The Brady Bunch - General Discussion

[Bethany]

Today's episode introduces us to Cousin Oliver.  Which means that soon we will be cycling back to season one!  Poor Robbie Rist.  He was only in a handful of episodes but he is not remembered by most fans at all fondly!

Query - I know that people say he was brought in to up the "cute kid" factor but if that's the case why didn't they let poor Cindy look and act her age?

[Egg McMuffin]

Where are you watching it, Elizabeth Anne? Outside of streaming, I was only aware of it on MeTV and Catchy Comedy (née Decades) and they’re both in the first season.

[Bethany]

14 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Where are you watching it, Elizabeth Anne?

I am in Ontario, Canada and we are lucky enough to get CHCH which shows older programs during the day.  Right now, among other sitcoms, they are showing The Brady Bunch, The Lucy Show and My Three Sons.  I'm loving this chance to see old favourites, and sometimes shows I had never seen before.  The only catch is sometimes they will just stop airing the show - so you can't get too attached!

[Egg McMuffin]

Lucky you! I remember visiting my grandparents when I was young and they got CHCH. Even then I remember them showing The Partridge Family and My Three Sons.

[Blergh]

On 4/3/2023 at 2:51 PM, Elizabeth Anne said:

Today's episode introduces us to Cousin Oliver.  Which means that soon we will be cycling back to season one!  Poor Robbie Rist.  He was only in a handful of episodes but he is not remembered by most fans at all fondly!

Query - I know that people say he was brought in to up the "cute kid" factor but if that's the case why didn't they let poor Cindy look and act her age?

And it seemed a bit much to see him constantly hanging out with Cindy as though they were the same age when, by this point, she clearly towered over,etc.

Don't forget when the audience first met him, he got dropped off in the Brady driveway by his parents who seemed so anxious to ditch him before their South American relocation that they didn't even bother to get out of their car to so much as say goodbye much less catch up with Mike and Carol (despite Cousin Oliver's father being Carol's unseen brother). Yeah, I know that SS likely didn't want to pay two extra salaries for these one-shot characters and might not have wanted to get bogged down in dialogue with them before intro'ing CO but would it have hurt had either CO, Mike or Carol mentioned having talked to them after the fact instead of them just putting  him out like they were getting rid of a stray cat (suitcase not withstanding)?

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Blergh

[Egg McMuffin]

Carol mentioned that “Jack and Pauline” were Oliver’s parents, but she never specified if Jack or Pauline were her sibling (and Oliver’s last name wasn’t specified either). There’s even the remote possibility that one of Oliver’s parents was the sibling of Carol’s first husband, though that’s less likely.

[Blergh]

7 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Carol mentioned that “Jack and Pauline” were Oliver’s parents, but she never specified if Jack or Pauline were her sibling (and Oliver’s last name wasn’t specified either). There’s even the remote possibility that one of Oliver’s parents was the sibling of Carol’s first husband, though that’s less likely.

Usually when mentioning couples who are related, folks will list their blood relative first then their in-law so I think it's more likely than not that Jack was Carol's brother. Of course, that begs the question of why no previous mention had been made of them and they don't appear to have attended the Brady Wedding four years earlier (and there were no other minors besides the Brady boys and still-Martin girls in attendance so no sign of any toddler CO).

[Egg McMuffin]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

Usually when mentioning couples who are related, folks will list their blood relative first then their in-law so I think it's more likely than not that Jack was Carol's brother.

Good point, but it’s not definitive proof. Members of my family sometimes - though certainly not always - mention my brothers-in-law first before my sisters’ names but we’re really tight with the BILs. My grandmother always referred to her child first (and she was never close to the spouses of her children). Ultimately, we don’t know how Oliver was related to Carol.

[Bethany]

2 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Ultimately, we don’t know how Oliver was related to Carol.

Did Oliver ever get mentioned in any of the made for TV movies that came after the show?

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

Did Oliver ever get mentioned in any of the made for TV movies that came after the show?

