The Brady Bunch - General Discussion

[DollEyes]

Truly heartbreaking. Florence Henderson was incredible, onstage and off. Based on what I've seen and heard about her, she was beautiful in every way. 

RIP, Florence.

In deference to Ms. Henderson's most famous character, EFF YOU, 2016!!

[merylinkid]

Decided to watch a Very Brady Christmas today in honor of Florence Henderson.   Man, they could get old fashioned on this show sometimes.   Remember when Jan got proposed to first and the parents got all "We always thought Marcia would get married first" instead of being happy for her?   Well in this special we get:

1.  Carol going into the travel agency and the lady calling the bank to verify the check.   But they don't verify Mike's claim that he has the money for the trip.  Then the lady snots "Mrs. Brady, if that's who you are." 

2.   They tell Alice she is welcome to stay and she doesn't work for them anymore,  But when Carol is on the phone with Ted Roberts, you see Alice in the background on the rowing machine in her maid's uniform.   Did the woman not get any other clothes once she moved out?

3.   Peter is all "oh my girlfriend is my boss" how emasculating.   Uggh.

And don't get me started on everyone making out with their spouses/SO at work.   Be professional folks.   Leave that stuff at home.  

But, I still loved it.   I still teared up at the end when they were singing Oh Come All Ye Faithful and Mike comes out of the collapsed building (even if Jan didn't get her personal moment with Mom, but that's Jan's life).

[Dobian]

I grew up watching this show.  Just to date myself, I watched the premier as a little kid way back in 1969.  The Bradys were always my number one tv family and Florence Henderson was my number one tv mom.  She was a permanent part of the pop culture landscape.  The one silver lining was that it happened after DWTS finished and she had that wonderful tv reunion with Maureen McCormick.  RIP Mrs. Brady.

[TheLastKidPicked]

Merylinked, thank you for posting about the movie.  You are right-- we forget just how oldfashioned the show was, even in the movies.  Still, it was fun to watch a family reunion and see just how all the kids were doing.

One thing that was great about a Very Brady Christmas is the way they updated the house.  They could have left it orange and green.  They could have built a new set, with a modern home interior.

But they didn't. They updated the appliances and painted things a little more tastefully.

Exactly the way that most families would have done as they quietly updated their homes while time marched on.

I really like small touches like that.

[TheLastKidPicked]

It's always startling to see Robert Reed as a slaveowner in Roots.  

[oakville]

My daughter is a fan of Dancing with the Stars. She was curious about Maureen Mcmormick when she appeared on the show. I bought her the Brady Bunch series for Christmas. We started watching the show. It's been a long time since I watched the first season.

 

We started watching the show tonight. It's hilarious. I fell in love with the show again. 

My daughter is fascinated by the show. 

[Maverick]

 The Mrs. Dr. Stanley Vogel was on MeTV last week.  There was a scene I don't remember seeing before when Marcia daydreams that Bobby and Cindy are her prim and proper children and Alice is her French maid.  Is this like the skinny dipping scene from another episode that was cut for syndication until recently?

[legaleagle53]

14 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 The Mrs. Dr. Stanley Vogel was on MeTV last week.  There was a scene I don't remember seeing before when Marcia daydreams that Bobby and Cindy are her prim and proper children and Alice is her French maid.  Is this like the skinny dipping scene from another episode that was cut for syndication until recently?

Probably.  That daydream sequence was in the original episode.  But just to clarify, Bobby and Cindy never actually went skinny dipping. Alice caught them trying to go over to the neighbors' swim party without their swimsuits because the neighbors regularly had "clothing optional" pool parties.  She made them go back into the house to put their swimsuits on.  It was the same episode in which the older kids had started snubbing Alice because they thought she had turned squealer on them, and being snubbed by the older kids so upset her that she quit her job over it.

Edited January 12, 2017 by legaleagle53

[oceanblue]

Yes, Bobby and Cindy opened their robes and were naked, but they never actually hit water!  Way to go Alice for sending them to a clothing optional party in swimsuits.  Let's all imagine the talk Dad has to have with them to explain the many things they learned.

