The Last Episode of the Brady Bunch Was Weird

The Brady Bunch 

        March 8, 1974, The Brady Bunch aired its final episode on ABC. This was a case of they really didn't know if this was going to be the last episode while filming it, but, really now? I am a big fan of the series, but I can say that some episodes weren't very strong or good.  I do think the fifth season, the final season, also seems to be the weakest and oddest of the entire series.  There's even an episode that was trying to be a pilot to get out of here. 

        For the cousin Oliver dis-likers, yeah this is the season he shows up. I will add that he doesn't do anything to make the show bad, he's alright, if anything, it's because season 5 and the show was tired. Oliver didn't kill the show.  All of this is weird for someone who is a fan to say, but we're doing it. 

         The final episode doesn't have that feeling of finality, again because someone there was confident enough to think we can get a new season, we're awesome!  Also even ending in March wasn't uncommon for a season of this series, so it ending on March 8 didn't give a sense of it wasn't going to be back. 

         There's one person you don't see in the final episode at all, that's Robert Reed, you know Mike Brady. He didn't like the episode at all.   Reed had many times argued over scripts and things as writing shows has people and human emotions and ideas. This one apparently was like "I refuse"  to even touch it.   He didn't even like storm off and never return he was also watching the episode get filmed, so that's dedication of something.   There are sources that say he didn't the episode was good quality television, which I mean,  it's not a very good episode,  but odd line to draw here.   Or he didn't like the idea that hair tonic was written to cause someone's hair to turn orange, thinking that was unrealistic. I am concerned too.  (something here) 

       It's time.  "The Hair-Brained Scheme" , season 5, episode 22. 

    The episode starts with Greg is getting ready to graduate,  but that's not the plot of the episode, because that's really only there for the comedic drama of what happens to Greg before that big milestone.  The plot is about Bobby ordering hair tonic to resell.  Bobby paid for 12 bottles for $1 each (oof 1974 money) and the company says why not sell it for $2 a bottle.   Cindy has also been inspired and is going get rabbits to mate -not joking, to sell rabbits, she buys the rabbits from the pet store, where people can go also buy rabbits, so she can sell baby rabbits to people who could also go the pet store and buy rabbits.  

            Bobby decides to enlist Oliver into his whatever this is and now Bobby will have to sell more bottles to be a millionaire.  They go to Greg, (you remember Greg , right?) and he doesn't want to play in whatever this is and tells them to go away.  (how true people react to salesmen)  Cindy's new plan is get two rabbits from the pet shop, let them make babies and sell the babies back to the pet shop. Oh..  also someone taught Cindy where babies come from apparently.  

            Carol Brady is like just kind of here this episode. She's like hey my son bought hair tonic, well it's his stupid way of spending money, oh well.  Oh my daughter has bought rabbits, oh well, I wish I was with Mike, he's been standing outside our house for some reason.  She's very accommodating this episode.   Bobby isn't good at selling this hair tonic, he insults a woman, bothers a man with no peddlers sign on his house, and a bald man.  He should be happy that they didn't think he was wearing a toupee.  

            Bobby wants to quit. Carol decides that Bobby shouldn't quit.  I think this time, Bobby should have quit, he's selling dodgy magazine hair tonic, well I mean trying to sell, this isn't like playing the trumpet or something. I think there are good reasons to quit. Show don't play that music here, this isn't a good moral in this case.   The context if a line saying "The Great Ones Never Quit" whilst Robert Reed quit the episode was that written in there out of spite? Were they calling him out? (Things are happening)  Did Thomas Edison quit? There's an elephant that wished he quit.  Also there's a few people who wished he did. 

Did Robert Reed Quit? Well? / Copyright Paramoun 

         I will say that I don't think the episode is bad through the whole thing, it's being goofy here , but nothing that really makes it awful.  Carol and Bobby's moment was pretty nice, even if she's like please don't quit selling the dodgy hair tonic.  Even as someone who is a Bobby fan, I do feel they had a better plot in the background of Greg getting ready to graduate, him giving Peter his jacket is nice. Would have been better to have a plot about maybe Greg getting nervous about the whole thing and stuff happening. 