No.  They clearly murdered him and buried him next to Tiger and the parakeet.

[LexieLily]

8 hours ago, Katy M said:

No.  They clearly murdered him and buried him next to Tiger and the parakeet.

When did they have a parakeet? 

[JAYJAY1979]

I often wonder had the show continued into a sixth and even 7th season..if the show would have let Cindy grow up.  Susan Olsen was 12, almost 13 when the show was canceled..and she was still in kid stories even in the final season.

[Blergh]

20 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Good point, but it’s not definitive proof.  Ultimately, we don’t know how Oliver was related to Carol.

Remember, I said folks 'usually' list their own blood relatives first when talking about couples, not always.

Since he called the Brady parents 'Aunt Carol' and 'Uncle Mike', IMO it's more likely than not that CO was the blood nephew of Carol and 1st cousin to the Brady sisters rather than just the Brady sisters' cousin via their hidden bio paternal side (with the fate of Mr. Martin and/or how Carol's union with him  ended never spelled out).

[Blergh]

6 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

I often wonder had the show continued into a sixth and even 7th season..if the show would have let Cindy grow up.  Susan Olsen was 12, almost 13 when the show was canceled..and she was still in kid stories even in the final season.

Good question.

Maybe they'd have let her be a somewhat dim bulb teen girl and had a preteen girl cousin of Cousin Oliver join so they could have kids' stories.

BTW, Robert Reed's refusal to participate (but hanging out the set to be a support to his colleagues)  in the series' last original episode got the Schwartzes to fire him. Thus, had the series returned, Mike would have been killed offstage and Carol would have been widowed (again?) and perhaps gone on speed dating early on to quickly wed  a widower with small children. .but would those new characters have been Bradys? Then again CO was never a Brady but Carol welcomed him to the family with a pie in the face anyway!

[Katy M]

14 hours ago, LexieLily said:

When did they have a parakeet? 

When somebody (Peter or Bobby, I forget which) broke his ankle or leg or something.  Then it got loose and said injured boy who was afraid of heights had to climb a tree to save him.

7 hours ago, Blergh said:

and perhaps gone on speed dating early on to quickly wed  a widower with small children. .but would those new characters have been Bradys?

If she married someone else who coincidentally also had the last name Brady.  It could happen.

[mmecorday]

Quote

When somebody (Peter or Bobby, I forget which) broke his ankle or leg or something.  Then it got loose and said injured boy who was afraid of heights had to climb a tree to save him.

It was Bobby. He fell while attempting to climb up a tree and sprained his ankle. What was it with this show and sprained ankles? Alice had one, Bobby had one, Jan had one. And in each case a sprained ankle was treated like some sort of life changing injury that requires immediate bed rest. 

[Bethany]

1 hour ago, mmecorday said:

And in each case a sprained ankle was treated like some sort of life changing injury that requires immediate bed rest. 

Like little Cindy's sneeze!  Now fair enough this did lead to her actually having to have a tonsillectomy if memory serves but honestly who calls a doctor when a child sneezes!!

[Blergh]

15 hours ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

Like little Cindy's sneeze!  Now fair enough this did lead to her actually having to have a tonsillectomy if memory serves but honestly who calls a doctor when a child sneezes!!

And let's not forget that the doctor actually used the very same tongue depressor on both Cindy and Carol when checking out their sore throats!  Yes, I get that it would have been easier for Alice to have cared for the two ailing Bradys in the very same bed instead of in two separate beds (though it wouldn't have been so easy to keep them from re-infecting each other in such close quarters) but what doctor this side of Louis Pasteur hadn't heard of not using the same instruments on more than one patient?

Edited April 7, 2023 by Blergh

[Snow Apple]

Cindy also sneezed when Greg and Marcia babysat for the first time. Carol and Mike went home early from the fancy restaurant, and Alice wanted to cancel her date with Sam. All for a sneeze. They also panicked when Jan sneezed at the dog powder. The children must be very delicate if they call doctors at the first sign of a cold. And then Cindy's tonsils proved them right.