[ByaNose]

On ‎9‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 4:32 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Nope. The Davy Jones episode was at the end of season three, which would make Marcia 15. Remember this was the season where she did the makeover in her senior class. She started high school the following season.  And since she was 16-17 in the last season, season 5-by counting back, Marcia would be 15! She was 13 in season 2.

Were these Brady Bunch years or Maureen McCormick years. I don't think Barry, Maureen, Chris or Eve were playing their real ages, were they?

[ginger90]

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

Were these Brady Bunch years or Maureen McCormick years. I don't think Barry, Maureen, Chris or Eve were playing their real ages, were they?

Maureen is 60, so she played very close, if not at her own age. Eve is 58.

[ByaNose]

3 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Maureen is 60, so she played very close, if not at her own age. Eve is 58.

and, Chris is 59. Only, Barry was slightly older and playing younger. He is 62. I had to use Google for that. LOL!!

[UYI]

On 1/31/2017 at 3:28 PM, ByaNose said:

and, Chris is 59. Only, Barry was slightly older and playing younger. He is 62. I had to use Google for that. LOL!!

Don't feel bad. I know all their ages WITHOUT using Google. -_-

[King of Birds]

This one showed up on my facebook today.  Pork Chops and Apple Sauce: Appraising the Brady Bunch’s Art Collection.  Our family had something similar to the sunburst clock.

[Waterston Fan]

Watching 'A Very Brady Christmas' around Christmastime was different. It was like, she's really gone. Funny that the screen shot of the movie that is shown on youtube, Mike, Alice and Carol are now gone. 

Even though I had to go to work, I played the Brady Bunch theme song from my phone in the break room. Thankfully no one was there so it wasn't going to bother them. 

[mmecorday]

Is it just me or were all the Bobby-centric episodes terrible? I can't even watch the one where he sprains his ankle and then acquires a fear of heights and a parakeet. And his crush on Jesse James was almost as disturbing as the voices in Jan's head. By the time the little maniac becomes the official school snitch and abuses the heck out of his power, Mike and Carol should have seriously thought about getting some therapy for him. I wouldn't buy a magazine subscription or hair tonic from him. I would, however, buy Sunflower Girl cookies from Peter. The Peter-centric episodes were OK, except maybe for the one where he discovers there's a new guy in school who looks just like him.

[Snow Apple]

Yeah, the Bobby episodes are either boring or obnoxious. Don't forget how he messed up Greg's date with Rachael. The runaway, missing Tiger, and the pool table episodes were boring. The Joe Namath one was embarrassing. I'm not fond of his dreams either.

Though I have to say Bobby was my favorite part of Sunshine Days.

[oakville]

I just saw the Bobby sprains his ankle episode. It was nice that everyone covered for Bobby. My daughter is Binge watching the Brady Bunch after seeing Maureen on Dancing with the Stars.

The shows were fun to watch with good lessons for kids.

[VCRTracking]

Comments in this YouTube clip from the episode "Cyrano De Brady" have pointed out the girl Kerry(who Peter has a crush on but likes Greg), looks just like Jan from the 90s Brady Bunch movies and now I can't unsee it!

[Snow Apple]

I noticed that the first time I saw the move (yeah, I watch all the episodes so many times that I even remember what the guest stars look like). It was really distracting. Glad it's not just me.

Fun fact, "Kerry" was little Gretel in the movie The Sound of Music.

[VCRTracking]

On 5/28/2017 at 5:41 PM, Snow Apple said:

Fun fact, "Kerry" was little Gretel in the movie The Sound of Music.

That's two people from the Sound of Music. Friedrich was Doug, the "Big Man on Campus"!

Watching the Hawaii episodes I really like how Mike and Carol refer to Mr. Hanalei, who warns the boys about the taboo idol as "superstitious old gentleman" instead of "superstitious old man". The latter sounds derisive , while the former is more respectful. And he did nothing wrong!

Edited June 7, 2017 by VCRTracking

[mmecorday]

Quote

And he did nothing wrong!

I totally read this in Mr. Hanalei's voice. "Bad things come to those who touch!"

[Katy M]

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 4:57 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Either she was going to go by herself (which I don't buy for a second), or she was doing to dump the guy she was going to go with. Either way, it's a head scratcher and irritating at the same time.

Davey Jones (something) suddenly came up.