        Greg feels bad for Bobby and decides to buy hair tonic. The three brothers moment was pretty fun.  Bobby really wants it to be proven that Greg didn't buy it out of pity instead of just accepting the money and letting Greg go on with his day. He wants Greg to put some on. 

   Bobby puts it on his eldest brother's head, then freaks out and runs away. The episode doesn't give away what happened at first. ( I wonder if Greg is bald now) Then it shows he has orange hair, which is the most amazing hair dye ever , how fast it did it. 

        The episode turned into "Lol, what if Greg's hair turned orange?".  Which I'm sure the real red heads enjoyed.  Oliver has turned away from Bobby and will work with Cindy instead.  I will say this is the first and only episode where the word "sex" is mentioned. All with a joke where Oliver makes Carol flustered trying to explain why male rabbits don't have babies. (how very un-PC) 

Cool it Oliver, you can't say sex on a TV G show, wait huh? /Copyright Paramount

            Carol doesn't want her eldest son to kill her youngest son. So she finds away to help things.  Oh the scammy hair company was a shady? I'm shocked. Also Carol was like I knew they were shady, but she was earlier saying Bobby shouldn't quit things like selling the shady company's hair tonic.  Greg has to go to the beauty salon to get fixed.  Episode is like "Lol, Greg has to go to the beauty salon  and sees two girls from school there."  He also makes up to the girls that's his mom is actually bald.  

I've covered my eyes to hide my lie/ Copyright Paramount 

             Also, guess what Juliet , of the rabbits named Romeo and Juliet, is a boy rabbit.  Which is the least tragic twist characters with those names have experienced.  The two plots help each other out as Bobby has to pour out the hair tonic and accidently pours it on the rabbits and makes them orange. The pet shop ends up buying the fake orange rabbits. 

          I'm sure someone would have not really enjoyed the idea of orange/red hair being seen as awful probably wouldn't have enjoyed the episode from that aspect.  Greg getting green hair also could have worked, I'm saying that because that was even a suggestion of how it could have been worse for Greg? But it also can be passed as saying that Greg was worried about his hair getting ruined or something, and if it wasn't safe tonic.  I don't think the episode was bad because of that and I don't think it was going after red heads in general.  

       There is some weirdness to the plot. Carol shows skepticism about the hair tonic, but thinks it's alright her son can sell it, then when Bobby decides to quit, she's like woah. I get the message of "don't quit" it doesn't fit this episode when it probably was for the best for him to take his loss and quit. Then she's like I knew they were shady when she finds out they were taken down by the FDA. Episode didn't know what do with Carol there at all.  Maybe there were things set for Mike and that ended up being Carol's lines. Maybe Mike was supposed to be the one to encourage his son to not quit because that seems like something he'd say, and then have it go back to Carol when she's the one to find out the shady company was actually shady.   Otherwise, pick a lane episode. 

          I don't know why the episode mentions Greg's graduation where it really does nothing for the plot, except give an urgent recent as to why he wants his hair to go back to normal quick. That could even be swapped for really anything else and still fit.  It doesn't make the episode feel more grand or give it a sense finality -even for a season finale- where if the show was going to come back, what happens to Greg? Or , I mean, what would the show have done? 

            I do  think the episode isn't that good, but not an awful episode.  It fits with how the show worked, with a goofy plot that seemingly decides to go with at least Bobby didn't sell that stuff to some random person, after all. The Cindy and the rabbits part kind of just happens without questioning it too much, there is the fun that the two plots did come together, but kind of worrying that someone wanted the hair tonic to sell people fake orange rabbits.  

         Maybe Reed did overreact or was very bothered by hair tonic being demeaned, or red heads....  It's not even the strangest Brady Bunch plot. I don't know.   Funny enough, for how much Oliver has been maligned, there's really nothing he adds or takes away from the episode. If he wasn't there nothing changes. I guess the mention of sex doesn't happen, but sure.  

That's it for now, tune in next time when we wonder how the episode would have gone if Greg had gone bald.          

