the kid again unless there is suddenly a Harvard level university  in the neighborhood.

Of course, but the college kid doesn't need his own room.  Under the original arrangement, Cousin Oliver makes it a bit more difficult, but Greg would just bunk with the boys. When Marcia and Peter go to school and Jan has the attick, Marcia'll stay with Cindy when she's home on break.  Etc, etc.

[Glendenning]

Aside from his latent desire to romance Anissa Jones,, Sherwood really didnt handle Cindy/Susan well - just look at the Shirley Temple episode... which belonged in Season 1 not 5.

[Homily]

On 10/1/2019 at 11:44 AM, merylinkid said:

Because Greg will never come home from college and need a place to sleep?  Or any of the other kids?  One thing I dislike about TV shows is they act like going off to college means never seeing the kid again unless there is suddenly a Harvard level university  in the neighborhood.

That always get me too.  My kids had their own rooms in my house until they moved out for good not until they went off to university.  Jeeze I don't know about US schools but here university runs basically from September to April.  Unless your kid is going to get a summer job away from home they'll be back for at least 4 months not counting other vacations for years to come.