The Brady Bunch - General Discussion

[Snow Apple]

Well, here's an unexpected connection between a TBB cast member and Oprah's interview with the royals. The chairs were designed by Christopher Knight and now they are all sold out at over $500 apiece. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Snow Apple

[mmecorday]

And then he promptly spent all the money he made on soda pop and pizza for a party no one wanted to attend.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 3/10/2021 at 6:03 AM, Snow Apple said:

Well, here's an unexpected connection between a TBB cast member and Oprah's interview with the royals. The chairs were designed by Christopher Knight and now they are all sold out at over $500 apiece. 

Thank you for telling us about that!  It's nice when child stars grow up to be successful outside of the business.

 

[Gemma Violet]

On 3/10/2021 at 7:03 AM, Snow Apple said:

 The chairs were designed by Christopher Knight and now they are all sold out at over $500 apiece. 

It's always nice to see a former child star be successful, even if it's not in the acting field.  I read an article about this last week (maybe either USA Today or CNN.com, I can't remember exactly) that said Chris' business partner actually did the designing, but they co-own the company.

[mmecorday]

The Marcia-centric episode "Today I Am A Freshman" aired on Sunday. It's one of my favorites. I like the fact that the same doctor who diagnosed Carol and Cindy's tonsillitis also stops by when Marcia is suffering from school-itis. There's also a funny scene when Marcia is standing on her head in the den. When she's standing up straight again I think that Maureen momentarily forgot her next line and Mike seems to ad lib, "You know, I think you've gotten shorter." And the scene where the snobby Westdale Boosters get covered in all that mud from Peter's volcano will never not be funny.

[GHScorpiosRule]

30 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

The Marcia-centric episode "Today I Am A Freshman" aired on Sunday. It's one of my favorites. I like the fact that the same doctor who diagnosed Carol and Cindy's tonsillitis also stops by when Marcia is suffering from school-itis. There's also a funny scene when Marcia is standing on her head in the den. When she's standing up straight again I think that Maureen momentarily forgot her next line and Mike seems to ad lib, "You know, I think you've gotten shorter." And the scene where the snobby Westdale Boosters get covered in all that mud from Peter's volcano will never not be funny.

I also noticed that MeTV has started airing episodes out of order or skipping some. They went from "Cindy Brady, Lady" where Bobby pretended to be her secret admirer to paying his friend Tommy a "Kennedy Half-Dollar!" to "The Fender Benders" skipping over "My Fair Opponent". Then skipped over the Hawaii episodes to "Today I Am a Freshman".

What. did they think we'd be confused that Mike's hair which went all PERM in the Hawaii episodes, reverted back to the smooth style in the fourth episode? I wonder if that three-parter will air next week.

The thing that I find so interesting (and you're right, @mmecorday, those snooty booster club girls, especially the leader getting hosed will NEVER NOT be HILARIOUS) was the "lava spurting out like a fountain in their direction, even though it looked like it was shooting straight up. But NONE of it landed on Peter. And yet, when Alice set it off, of COURSE the dirt hit her in the face! 😅

But I remember rewatching this as a teen, then young adult, and even now: Whatever happened Dr. Dennis the Menace's Father and Dr. Marion Cunningham???🤣😂

Edited March 29, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[mmecorday]

@GHScorpiosRule, I looked at the MeTV schedule for Sunday and the Hawaii episodes are airing noon to 1:30 Eastern Time followed by "Cyrano De Brady."

I can't believe MeTV skipped the Molly Weber episode!

 

[Egg McMuffin]

Yeah, I noticed that Carol and Mike decided to get rid of both Dr Porter and Dr Cameron, and went with Dr Howard instead. A reasonable compromise, I guess.

I love the Today I Am A Freshman episode, too, for the reasons, you mentioned. I also really like Juliet Is The Sun, where Marcia finally gets hers. I can do without Molly Weber, whose makeover wasn’t nearly as successful as the characters made it out to be.

[Egg McMuffin]

I should also mention that the Brady’s Hawaiian vacation inspired me to go to Hawaii myself. I even wound up staying at the same hotel - the Sheraton Waikiki, although that was only by coincidence, I swear. But there were no tarantulas running around the hotel in real life and I didn’t buy a jade bracelet or a coral pin. No cursed tiki idol either.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

I should also mention that the Brady’s Hawaiian vacation inspired me to go to Hawaii myself. I even wound up staying at the same hotel - the Sheraton Waikiki, although that was only by coincidence, I swear. But there were no tarantulas running around the hotel in real life and I didn’t buy a jade bracelet or a coral pin. No cursed tiki idol either.