[VCRTracking]

On 5/22/2017 at 9:52 AM, mmecorday said:

Is it just me or were all the Bobby-centric episodes terrible? I can't even watch the one where he sprains his ankle and then acquires a fear of heights and a parakeet. And his crush on Jesse James was almost as disturbing as the voices in Jan's head. By the time the little maniac becomes the official school snitch and abuses the heck out of his power, Mike and Carol should have seriously thought about getting some therapy for him. I wouldn't buy a magazine subscription or hair tonic from him. I would, however, buy Sunflower Girl cookies from Peter. The Peter-centric episodes were OK, except maybe for the one where he discovers there's a new guy in school who looks just like him.

Agree on Bobby episodes but I do like the Bobby episode where it turns out he's awesome at playing pool.  I also like the one where Peter meets his double, Arthur mainly because Arthur is smitten by Jan when he sees her so you have Christopher Knight getting really close to Eve Plumb and looking at her with, I don't know how else to describe it: lust! Also Mike's boss' niece who was played by the Violet Beauregard from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! She looks like a hot version of Velma from Scooby Doo in this episode. Or Alex Dunphy from Modern Family if she grew up in the early 70s:

Edited July 14, 2017 by VCRTracking

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Agree on Bobby episodes but I do like the Bobby episode where it turns out he's awesome at playing pool.

I don't even remember that one.  I only liked peter and Jan, though.  And sometimes Cindy when she wasn't TOO dopey. 

[VCRTracking]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

8 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Agree on Bobby episodes but I do like the Bobby episode where it turns out he's awesome at playing pool.

I don't even remember that one.  I only liked peter and Jan, though.  And sometimes Cindy when she wasn't TOO dopey. 

It was in the last season and when Oliver joined. Jim Backus was the guest star playing one of Mike's clients who gave the Bradys a pool table and whom Bobby wipes the floor at playing against him. Both the Howells from Gilligan's Island(Sherwood Schwartz' previous show) showed up in the Brady Bunch final season. Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III) and then Natalie Schafer("Lovey") in another episode as Mike's client whom Cindy mistakenly thinks is a producer looking for the new "Shirley Temple". That's one of the dopey Cindy episodes. It would have worked maybe in season 3 or 4 but she was far too old by then to be even considered the new Shirley.

Edited July 14, 2017 by VCRTracking

[mmecorday]

Yeah, the Shirley Temple episode was Susan Olson's least favorite of the series. I feel embarrassed for her when I watch it. The writers couldn't decide if Cindy should be smart or stupid. In the first season she was capable of learning dialogue for the "Fairy Princess" play, but then she couldn't spell her sister's name on a campaign poster. She couldn't spell Mark Mallard, but was such a brainiac she was chosen to be on the "Question the Kids" TV show.

[Katy M]

@VCRTracking, I remember the Shirley Temple episode.  Yes, that would have been cute in season 1.  Susan Olsen said the same thing about how it would have been betters a few seasons earlier.  I still don't remember the pool table episode, though.  Oh well. 

I think I liked Cindy best when it wasn't a Cindy-centric episode.  Although, I did like the secret admirer episode.  There was just something so something about her hanging up the phone, picking it up again to call him "secret admirer" and then hanging up again.  And that's one of the episodes where Bobby is more palatable also, because although that whole thing was designed to blow up in his face, it was one of the few times he was doing something purely for someone else, and not trying to be ridiculous.

[VCRTracking]

12 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I still don't remember the pool table episode, though.  Oh well. 

Well here's a screencap:

2 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Yeah, the Shirley Temple episode was Susan Olson's least favorite of the series. I feel embarrassed for her when I watch it. The writers couldn't decide if Cindy should be smart or stupid. In the first season she was capable of learning dialogue for the "Fairy Princess" play, but then she couldn't spell her sister's name on a campaign poster. She couldn't spell Mark Mallard, but was such a brainiac she was chosen to be on the "Question the Kids" TV show.

Sitcoms either want a little kid to be super precocious and smart, making wisecracks a 40 year old comedy writer would think, or make them dumb.