        

        

The Brady Buch: Kiss the Boy and Make him ill? (Never Too Young)

The Brady Bunch 

      Back to The Brady Bunch and an episode you won't find streaming (as of this writing) and that's from season 5, it's the 4th episode "Never Too Young".  

          I may have stated this before, but if not, Bobby is my favorite of the Brady kids, always has been, though I can say Alice was best character overall.  I say this because this episode centers around him and  since this is season 5 that means it's the final season. I will say I do think that the final season does have alot of weaker episodes, they kind of feel they were felling crunched to write things for this show. This is the season they had a backdoor pilot  for a spinoff and the controversial addition of Oliver, which I'll get to in the future. [ I hope.]    

  

         This also means the series has gone long enough to the point where Bobby would be close to the age Peter's character was in the series when it started.  That means that maybe he might be getting close to be interested in girls, the fun way. Greg and Peter are going to meet up with girls and don't want to play basketball with Bobby. (Though when Greg and Peter get married, they'll be more interested in basketball, laugh track)  Bobby even says he'd rather kiss a basketball or catcher's mitt "...than any dumb ole' girl." I wonder what's going to happen in this episode. 

                Then a girl named Millicent shows up.  She's played by Melissa Sue Anderson, whom you may know from "Little House on the Prairie" if you don't know her from "Little House on the Prairie" then ok then. (Are you sure?) This actually would be a year before that series even started and she'd only a role on Bewitched   which (not witch) ended a few weeks after her episode aired.   Here though she's Cindy's friend mostly as a reason to have her randomly show up , I guess.  She's not come to see Cindy, she's come to see Bobby. (who isn't Cindy) She then kisses him to thank him.  Get it? He'd rather kiss anything than a girl then a girl comes and kisses him, laugh you! 

I'm not a basketball/ Copyright Paramount 

           Bobby sees fireworks, which I think is the show saying that this wasn't just a ewww a kiss this oh boy a kiss! (science!)  He wants her to promise that she'll never tell anyone she kissed him. Cindy knows because Cindy has been established to be a snoop and eavesdropper.  Bobby is caught up in the kiss and caught up in the skyrockets of love. (that should be a song) 

             There is a side plot with the parents doing a 20's dance thing  seems the kids are going to be part it too. (Fun fact the 20's in distance of time here is like the 1970's in 2020's in time, be scared!) The parents are concerned that Bobby seems to be in a daze about the kiss. What was in that kiss?  I do  hope that this episode isn't [currently] streaming because of the use of the hit 1928 song "I Wanna Be Loved by You"  even though they were covering it and not using the exact song. Either way, as of 2024 the song is public domain so.. what was I doing again? 

          I thought Greg going to see a girl? Why is he... anyway Cindy decides that likes to tell people secrets and finds her siblings to tell them she has a secret.   (She knows where Jimmy Hoffa is buried?) Bobby is having love visions of him kissing Millicent and then practicing kissing in the mirror.  Bobby goes to Cindy to find out what the secret is about?  She plays a game to stretch out the time a bit and  he figures out she knows about the kiss. He begs to her to keep the secret. 

I want your soul/ Copyright Paramount 

            The other siblings show up to find out what the secret is.  So what does she do? A) Tell them.  B) Makes up a secret C)  Doesn't tell them   D) Bobby tells them.  Well...  you have time.   The answer is C) doesn't tell them and tells them she never had one. 

            Bobby goes to his father about the facets of kissing. He wonders what the skyrockets mean. It fun to see that Bobby still goes with kissing then eventually equals marriage. (Well it does, what are you saying?)  With some fatherly advice he goes to see her and see if another kiss would cause sky rockets in flight.  (Thinkin' of hers been workin' up his appetite)  He geos to her and kisses her but oops we have news. (good news?)  no, bad news! 

Door to door sales boys really needed to calm down/ Copyright Paramount 

        Millicent says that he shouldn't have done that why? because she might have the mumps. This is back before a vaccine was readily around or something. Silly 70's. (laugh at them)  That means the rest of the plot is now about Bobby worrying about his family finding out he kissed a girl because of the mumps. He also needs other people to know unless he wants to cause a small pandemic. I'm not using the word correctly, because I don't want to.  