None of that stuff happened to me either, but my sister did wipe out while surfing.  She didn't almost drown or anything, though.

[Snow Apple]

I’m can’t be sure but I think metv shows theme or character blocks instead of in episode order.

[Egg McMuffin]

They were doing that for a while, Snow, but they are back to running them in order from what I can see. They delayed the Hawaii ones so they could show all the episodes back to back.

[mmecorday]

Quote

I also really like Juliet Is The Sun, where Marcia finally gets hers.

One of my faves too. But I just can't believe that Harold Axelrod scored the part of Romeo. I guess the talent pool at Filmore Junior High was a little on the shallow side. And you gotta love Carol recasting the role of Lady Capulet without consulting Mrs. Goodwin first. "My darling diva daughter has learned her lesson, so let's welcome her back to the play, shall we?"

[Egg McMuffin]

Yeah - Harold was a little ridiculous as Romeo. He never would have gotten cast. Better if there had been some himbo as Romeo who couldn’t remember his lines - at least we would have known he got he role due to his looks. Maybe Marcia’s boyfriend Lester from the Harvey Klinger episode? Or maybe Warn Mullaney from “My Sister, Benedict Arnold?” Harold was just a comedic device.

And Carol recasting Lady Capulet makes me laugh. Didn’t she assure Marcia earlier in the episode that she had no influence over casting her as Juliet?

[Snow Apple]

As a youngster, I thought I was shallow in regards to Harold.

As an adult, I realized it wasn't his looks that bothered me. He was a dud. Marcia was acting like a diva but at least she put emotions into her lines. Even Jan and Peter acted their one line  with enthusiasm.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Snow Apple

[legaleagle53]

3 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

As a youngster, I thought I was shallow in regards to Harold.

As an adult, I realized it wasn't his looks that bothered me. He was a dud. Marcia was acting like a diva but at least she put emotions into her lines. Even Jan and Peter acted their one line  with enthusiasm.

True. Harold couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. I've read Romeo and Juliet many times over the years, and I could never picture him pulling off the more emotional scenes, such as the duels with Tybalt and the County Paris and the final death scene where he kills himself at Juliet's tomb.

[LexieLily]

5 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

As a youngster, I thought I was shallow in regards to Harold.

As an adult, I realized it wasn't his looks that bothered me. He was a dud. Marcia was acting like a diva but at least she put emotions into her lines. Even Jan and Peter acted their one line  with enthusiasm.

Jan and Peter gave variety with their one line each! Hark! Who goes there?! (Even though Alice said that Jan said Who goes there before Peter said Hark. Lol)

[GHScorpiosRule]

So the Joe Namath episode was on yesterday’s block of shows and for all that I read about how “old” he looks now, he’s still recognizable. Which can’t be said for a lot of others who have botoxed their faces to the point where I can’t recognize them or horrific plastic surgery.

And EEEGADS! The one where the rival school’s asshole quarterback steals the fake playbook-his croney’s HAIR!!!!

What pisses me off about the third episode where Greg snatched Raquel? The utter hypocrisy of the vice principal. Some things should just be tradition!!!

And I absolutely loathe “My brother’s keeper”, where Peter insists he’s gonna be Bobby’s slave-breaks dates with Barbara, at no instigating from Bobby, but gets all pissy and resentful. Then Bobby takes advantage and Peter can’t say no. UGH.

[mmecorday]

The fifth season episodes are all pretty cringe-worthy. A lot of people unfairly blame the arrival of Cousin Oliver for the cancellation of the series, but it was pretty much on the chopping block before he joined the family. Being in the same time slot as "Sanford and Son" didn't help either.

[legaleagle53]

6 hours ago, mmecorday said:

The fifth season episodes are all pretty cringe-worthy. A lot of people unfairly blame the arrival of Cousin Oliver for the cancellation of the series, but it was pretty much on the chopping block before he joined the family. Being in the same time slot as "Sanford and Son" didn't help either.

Yeah, I doubt it would have lasted much longer anyway. Sherwood Schwartz had finally HAD it with Robert Reed's temperamental behavior and would have killed Mike off in the first episode of the next season, plus the kids were all growing up and aging out of their original roles, I mean, Greg would be starting college by then. Would he still have been living at home when he'd been itching to be on his own for at least two years?

[GHScorpiosRule]

14 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Greg would be starting college by then. Would he still have been living at home when he'd been itching to be on his own for at least two years?

No. One of the last lines Greg said to Marcia and Peter was they'd have to figure out who would get to live in the attic now that he was heading off to college.

And Oliver said well, they could give it to a visiting cousin (or something like that) as a guest room. When he got no response, he said "it was only a suggestion."