It's funny seeing doctors make house calls on old shows. And same day visit!

[mmecorday]

And when Greg had a crush on his math teacher, Carol acted like he had the plague. 

[Egg McMuffin]

On 4/6/2023 at 4:29 AM, Blergh said:

Remember, I said folks 'usually' list their own blood relatives first when talking about couples, not always.

Since he called the Brady parents 'Aunt Carol' and 'Uncle Mike', IMO it's more likely than not that CO was the blood nephew of Carol and 1st cousin to the Brady sisters rather than just the Brady sisters' cousin via their hidden bio paternal side (with the fate of Mr. Martin and/or how Carol's union with him  ended never spelled out).

Yep - all agreed. Your earlier post said, “(despite Cousin Oliver's father being Carol's unseen brother)” and I was just pointing out that that’s not definitive.

On 4/7/2023 at 10:26 AM, Snow Apple said:

Cindy also sneezed when Greg and Marcia babysat for the first time. Carol and Mike went home early from the fancy restaurant, and Alice wanted to cancel her date with Sam. All for a sneeze. They also panicked when Jan sneezed at the dog powder. The children must be very delicate if they call doctors at the first sign of a cold. And then Cindy's tonsils proved them right.

It's funny seeing doctors make house calls on old shows. And same day visit!

I remember watching the Bradys back in the mid 70s, just a few years after that episode originally aired, and my mother commented how silly it was.

[Bethany]

I've been hanging in with these last episodes of The Brady Bunch because I assumed we were circling around to the start of the series.  Sigh.  Wrong. CHCH has taken it off the air, at least for now.   I was really looking forward to seeing the first couple of seasons again.

[Tippi]

On 4/3/2023 at 8:50 PM, Egg McMuffin said:

Where are you watching it, Elizabeth Anne? Outside of streaming, I was only aware of it on MeTV and Catchy Comedy (née Decades) and they’re both in the first season.

Can you access Pluto TV?  I think it is available there, but it may not have the full run of episodes.

[Egg McMuffin]

I’m watching the episode where Greg makes his pilgrim movie. What was the point of writing a script with dialogue when the final product was just narrated and no one spoke any lines?

[mmecorday]

Quote

Sunday at 12:39 PM

I’m watching the episode where Greg makes his pilgrim movie. What was the point of writing a script with dialogue when the final product was just narrated and no one spoke any lines?

And the Marcia and Jan both wanted to play Priscilla. And it seems that Priscilla's part ended up on the cutting room floor. 

[Bethany]

The Brady Bunch house is for sale. Owning it is like 'living in the TV show,' says realtor

[qtpye]

On 11/9/2022 at 10:39 AM, mmecorday said:

Greg shouldn't have even entertained the notion of going to college. I mean, he was going to be a major league baseball playing pop star. Why was the prom entertainment committee even seeking Davy Jones when Greg was right there with his soulful songs about pollution and clowns? 🤡

I was talking to a woman I work with who is 25 years old. She used to watch reruns of the show with her aunt.

She said that she had a big crush on Greg Brady when she was younger. When I asked her why, she responded that it was because he had big dick energy.

I wish you could have seen my face...

Edited May 30, 2023 by qtpye

[chediavolo]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:45 PM, qtpye said:

I was talking to a woman I work with who is 25 years old. She used to watch reruns of the show with her aunt.

She said that she had a big crush on Greg Brady when she was younger. When I asked her why, she responded that it was because he had big dick energy.

I wish you could have seen my face...

Classy! 😼

[smittykins]

On 4/6/2023 at 12:34 PM, mmecorday said:

And in each case a sprained ankle was treated like some sort of life changing injury that requires immediate bed rest. 

 In “Is There A Doctor In The House?”, the measles were treated like “eh, a slight fever and a few spots, no big deal.”  Which, of course, had some…interesting implications later.