[legaleagle53]

9 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

It was in the last season and when Oliver joined. Jim Backus was the guest star playing one of Mike's clients who gave the Bradys a pool table and whom Bobby wipes the floor at playing against him. Both the Howells from Gilligan's Island(Sherwood Schwartz' previous show) showed up in the Brady Bunch final season. Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III) and then Natalie Schafer("Lovey") in another episode as Mike's client whom Cindy mistakenly thinks is a producer looking for the new "Shirley Temple". That's one of the dopey Cindy episodes. It would have worked maybe in season 3 or 4 but she was far too old by then to be even considered the new Shirley.

Which is exactly what Susan Olson herself thought of the episode, which she hated with a passion.  She was 12 at the time, and she just rolled her eyes and thought, "Yeah, this would be really funny -- five years ago!"

8 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Yeah, the Shirley Temple episode was Susan Olson's least favorite of the series. I feel embarrassed for her when I watch it. The writers couldn't decide if Cindy should be smart or stupid. In the first season she was capable of learning dialogue for the "Fairy Princess" play, but then she couldn't spell her sister's name on a campaign poster. She couldn't spell Mark Mallard, but was such a brainiac she was chosen to be on the "Question the Kids" TV show.

Which she screwed up because she got stage fright -- after having been an insufferable little brat to everyone because she thought she was oh so cool because she had been chosen to compete when Bobby hadn't because he never bothered to study for the preliminary test rounds.

Edited July 15, 2017 by legaleagle53

[mmecorday]

Right, because none of the Brady kids handled success or failure very well. But because of the "Question the Kids" show, and Marcia's armchair coaching, I have never forgotten that Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana.

[MarkHB]

One of the things that went right over my head as a kid, but amazes me now when watching the Bradys or Gilligan, is just how funny Jim Backus was.

[legaleagle53]

53 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

Right, because none of the Brady kids handled success or failure very well. But because of the "Question the Kids" show, and Marcia's armchair coaching, I have never forgotten that Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana.

Neither have I -- and I even lived there for a year at the turn of the millennium (I wish I'd moved to New Orleans instead)!

Edited July 15, 2017 by legaleagle53

[VCRTracking]

11 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

12 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Right, because none of the Brady kids handled success or failure very well. But because of the "Question the Kids" show, and Marcia's armchair coaching, I have never forgotten that Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana.

Neither have I -- and I even lived there for a year at the turn of the millennium (I wish I'd moved to New Orleans instead)!

A similar episode of Family Ties where Alex and Mallory go on a TV quiz show ensured I will forever know SCUBA stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

Edited July 15, 2017 by VCRTracking

[Katy M]

6 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

A similar episode of Family Ties where Alex and Mallory go on a TV quiz show ensured I will forever know SCUBA stands for Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

And that the Strait of Massachussetts is totally a real thing:)

[Snow Apple]

I found my people.

Baton Rouge, SCUBA, and that AU is the symbol for gold (from The Facts of Life) were all learned from sitcoms and never to be forgotten.

[mmecorday]

Also, "A primate has the size and shape of a monkey, man, or any old ape."

 

[legaleagle53]

7 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Also, "A primate has the size and shape of a monkey, man, or any old ape."

 

And "a vertebrate has a back that's straight."

The last time I watched that episode, I was able to pause the shot of the test after Peter got his grade, and it didn't really look all that difficult.  It was actually all pretty common scientific knowledge that I wouldn't have to be smarter than a fifth-grader to know, much less an eighth grader like Peter.  He got off easy with that D.

Edited July 29, 2017 by legaleagle53

[VCRTracking]

Christopher Knight became funnier in the 4th season when his voice was cracking for real, not fake cracking like in "Time to Change" episode the previous season.

 

[VCRTracking]

On 7/14/2017 at 1:08 PM, Katy M said:

I still don't remember the pool table episode, though.  Oh well. 

I didn't even realize it was Robert Reed's last episode(he didn't appear in the finale) until I found this MeTV article from last year!

How the cast of 'The Brady Bunch' changed from their first to last episode
 

Quote

 

Robert Reed didn't appear in the last episode of the series because he didn't like the plot. Instead, his last appearance is in the penultimate episode, "The Hustler." 

 

Here's the rest of the cast:

They included Cousin Oliver for some reason but he actually like he changed a bit during his short time on the show!