              He decides the best plan is to not tell his family, try to stay away from them and watch them reenact the 1920's. (minus them getting drunk on illegal alcohol) He calls Millicent to see if she is sick so that he be relieved or not, but there won't be any answers until 10 AM, the next day. (on most of these ABC stations)  There's nice to little charm to Mrs. Brady going into the boy's room (Greg had moved the attic, at the end of season 4) and tucking in Peter and Bobby. Though, she won't find Bobby  and gets nervous and calls out to find him.  They do find him since the genius decided to play music while laying in the doghouse.  (They used to have a dog) 

I miss our dog/ Copyright Paramount 

            The episode yadas everything we already knew and cuts to after Bobby explained everything. The real moral of this episode is the mumps are scary.  I do find it funny, in season 1 Mike never had chicken pox, and he also here never had Mumps. Man was avoiding all plagues like a king. He has to wait and the secret gets out.  Anyway, she doesn't have the mumps.   We get a nice a Carol and Mike moment. The 20's dance contest plot seemed to go well too. 

The 1920's?  this is how people dress now/ Copyright Paramount 

          This isn't a weak episode of the show, but not a stand out one either. Or far out, but it's a nice Bobby story about him experiencing his first kiss and feelings around that.  It's fun to see him wondering what's going on and why he feels that way.  There's a nice little charm to him not wanting his family to know either.  The mumps plot then comes in and that's really oddly added in I guess to have it make sure he tells his family that kissed a girl and liked it.  There are other ways he could have tried to hide it and it getting out and seeing the results, but alright.  Funny, enough we never see his brothers' reactions to it.  Cindy deciding to not tell her siblings was a nice thing for her character good to see her reaction and taking some consideration for Bobby there. 

        I do like this episode, myself, whilst not the best episode, it's pretty fun and a good Bobby outing. And with how this season does go weird at times this was still pretty nice episode and still grounded.     

That's it for now, tune in next time when we go back and time and give everyone a mumps vaccine. 

                 

                

        

Coming Through the Back Door: The Brady Bunch: Kelly's Kids

Backdoor Pilots   The Brady Bunch  The Flashback 

      I haven't done a post related to a back door pilot in sometime or the Brady Bunch, which is also odd, so let's do it! 

 

            I remember this episode of The Brady Bunch  watching it (reruns) as a kid and being confused as to where the Bradys went.   Being a kid and not knowing everything (what?)  and not knowing a) this was reruns and b) what a backdoor pilot was, this episode got to me.   I came here to watch "The Brady Bunch" where are they?  

       

         This backdoor pilot is from season 5 which would also happen to be the final season of the series.   Season 5 is genuinely kind of odd it kind of becomes.  There's an episode where  Greg steals a goat and the parents think that he's hiding a girl in his room which is the goat, but woah.  There's an episode where Greg gets Peter to dress up as a some other guy named "Phil Packer"  and it's gets weird.  Though I do like there's a random episode where they go to Cincinnati, not often do you get shows just going to Cincinnati as a plot line.   I will add that I love "Never Too Young" (that's also my Bobby's my favorite kid Brady bias)  

      This is the season they really don't know what to do with Cindy, they want to keep her "the youngest one in curls" but she's not that young anymore and they didn't want to write older plots for her as much because they did it Jan before so... uhhh I don't know. They also added Cousin Oliver, who really can't be blamed for "ruining the show" the show was dying, he came in January 25, 1974, the series finale aired on March 8th  so really at this point the network was like "ehhh, who cares we're not going to continue this" but you know reasons. 

     

     Oh yeah our episode is from January 4, 1974, it's called "Kelly's Kids" . You can also tell maybe that Sherwood Schwartz, the creator, was also looking to find another show make, feeling that this show was on the way out.  

   

            You what be interesting? The Bradys have neighbors but we see them so why not make up a neighbor couple and see where that goes. (The pitch meeting for "The Ropers")  This back door pilot starts with telling you that Ken Barry  and Brooke Bundy are in this episode.