But I'm glad it ended when it did, though. Even if I'm disappointed that Mike wasn't in the finale.

[WinnieWinkle]

21 hours ago, mmecorday said:

The fifth season episodes are all pretty cringe-worthy. A lot of people unfairly blame the arrival of Cousin Oliver for the cancellation of the series, but it was pretty much on the chopping block before he joined the family. Being in the same time slot as "Sanford and Son" didn't help either.

I watched Brady Bunch in it's first run - for a few years it was must see TV for my friends and I - but by the 5th season we'd outgrown it and it had become almost unwatchable.  I saw most of the last season episodes over the years when it was in endless reruns and while a few were not too bad, most were, yep, as you say, cringe-worthy.  

I admit I barely noticed Mike wasn't in the finale, I was too busy rolling my eyes at the stupid hair dye storyline!  What a sad way to end what had been a pretty special little show.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 3/29/2021 at 11:11 AM, mmecorday said:

There's also a funny scene when Marcia is standing on her head in the den. When she's standing up straight again I think that Maureen momentarily forgot her next line and Mike seems to ad lib, "You know, I think you've gotten shorter."

 

I love it when you catch those tiny moments where Robert Reed helps out when the kids forget a line.

One scene when you can really see this is when Greg goes out for the football team.  Greg and Mike have a quick chat and Greg is supposed to say,  "Thanks, Dad" and step out of the way so the scene can continue.

Instead Barry Williams says "Thanks, Dad" but just stands there.  Without missing a beat, Robert Reed puts his hand on Barry's back and gives him a gentle nudge, reminding him to step off his mark.

A small moment, but one that shows the good relationship between the actors.

 

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

19 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

A small moment, but one that shows the good relationship between the actors

It's well known that the Kids were Robert's "kids" and they had a close and loving relationship with him, despite (or is in spite? I can never remember which one to use) of the friction he had with Sherwood Schwartz.

[LexieLily]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

No. One of the last lines Greg said to Marcia and Peter was they'd have to figure out who would get to live in the attic now that he was heading off to college.

But the entire point of the attic was for it to go down the line of kids, so Marcia would get it when Greg left, and then Peter, and so forth. Cindy even tried to do the math on Alice's chalkboard in the kitchen to figure out when she would get it but she must not have figured out that it didn't matter for her and Bobby because by the time Peter (and then Jan) got the attic, Bobby (and then Cindy) would have their own room anyway.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, LexieLily said:

But the entire point of the attic was for it to go down the line of kids, so Marcia would get it when Greg left, and then Peter, and so forth. Cindy even tried to do the math on Alice's chalkboard in the kitchen to figure out when she would get it but she must not have figured out that it didn't matter for her and Bobby because by the time Peter (and then Jan) got the attic, Bobby (and then Cindy) would have their own room anyway.

Of course it was. But this show kept changing stuff around. It's like they forgot that Marcia would get it next.

Just like how Bobby was tone-deaf and couldn't carry a tune, so he didn't make the glee club; but then the following season, he had like two or three lines when they sang "Sunshine Day".

Or how Carol was clueless about football and freaked out when Greg got injured; yet by the time the final season rolled around, the episode I mentioned up thread about Marcia "conspiring with the "traitor"", we had Carol, who used to date Tank, the football hero. So, all of a sudden, Carol is familiar with the game and doesn't hate it, like she did two years prior?

Edited May 12, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[Egg McMuffin]

The first half of the fifth season has some good episodes: Johnny Bravo, The Cincinnati Kids, Peter and the Wolf, Try Try Again, Marcia Gets Creamed, The Drivers’ Seat. ABC cancelled almost all of its Friday night lineup at midseason, and Sherwood Schwartz expected the Bradys to end then, too. But he unexpectedly got an order for the back half of the season and had to scramble for scripts. That’s why we got some of the duds later in the season like Out of This World, Top Secret, and The Snooperstar.

That said, it was time to end it. The kids were all early to late teens at that point (Barry Williams actually turned 20 that last season), and they no longer had the ability to do stories about elementary schoolers and tweens, so it just wasn’t as appealing. Also, Florence became a big ham in that last season (check out her performance as “Twinkles” if you don’t believe me.)

[mmecorday]

Quote

Also, Florence became a big ham in that last season (check out her performance as “Twinkles” if you don’t believe me.)

At least her mullet went away in the last season! Although I hate the whole "Twinkles" subplot, her pretty silver dress was a winner.

Quote

That’s why we got some of the duds later in the season like Out of This World, Top Secret, and The Snooperstar.