[TheLastKidPicked]

Well, well, well, look at the date right above (especially the year) and the date of today's post.

Checking in to report that METV had a commercial today that they will be running "A very Brady Christmas" again this year.

Something comforting about seeing the whole family together on TV each year.

[Waterston Fan]

On 11/9/2017 at 9:33 AM, TheLastKidPicked said:

Well, well, well, look at the date right above (especially the year) and the date of today's post.

Checking in to report that METV had a commercial today that they will be running "A very Brady Christmas" again this year.

Something comforting about seeing the whole family together on TV each year.

I hope we haven't missed it yet. Might just watch it on Youtube anyways, if it's still there. 

[VCRTracking]

On 11/28/2016 at 2:38 PM, TheLastKidPicked said:

One thing that was great about a Very Brady Christmas is the way they updated the house.  They could have left it orange and green.  They could have built a new set, with a modern home interior.

But they didn't. They updated the appliances and painted things a little more tastefully.

Exactly the way that most families would have done as they quietly updated their homes while time marched on.

I really like small touches like that.

Yeah, me too. When I think about it, back in 1988 as a 11 year old the distance of the Christmas reunion and the final BB episode of 14 years seemed huge. Now in 2017,  2003 doesn't seem that long ago or different, but thinking about it a LOT has changed. No Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, iPhones, the idea of the President being either African-American or Donald Trump both seemed unlikely.

Also, we make fun of clothes and hair from the early 70s but early 2000s fashion was ATROCIOUS.

Edited November 18, 2017 by VCRTracking

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 10/21/2017 at 5:32 PM, VCRTracking said:

Here's the rest of the cast:

Thank you for posting those, VCRTracking.  Love your screenname, by the way.

Did any of you see the Nick at Night classic rewind where the kids are jumping on the trampoline, and Mike and Carol are cheering on the kids?  And when they do the rewind you can hear:

"Go get 'em Chris!"

"Why don't you give it a try, Eve!"

Wait?!  Chris?  Eve?

Them calling the actors by their real names while cheering them on shows just how much thay cared about each other.  I like moments like that, especially when it's on accident.

[MarkHB]

[MarkHB]

The difference is that those fashions in the 70's (say, what we saw Mike in in the perm era) was actually what people might wear to work.  These ladies here are apparently out clubbing; no one was wearing that as daywear in 2003.  And I say this as someone whose mom bought him a leisure suit at age 11 (and I loved it!)

[GHScorpiosRule]

I admit it; I'm a SAP when it comes to certain episodes, and the Christmas episode is no exception. I ALWAYS cry when Cindy is asking Santa that all she wants is for her Mommy to get her voice back for Christmas. And that when Carol is singing in Church. Though I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the the almost...operatic way of singing, instead of how she starts to sing, when she realizes she's got her voice back.

"He's better than a doctor. He's SANTA CLAUS!" *sniff* I just love that line; I don't care how corny it is.

[Blergh]

Ann B. Davis sure proved more professional re keeping character than Mr. Williams or the late Miss Henderson proved to be in that trampoline scene- not only did she not call any of the other characters by the performers' names but she jumped on the trampoline in full 'Alice' uniform keeping her shoes and even her apron on! LOL

 

Oh, yeah, that Christmas episode was the perfect place for Cindy's naivete saving the day!

[Waterston Fan]

I watched the movie that was on ME TV but recorded it. Can't find it on Youtube now. 

I just realized one glaring thing of the movie, Mike and Carol tell both kids to keep the trip a secret so once the parents find out what they wanted to do for each other, the kids kind rat them out. What is up with that? 

I feel like Cindy for sure, everyone expect me to do what they want me to do. 

[legaleagle53]

13 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I admit it; I'm a SAP when it comes to certain episodes, and the Christmas episode is no exception. I ALWAYS cry when Cindy is asking Santa that all she wants is for her Mommy to get her voice back for Christmas. And that when Carol is singing in Church. Though I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the the almost...operatic way of singing, instead of how she starts to sing, when she realizes she's got her voice back.

"He's better than a doctor. He's SANTA CLAUS!" *sniff* I just love that line; I don't care how corny it is.

It's especially poignant since it was just 13 months ago that Florence Henderson passed on.