      Ken Barry, oddly, had experience in taking over a show after the main actor leaves and becoming it's own show.  He was featured in episodes The Andy Griffith Show as a widowed father named Sam Jones to then take up the leading role in the spin-off called "Mayberry R.F.D" where he plays a single widowed father with a young son. (So the viewers wouldn't be scared that Andy left or something,)  That show was purged during CBS' we need TV shows to be hip  modern and no more rural...  era.   In this Brady Bunch episode he plays a man maned Ken Kelly. 

     Brooke Bundy was doing roles in different shows since the 1960's she was in alot of shows like "The Donna Reed Show" , "My Three Sons" , "Wagon Train", etc.. if "Kelly's Kids" had become a series, it would have been her first starring TV show role. She played Kathy Kelly. (They need to calm down) 

           The episode starts by tricking the Brady Bunch viewers into thinking it's a normal episode, like that episode where Mike's Grandpa ends up marrying Carol's Grandma.  Then it goes to the family room and Carol and Mike are talking to Kathy and Ken. Ken is talking about they are adopting a child.

So we noticed you have 6, can we have one?/ Copyright Paramount

 

     

       The Brady Bunch was a unique  show at the time, there wasn't really anything about a blended family in a show.  We don't get it much it much now in TV.  The idea of a show about a family with adopted son is very different to what TV was doing at the time... interesting for the concept.  

     

       The adopted child is named Matt, who is played by Tood Lookinland, this kid is the younger brother of Mike Lookinland who is Bobby Brady. (fun) Like his brother, he also was doing some acting and  he would even appear in a an American adaptation series of the Swedish movie "The New Land" later in 1974.   

   

          Like I said, the episode baits with Brady's and switches to show us  Matt Kelly now being introduced to his family and we are in their house.  The laugh track needs to calm down.  Anyway,  you know what a spinoff needs there's a woman named Mrs. Payne (obvious name is obvious)  her job is to be annoying. She comes in and says "uh you have kids, ew" even more "eww, adopted child, I don't have children, eww boys ,eww children"  This is also Molly Dodd's second time playing in the show and she's a good actress, and she's good here playing this woman we aren't supposed to like or something.  Laugh track tells me I'm supposed to laugh. 

ha ha ha? / Copyright Paramount

          Kathy was talking to Carol on the phone, and that's for us to remember this is supposed to be "The Brady Bunch"  she is worried that Matt is lonely so her idea is to get another kid.  Matt's been with them for... 1 day... and she's worried he's lonely. What? This is kind of forcing things, they barely showed Matt being lonely or whatever.  The next day, they decide to go to the adoption orphan house whatever it is , and they ask for a 2nd kid. (can we do that?) 

                                  I'm stunned most people drop off kids not come back for more/ Copyright Paramount

    They are interested in two good friends of Matt named Dwyane and Steve. To add a little more to this, Dwyane is African American and Steve is Asian.  Back to how much speed running is going on here. the Kellys are thinking up something the original idea was to adopt one more kid, on the 2nd day they just adopted one, but you know speed running, but now as they talk to the Bradys because they are trying to remind me that this is in fact, the Brady Bunch.  

    Anyway, the Kellys decide the logical choice is to adopt both Dwayne and Steve. We're 9 minutes in and about 2 days of stuff and they've too fast. (I wouldn't trust this couple they do things too on the fast lane, they need to calm down and think) 

More after the jump

Opinion : Brady Bunch Episodes I do Like

Opinon Lookback Reviews 


    Back in 2015 I did a list of 4 episodes of the Brady Bunch I didn't like , yet didn't return to the topic , so let's do episodes I do like this time.    Like last time these are my opinions and if you don't like these then that's alright. There are more than 5 episodes I like, but keeping the list simple. Oh, and these are done in particular ranking.

1. "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" Season 1 Episode 4
    Plot :   Alice is used to taking care of the Brady boys, so with Carol around the dynamic changes,  She encourages the boys to ask Carol for help with their problems instead of her after she sees Carol looking a little left out by the boys going to Alice.  When the Brady's start asking Carol more for help she begins to fell left out herself and decides to leave.  The Bradys are unhappy that she is leaving so they make a plan up to show that she is still needed  and of course she decides to stay.