Easily three of the WORST episodes of the whole entire series. Most sitcoms eventually wander into UFO territory, but "Out of this World" is basically unwatchable. I feel sorry for the actual astronaut who makes a cameo in that dud.

[eel21788]

11 hours ago, mmecorday said:

At least her mullet went away in the last season! 

That was pre-mullet days. It was called The Shag.

[smittykins]

17 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Isn't that the episode where Greg had something on his lip?   It has been so long since I have seen that episode.

Yeah, I think that was after he’d been in a car accident(the other driver was looking at and talking to her dog in the back seat)and needed stitches in his lip.  According to his book, Sherwood Schwartz took one look, slapped on a Bandaid, and decreed that “Greg had cut himself shaving.”  Barry was like, “With what, a lawnmower?”

[mmecorday]

"The Hair-Brianed Scheme" is sooooo bad. The only thing worse is Greg's graduation tux.

[Egg McMuffin]

“We're so proud that you graduated with honors, Greg. Too bad your father was out of town and had to miss it!” Ugh - exposition at its worst.

[LexieLily]

24 minutes ago, Kyle said:

“We're so proud that you graduated with honors, Greg. Too bad your father was out of town and had to miss it!” Ugh - exposition at its worst.

They couldn't have thought up anything different, or was this yet another way to get back at Robert Reed? There is no way Mike Brady would have missed a graduation of any of the six kids, but especially his firstborn son of his late wife.

[WinnieWinkle]

42 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

They couldn't have thought up anything different, or was this yet another way to get back at Robert Reed? There is no way Mike Brady would have missed a graduation of any of the six kids, but especially his firstborn son of his late wife.

At the time I saw this I just accepted it.  My own Dad missed my graduation because he was in Australia (we live in Canada) so Dads being away on business made sense to me.  But now that I think about it Mike was never really presented as having the kind of job that took him away from home.  The few times it did the family usually went with him!  But I guess really if they were writing him out of that episode that didn't give them a lot of choices in terms of an acceptable reason to miss your kid's graduation.

Edited May 25, 2021 by WinnieWinkle

[Egg McMuffin]

They could have done a different tag scene, one that didn’t involve the family arriving home after the graduation. Then they wouldn’t have had to explain about Mike. And we also would have been spared Greg’s hideous tux. Reed was also missing from “Goodbye Alice, Hello” yet they didn’t explain Mike’s absence.

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I came across the season two episode where Greg got a part time job working in Mike's office so he could buy a car. At 14. Hey, Greggie was thinking ahead y'all!

My point was the ridiculous line from Carol, who freaked out, but what was so 🙄 was her line "First it was a bike, and now a car!" I mean, whut? She freaked out at Greg riding a bike? 

I'm sure Schwartz didn't have this show and all the scripts written years in advance, but having Carol not know the difference between baseball and football? When just the previous season she read up on it for that episode where she and Mike switched places, then three years later, she would needle Mike to make him jealous when her high school boyfriend, Tarzan Tank was in town. He who was the quarterback. And of course, Carol knew ALL about Football.

Edited July 20, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[mmecorday]

Carol seemed to think that Greg was the most fragile of the bunch. She didn't freak out when Peter was playing football. But when Greg made first string in varsity, she had a fit. I know Peter was playing little league football, but still.

[VCRTracking]

As I remarked before about Carol being so upset about Greg getting injured football, you'd think she carried him in her womb!

Besides the final episode the other episode I remember Robert Reed not being in was where the kids think Alice snitched on them so they shun her and she quits and works at a diner. I like it because with Mike away Carol is the one who asks Alice who broke the lamp and she really gets into the "mistress of the house" "lady of the manor" mode demanding an answer which I found kind of hot.

I didn't know Sherwood Shwartz tried redoing the "Kelly's Kids" idea in 1986 this time with Elliot Gould and Short Round/Data from The Goonies!

Edited July 22, 2021 by VCRTracking

[Katy M]

6 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I didn't know Sherwood Shwartz tried redoing the "Kelly's Kids" idea in 1986 this time with Elliot Gould and Short Round/Data from The Goonies!

I don't remember the name of that show, but I remember watching it.  It didn't last long. I thought it was cute.

[VCRTracking]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

I don't remember the name of that show, but I remember watching it.  It didn't last long. I thought it was cute.

Together we Stand then after they killed off Elliot Gould(!) after just 6 episodes they retitled it "Nothing is Easy". I wonder why I never heard of it until I read it initially aired after Kate and Allie(which I never watched) and then aired opposite two shows I did, first Perfect Strangers and then The Charmings(remember that one?).

Edited July 22, 2021 by VCRTracking

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

The Charmings(remember that one?).

I do. I watched way too much TV as a kid.