[mmecorday]

Measles can be deadly, especially for those with compromised immune systems. I know Maureen McCormick was absolutely livid when a clip of Marcia saying having measles is fun was being circulated by anti-vaxers. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

59 minutes ago, chambers said:

I'm happy that episode has been banned. Too dangerous. 

Where is it banned? It was just on a few months ago.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I’ve seen all of these episodes on MeTV this year.

[mmecorday]

The Season Three episodes are all classics! Except for "Cindy Brady, Lady." That one's kind of stupid. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

21 hours ago, chambers said:

The very *phrase* Cindy Brady, Lady is awful.

Plus, i would rather watch the real Buffy Davis not a Buffy that is a chess set with 31 missing pieces and a newspaper crossword that's already been filled out. 

Not trying to be snarky, but honestly saying, I don't know what you mean. What does Buffy have to do with this show?

[mmecorday]

I read that Sherwood Schwartz wanted Cindy's hair to be like Buffy's in "Family Affair." Susan Olsen absolutely hated that hairstyle. 

[Blergh]

15 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I read that Sherwood Schwartz wanted Cindy's hair to be like Buffy's in "Family Affair." Susan Olsen absolutely hated that hairstyle. 

One of the more annoying things about it was that even when Cindy was supposed to be going to sleep, swimming,etc. (in the first few years) she was expected to always have her hair curled that way with plastic 'dingle balls' on each side of her head holding everything together instead of being shown with loose hair or her hair in curlers. At least by the latter part of the show, they let the character wear her hair loose but curled and sometimes in braids (but with the ends curled). And it must be kept in mind that in the late 1960's and early 70's the fashion was for conventional girls and women to have their hair straightened not curled but her and the late Miss Jones's styles  hearkened back to Shirley Temple's childhood locks of the 1930's (when the young Miss Temple's wavy hair was curled to exactly 57 precise curls- not sure why they picked that number but they publicized it in promos about her).

[MissT]

Late to the party here.  Not sure I understand, why are some episodes banned?   Am I missing something?    I must admit, I liked the Davey Jones episode.  Also the Silver Platter, and the singing group episodes are not shown 

Edited June 26, 2023 by MissT

[Egg McMuffin]

There are no episodes that are banned; it’s just that they’re not able to clear all of the elements for streaming, such as songs. If you watch on MeTV or Catchy Comedy, they have all the episodes.

[MissT]

18 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

There are no episodes that are banned; it’s just that they’re not able to clear all of the elements for streaming, such as songs. If you watch on MeTV or Catchy Comedy, they have all the episodes.

Gotcha.  Thank you.  

[mmecorday]

The first episode of the Grand Canyon trilogy, "Ghost Town U.S.A.," aired on Sunday on MeTV. The old prospector Zachariah T. Brown locks the family in an old jail cell and then steals their station wagon and their camper. But hey, no harm done. He comes back. They're willing to give him a hard pass. What the hell was wrong with this family? It didn't occur to them to get the law involved? Sometimes I think they were all walking around with pockets full of wooden nickles. 

I guess we can look forward to further high jinks this coming weekend as the family encounters Jimmy and his grandfather who doesn't understand "blast off" because he's old school. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Up until the airing of the Arizona three parter, all the MeTV episodes had the wrong descriptions! But. On the now defunct Decades-now Catchy, I just caught the last few from season three and the Hawaii three- parter. It’s obvious, from Robert Reed’s hair, that “Today I am a Freshman” was filmed before Hawaii, as there was no perm! And it was episode 4!😄😄

And Jan was such a bratty SNOT  in the episode where she wanted to be an only child. Her whining and obnoxiousness made me want to punch her. Then accusing her brothers and sisters of being “fake” just because they were being nice to her?!

[Laura Holt]

I always felt that Jan was supposed to be the Brady girl we liked and sympathized with but most of the time I thought she was annoying.  Of course this may have been because I am the oldest of three girls and for me it's all about Marcia, but still, she just came across as selfish so much of the time.