Evening Wear? It's  2 in the afternoon!  /Copyright Paramount 

Why I like this Episode:  The early episodes of the  Brady Bunch were showing the growing pains of this new family being put together , something that disappeared  in season 2.  Alice was the house keeper with the Bradys (Meaning Mike and the boys ) so  they were used to her being there and having her assistance and not going to Carol . Alice felt for Carol so she tried to help but ended up feeling un needed herself.  Alice , besides Bobby, is my favorite character on this show that's another reason to include an episode focused on her in this list.  I like it shows the her caring for this family and the way they consider her  family is very sweet.

2. "Law and Disorder"  Season 4 Episode 14

     Plot :  Bobby at first hates the idea of being a school safety patrol because other kids at school don't want to  talk to him because I guess safety patrolling is bad or something.  There is also a sub plot of the family repairing a boat to go boating.  Bobby's parents convince him that being safety monitor   is actually a good thing and he takes it heart.  Bobby starts like the power he has  and takes it too far at school and starts seeping into home.  He starts reporting his brothers and sisters to his parents for breaking rules.  One day , Bobby is walking home when he stopped by a girl who needs help to get her cat, so Bobby decided to help her until he finds out that the cat is in a condemned house but he reluctantly decides to go in and help the find the cat.   He does but his good clothes have gotten dust and ash all over them , so he gets home and tries to wash them before his parents get home and of course that classic sitcom plot of putting too much stuff in the washing machine causes a mess.  His parents explain that rules  are meant to be followed but within reason.  Also, the boat is finished.

Did she bring her cat to school?/ Copyright Paramount

    Why I like this episode :  Bobby is one of my favorite Brady Bunch characters so that's a factor.  This episode is a classic sitcom plot where a character gets some authority and it goes to their head. Bobby didn't mean it with any malice or ill intent  he was trying to do his best and let it get to his head. He learns that rules are important ,yes but sometimes doing something right may require bending a rule. Cindy learns that if you have someone you know in power that doesn't put you above the rules. It also makes me laugh and that works for a comedy to me.


3. "The Voice of Christmas"  Season 1 Episode 12

  Plot:  It's Christmas time and Carol has been practicing  for her solo at church for Christmas service but she then contracts laryngitis. The family helps her and they worry she can't sing. Cindy asks a mall Santa if he can give her mom her voice back for Christmas. The kids on Christmas Eve feel down that Carol's voice isn't back and they want to postpone Christmas but Alice convinces them that that's what their mom would want.  On Christmas Carol's voice comes back.

Sorry, we got the tree in installment plans/copyright Paramount 

Why I like this Episode :   I put this in a list of good Christmas sitcom episodes ,that is on this blog somewhere. I think it's a good episode because it shows things that Christmas can be about. Cindy's faith and the idea that she asks for something for someone else than herself. The family hoping that Carol gets better before Christmas and the happy ending.

4.  "A Fistful of Reasons"  Season 2 Episode 8
       Plot :  Cindy comes home distraught after a bully named Buddy Hinton makes fun of the way she talks.  Her parents offer her help to fix her lisp. When she's practicing   her s sounds at school, Buddy makes fun of her some more. Peter over sees this and tries to stop Buddy from picking on her ,but Peter refuses to fight him and gets called chicken.  The next time, Peter tries and stop him from picking on her and ends up getting a black eye.  Mike decides to talk to Buddy Hinton's father and that goes nowhere. Carol decides to talk to Mrs. Hinton but this also goes nowhere.  Peter  practices  his hitting.   Peter tries and reason with Buddy again that doesn't work so he puts up his fists and Buddy tries to hit him but  Peter gets him and knocks a tooth loose.  When he starts talking funny the other kids that were watching start making fun of Buddy but Peter stops him . Cindy asks why, and he explains that she didn't like it when Buddy was making fun of him. He tells the other kids to get going. Buddy comes by the Brady house  He asks to see Cindy so he can borrow her tongue twister book to help with  lisp from the loose tooth.