[Snow Apple]

2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Together we Stand then after they killed off Elliot Gould(!) after just 6 episodes they retitled it "Nothing is Easy". I wonder why I never heard of it until I read it initially aired after Kate and Allie(which I never watched) and then aired opposite two shows I did, first Perfect Strangers and then The Charmings(remember that one?).

Woah. I watched Kate and Allie, Perfect Strangers, and The Charmings, but never heard of Together We Stand/Nothing is Easy. Weird since there were only a few channels back then and we usually heard of shows even if we didn't watch them.

I wonder why the killed off the dad?

[eel21788]

5 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Woah. I watched Kate and Allie, Perfect Strangers, and The Charmings, but never heard of Together We Stand/Nothing is Easy. Weird since there were only a few channels back then and we usually heard of shows even if we didn't watch them.

I wonder why the killed off the dad?

If I'm remembering it right, the first six episodes (Together We Stand) were entirely about being a newly-formed interracial family. It tanked in the ratings, so they tried to resurrect it by going the single-parent route (Nothing is Easy). IMDB says there were a total of 19 episode, but I don't think the whole series actually made it on the air. I think I remember seeing 6 episodes of Together We Stand and no more than 6 episodes of Nothing is Easy. 

I liked Together We Stand better, but they did go too far in making the episodes about nothing more than trying to merge the family. They needed to get to a theme similar to The Brady Bunch from season 2 on a little faster. 

[VCRTracking]

23 hours ago, eel21788 said:

If I'm remembering it right, the first six episodes (Together We Stand) were entirely about being a newly-formed interracial family. It tanked in the ratings, so they tried to resurrect it by going the single-parent route (Nothing is Easy). IMDB says there were a total of 19 episode, but I don't think the whole series actually made it on the air. I think I remember seeing 6 episodes of Together We Stand and no more than 6 episodes of Nothing is Easy. 

I liked Together We Stand better, but they did go too far in making the episodes about nothing more than trying to merge the family. They needed to get to a theme similar to The Brady Bunch from season 2 on a little faster. 

Yeah S1 of TBB was all about the problems of a merged family. Starting from S2 onward it was regular family sitcom plots and you would never know they were stepsiblings if they didn't explain it in the opening theme song!

I don't know if it was intentional or not but Cousin Oliver being blonde was a nice visual indicator he was from Carol's side of the family.

[mmecorday]

Quote

I don't know if it was intentional or not but Cousin Oliver being blonde was a nice visual indicator he was from Carol's side of the family.

Good catch! He also has the last line of the entire series when he says he thinks it would be a good idea for Greg to bequeath the attic room to him, Cousin Oliver. When the idea goes over like a lead balloon, he says, "Well, it was just a suggestion."

[GHScorpiosRule]

Durnit! Davy Jones was on yesterday and I missed THIS:

 

[Egg McMuffin]

Sherwood Schwartz was booted from “Together We Stand” after the pilot episode. CBS thought his comedy style was old hat at that point.

[mmecorday]

Heads up! Or should I say surf's up? The Hawaii episodes are on this weekend starting at noon on Sunday on MeTV!

Molly Weber is probably one of my LEAST favorite characters of the series. Marcia takes a shy, clumsy girl and turns her into a conceited mean girl. The only thing I like about this episode is the pretty music that plays during Molly's scenes.

[Egg McMuffin]

Debi Storm who played Molly, was one of the finalists for the role of Jan, before Sherwood Schwartz decide to match the hair color of the kids with the actors playing their parents. Seems silly now, but have you ever seen Step by Step and been able to figure out which kids belongs to which parent?

I wish some of these one-off characters made return visits. Obviously Sam and Mr Phillips recurred. And Marcia’s nemesis Kathy Lawrence (from “My Sister Benedict Arnold) turned into her friend by the very next episode, helping to convince Peter that he wasn’t dull. Greg’s friend Rachel was on a couple of times. And the actress who played Margie Whipple turned up later on as a similar character named Muriel.

I would have liked to have seen Aunt Jenny again, even if her name dropping was kind of annoying. Also Beebe Gallini. And Peter’s girlfriend Keri played by Gretl from “The Sound of Music”. And what about Carol’s parents? They should have come back once in a while - they only lived 20 minutes away!

[Egg McMuffin]

I always thought that was weird. They didn’t feel the need to replace the picture of a young Susan Olsen in the Brady grid for “A Very Brady Christmas” when Jennifer Runyon played adult Cindy. The only thing I can think of is that Maureen McCormick didn’t give permission for her image to be used for “The Bradys.” But they did have a lot of flashbacks in that series - does anyone remember if we saw young Marcia in any of them?