[Blergh]

On 7/10/2023 at 6:01 PM, mmecorday said:

The first episode of the Grand Canyon trilogy, "Ghost Town U.S.A.," aired on Sunday on MeTV. The old prospector Zachariah T. Brown locks the family in an old jail cell and then steals their station wagon and their camper. But hey, no harm done. He comes back. They're willing to give him a hard pass. What the hell was wrong with this family? It didn't occur to them to get the law involved? Sometimes I think they were all walking around with pockets full of wooden nickles. 

I guess we can look forward to further high jinks this coming weekend as the family encounters Jimmy and his grandfather who doesn't understand "blast off" because he's old school. 

Well,at least they didn't invite the prospector to a luau-despite unlawful imprisonment and grand theft auto being crimes!

 

But then again, maybe having Professor Vincent Price being forced to listen to their conch shell blowing may have been  a worse punishment than throwing the book at him for kidnapping their sons!

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Another episode that never fails to make me tear up.

I love Alice.

So, in "Goodbye Alice, Hello" the kids really, really, really PISS me off. Especially Greg, Peter, and Marcia. Jan, Bobby, and Cindy are just lemmings.

I find that episodes where Robert Reed wasn't in, are not as enjoyable. And when Carol tells Alice "What will I tell the children?" I'm like, what about Mike? I'm sure he'd have something to say about this.

Maybe it's petty, but I loved the deadpan, no reaction from Kay, when the kids tried to get her to "play" with them. Serves them right.

And Peter should have learned from season two, when "Mom always said, don't play ball in the house" yet thought flipping a frisbee wouldn't cause anything to happen?

And then there was that obnoxious customer in the diner. When the scene opens up inside, we see that Alice has just served him whatever he ordered, yet a minute later, he's all "Miss!" "I'm in a hurry!" Hurry for what? For all you know, Alice is taking orders from SIX new customers, you ass.

But it's Alice's reaction to the kids' apology and begging her to come back that has me tearing up.

I really would have liked it if Mike had been in the episode. Just to have him rip into Greg and Marcia. Alice had been with him before Bobby was born!

[Laura Holt]

Was this the episode where Alice works in the restaurant and won't serve Marcia what she wants? "Too much ice cream makes too much Marcia" (or something like that) I hated that line!!

[smittykins]

I think so(IIRC, Alice changed Marcia’s ice cream sundae to a fruit cup).

[Snow Apple]

15 hours ago, Laura Holt said:

Was this the episode where Alice works in the restaurant and won't serve Marcia what she wants? "Too much ice cream makes too much Marcia" (or something like that) I hated that line!!

Didn't Cindy say "I'll have a sundae then" and Alice said "Make that two fruit cups." I vaguely remember that.

I hated that line too even way before I know what body shaming was and what words like that can do to people.

[bluegirl147]

On 7/13/2023 at 10:29 AM, Snow Apple said:

I hated that line too even way before I know what body shaming was and what words like that can do to people.

Sometimes you know something sounds wrong even if you don't necessarily know why.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I absolutely love "Greg Gets Grounded" as it contradicts the notion that this show was all rainbows, sunshine, and fluffy puppies, and that Carol and Mike never scolded or disciplined* their kids. 

Right off the bat, in the first five minutes, when Bobby reveals/squeals that Greg was looking at an album cover, while on the freeway, you can see how angry Mike got. One week was too good. And the more Greg argued, Mike said he should be lucky it's not two. And when Greg still protested, I love Mike's

"You want to make it three?"

And Greg KNEW what they meant when they said no driving.

And the talk they had with Bobby in "Law and Disorder" with Mike telling him that having authority in school does NOT give him the same authority at home.

But that boat? NO WAY could all NINE members fit in there comfortably.

* A few exceptions: Well, there was the first season when Mike grounded Marcia in "Father of the Year" and when Marcia got booted out of playing Juliet in "Juliet is the Sun" in the second season.

Edited July 14, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[mmecorday]

Quote

I absolutely love "Greg Gets Grounded"

I love that Greg never specifies what concert he's going to. It's just "the rock concert."