Wonder if his face cooks evenly? /Copyright  Paramount 

    Why I like this episode: There have been hitting moral stories on sitcoms before and after this episode and sometimes they are executed badly.   This episode doesn't explicitly say hitting is bad , it says that it shouldn't the first response to a problem, which is more realistic.  Peter tries to resolve his problem with words   and only hits back when he has to.  When Peter tells the other kids not to make fun of Buddy for sound funny after being hit, he again shows a maturity.  It has it's funny moments as well  and  Buddy learns his lesson and is redeemed. 

5. "The Hero" Season 1 Episode 21 

   The plot:  Peter saves a little girl at  a toy store from a falling shelf  and her mother hails Peter as a hero.  Peter ends up in the newspapers and  lets it all go to his  head when he gets free stuff and tons of attention.  When Peter wants to hold a party  for his heroism and since everyone was annoyed by the way he was acting no one shows up. He learns his lesson  and the brady's hold his party. 

Peter-party /copyright Paramount 

     Why I like this episode :  If this episode was written  in today's TV he would have been a Twitter trending topic  and splashed over every TV show  and website in the country. (Including click bait ones)   But episode is timeless anyway, as to show what happens when a person gets in the limelight gets a little to out of hand. Peter though , learns his lesson before any real damage is done.   This is a good episode for anyone really , it shows that someone can get caught up in the limelight and at the same time , people can have the ability of  making someone be under the limelight who may not be able to handle it. Which is even worse in today's times.  

       That's the episodes I do like, there are more ,but I am stopping at five, what ones do you like or dislike?  That would be nice to know. 

Tune in next time when Cindy is saved by Superman. 

.

The Lookback : The Brady Bunch : Spin offs

The Flashback 

   Here's  a story  of  a TV show  , called the Brady Bunch ,  the series began in 1969 and ran until 1974  (Pretty Much Nixon's presidency )  , but  that wouldn't stop the Bradys.
    That brings us to the spin offs (or revivals or something) , we already talked of one .. "The Brady Kids"  that was in our  "Animated versions of live-action shows" article  and that one ran around the same time as original series.  The shows we are talking about ... well didn't.

    1. The Brady Bunch Hour
 It's 1976 ( yay , bicentennial ,baby!)  and it's been about 2 years since the Brady Bunch ended.   ABC decided they want them back.    Everybody came back , except for Eve Plumb (Jan Jan Jan )  who was replaced by Geri Reischl .
                                                          
                                                        Jan went away for one year and came back...different 
  Instead of it being  sitcom or anything it was  a variety show.   ABC first tired this idea with The Brady Bunch Variety Hour on November 28, 1976 ,the ratings were good enough for ABC and they  made it a series with  the word variety taken out and it aired between January-May 1977 in various  times with 8 episodes.    It was produced by Paramount (who also are producers of original Brady Bunch) and Sid and Marty Kroft.   The idea came from  ABC's head at the time Fred Silverman (the guy who didn't any farm shows on CBS anymore)   he wanted to reunite the Brady cast.   4 members came on the popular  Donny and Marie Show  , that made great ratings so they  tried this variety show thing.  
    Since this is a variety , and most of these things are shows with skits , singing and dancing numbers it's not  like a sitcom or drama where the episodes had to have a strong plot line.  They had some sort of premise for the show  where Mike Brady founds that ABC wanted him and his family for a variety show . (Inside Joke?)  He gives up his job and moves the family to a beach house in Southern California.  ( San Diego?)
       The series ran for  9 episodes and then ended.

2. The Brady Girls get Married (or The Brady Brides)
    Ever wonder if Bobby got married ?( he was the best character besides Alice...this is called bias)
 Well that had nothing to do with this ,  in 1981  NBC wanted some Brady fun ( just  not on Supertrain)  so they had a Brady movie made. Well it was going to be a movie but NBC decided to let it go longer so they broke up the movie to 3 parts airing in 30 minute increments. This was called The Brady Girls get Married.  There was more they then stared a new sitcom called  The Brady Brides .  This is the one time everyone from the original cast (except the dog) was  together for something Brady related.   We also find out what happened after the original series (the Variety show ,thankfully didn't count)  Mike is still an architect , Carol is now a real-estate agent.  (He designs them , she sells them)  Marcia is a fashion designer ( it's like houses but with clothes) , Jan is also an architect, Greg became a doctor , Peter is in the Air force , (why does no one have an office job or something they hate or something?) . Bobby and  Cindy are in College. (Possibly becoming lawyers?)   Alice got married to Sam.  The Movie  was about Jan and Marcia's double wedding. (saves on having to do another movie)    The series was about Marcia and Jan living together with their husbands.  (because it saves on sets?)

 Carol and Mike are not shocked they are sharing a house.  /Copyright Paramount 

Come join us ... after the jump for more ... 

Opinion : 4 Episodes of the Brady Bunch I don't like

Opinion  Lookback Reviews 

      Hello, I am personal fan of The Brady Bunch, I have watched every episode more at least 30 times , though some episodes  I feel were not this show best at all. Instead of a normal lookback ,  I review 4 sidesteps of the Brady Bunch  I think fits the category.  So yes , this is subjective and this not to attack any episodes you like , plus as I said I am a fan of the show and still watch it alot.

 4.  "You're Never Too Old" Season 4 episode 21
   This episode  , I don't hate as much as I wonder if it only exists to see Robert Reed  and Florence Henderson wearing make up to look like grandparents. (Marcia ! )
 Premise :  Carol's Grandmother  (played by Florence Henderson ) and  Mike's Grandfather  (played by Robert Reed)   come for a visit and the kids try to get them together because they both are single  and they are there.   After some work they get eloped in Vegas.

Why I don't like it:  What is this episode?  Why did the kids want to get their great-grandparents married and married to each other?   It really seems as an episode to get  Robert Reed  and Florence Henderson  to dress up like older people  and the plot was thrown in for some odd fun.

"Next time , we marry  Bobby and Cindy muahhaha" / Copyright Paramount 

     3."Top  Secret" Season  5 Episode 19 

 Premise ;  Oliver (and no it's not because of Oliver) and  Bobby think that Sam the butcher is passing information to the Russians  So then they capture him in a meat locker. Though it was all an understanding.  

                                             

 We have nothing against Oliver,/ Copyright Paramount 

Why I don't like it :  Ok , I could see this episode working better if it was Just Oliver, he's  7-years-old so maybe he could get confused like that , but why nearly 12 year-old Bobby ?  How come  he  also gets  in this scheme it seems less realistic. (as much as Brady Bunch episode could be)   

2.  "The Snooperstar" Season 5 Episode 20 

    Premise :  Cindy is snooping in Marcia's Diary , so Marcia creates fake entries  about a Hollywood agent  wants to make  Cindy the next Shirley Temple . (not the drink)  Cindy then thinks that Mike's new client is  a talent agent. Marica tries to tell her that it was all a fake  but Cindy does an act and actually charms Mike's client into the contract. 

Mike has odd clients  / Copyright Paramount 

   

Why I don't like it : First , Cindy snooping in a Diary seems like an episode you would have in season 1 or 2 when Cindy was 6 or 7  ,not when she's near 12. Even being the next Shirley Temple who started younger than say Cindy would be.   It really doesn't fit with her being older.  Also  if Cindy was meant to learn a lesson , I think she learned in a past episode  then why does it end up with  a good ending  ,where her act helps  Mike get a contract.   It's like the episode knows the plot was too old for Cindy so much they ran something else with it. 

1.  "Hair brained Scheme"  The Final Episode 

    Premise : Series Finale , Greg is graduating in a few days , meanwhile  Bobby and Cindy decide to get into  business.  Bobby gets hair tonic to sell ,and Greg buys some and it turns his hair orange.

                     

                                     "Guess it's to late for us to drop out of this episode too"/ Copyright Paramount 

Why I don't like it:  Mike is not this episode because Robert Reed  got in fight with derangement because he didn't like the plot line of the episode.   The episode kind of makes no sense  as to why Bobby and to an extent , Cindy were doing get-rich quick schemes , as if the plot was only put together to do something goofy (gosh ) to Greg's hair before graduation.  It's also sad as a graduation episode because Mike is not there at the time of his first born's  biggest moment in life so far.  

That's our review of these 4 episodes   ,next time when we look at the worst episodes of "My Mother the Car"hmm (nevermind)