This Day in TV History: Farewell to The Brady Brides!

40 years ago, a nation already reeling from the assassination attempt on President Reagan, the recessionary economy, and the recent loss of North Carolina in the NCAA basketball championship game suffered one more setback as NBC broadcast the final episode of The Brady Brides.

Our extensive coverage of The Brady Bunch in our season 8 opener didn't have much time to cover all the spinoffs, but, well, Brides was...one of them. I can't in good faith defend the effort, which put Marcia and Jan together as newlyweds who had to move in together with their respective husbands to afford a house of their own. Ann B. Davis reprised her role as Alice, but didn't live with the gals. She just hung out and cleaned up sometimes, I think. Florence Henderson became a semi-regular, too.

The series was conceived as a TV movie at first, but NBC, perhaps desperate for content in this strike-altered season, decided to split it up into "episodes" and run it as a multi-week event. Is there where HBO Max got its first ideas for the Snyder Cut?  The 3 half-hours did well on Friday night in February, so NBC went ahead with the regular series after a week's absence, but it only lasted a couple of months.

Barrry Williams' book Growing Up Brady and other sources imply that the success of the 3 split-up episodes instigated the regular series, but it seems likelier that they changed course during the production of the movie. Lloyd Schwartz indicated they really hustled to get a series on the air, and they must have because just two weeks after the opening "arc"/movie, they had a string of new episodes ready. 

Note that, as reviewer Stuart Galbraith points out in his take on the 2019 epic Brady DVD set:

 The ninety-minute reunion film featured the entire original cast (for the only time after the original series ended). It was shot on film and goes through the usual paces. However, after Marcia (Maureen McCormick) and Jan (Eve Plumb) actually get married and the show seems to be reaching its obvious conclusion, everything shifts in the last half-hour to the siblings' anticlimactic antics as newly marrieds, on a set that, suspiciously, looks like a standard three-camera sitcom family room. (The first hour of the show is a one-camera, 35mm job, like the original series.) My guess is that the show was originally conceived as a one-hour special, but then Schwartz talked the network into letting him add another 25 minutes that would serve as a backdoor pilot. Sure enough, the series that followed, The Brady Brides, was exactly that, a typical sitcom filmed before a studio audience. It lasted only seven episodes.

Whatever the case, the series didn't last, and while those involved blamed a network regime change and Grant Tinker not caring for the show, I think it's proof that apart from the original, audiences like one occasional dose of the Bradys more than repeated weekly ones. On numerous occasions, someone brought the gang back for a movie or special, got great ratings, and was then disappointed when the ensuing ongoing project didn't  stick. As far as I know, nobody went into a pool in this version of the Bradys, which makes it inferior to the infamous variety show.

Inside the Guide: A pair of Brady Bunch reruns

Today we go to the September 13, 1980 issue of TV Guide, which happens to be the Fall Preview issue but which contains some interesting items in the regular ol' listings.

Take this juxtaposition of two Brady Bunch reruns on different channels but at the same time:

The second one is concise and to the point. The first amuses me.  This is 9:30 in the morning, and I can't help but wonder how many in the target audience would see this listing and say, "Ooh, E.G. Marshall!" or "Ooh, I loved The Defenders!"

E.G. Marshall! Yes, it's good to see him pop up in an episode, but that seems an odd choice to highlight given that the rest of the episode involves boys vs. girls, slumber party shenanigans, and the dilemma of Marcia claiming to be falsely accused.

I guess that's what made TV Guide the bible back in the day: its willingness to provide that kind of info.  You know what info is not in the Guide? Episode title, premiere date...or, in the case of the second episode here, much of anything.

In case you're curious, that E.G. Marshall episode is season 2's "The Slumber Caper," and the veteran actor is the principal who punishes Marcia for a mocking drawing of her teacher that was found in Marcia's desk. It premiered October 9, 1970.

As for that second one, that is a vague description, but maybe it refers to the season 4 "You're Never Too Old," in which the kids try to set up Carol's mother with Mike's father.

The Brady Bunch warned us this episode was gonna be rough

I mentioned on the current episode of BOTNS that one of my least-favorite Brady Bunch episodes is the one with Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, each in a rare dual role, playing their grandparents. We get a tipoff at the beginning of this episode that this isn't gonna be a "good" one; no, it's gonna be a showcase for the performers:

In my humble opinion, the proper way to do it is to either not give extra billing for the performers or to put it at the end. Also acceptable is ??? as the actor's name.

In this case, The Brady Bunch is so proud of this acting achievement--age makeup, creakier voices, etc.--that it's putting it in our faces right from the get-go. The episode confirms this sign of trouble, as Grandpa Brady played by Reed is stuffy and creaky, and, worse, Grandma Hutchins is that other stereotype of old people on TV: vivacious, straight-shootin' with her words, and full of spunk. Groan!

We may have more to say about this episode in an upcoming project, but here is another taste of what you're in for in "Never Too Old":

Show Notes: Episode 8-1 BONUS: Brady Bunch opening

*The Brady Bunch Effect is credited to Christopher Chapman, who won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for A Place to Stand, a creation for Expo '67 in Montreal.

*Here is an obituary for Chapman with some info about his career.  We also repeat our recommendation of Kimberly Potts' The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch, which has a great explanation of the show's opening sequence.

*Alice Nelson was Mike Brady's housekeeper (and the boys') and stayed with them when he married Carol after his first wife died.

*This ME-TV story talks about how Ann B. Davis created a secret backstory for Alice. The interview referenced in that story is right here (hit the 24-minute mark)

YouTube Spotlight: Maureen McCormick for Burger King

We try to be positive and respectful of the actors who entertain us in a difficult, often cruel profession.  So please don't take this as snarky when I say I was alarmed to see Maureen McCormick in a Burger King commercial filmed a couple of years after The Brady Bunch:

Now, there's also a Barry Williams Shasta ad in our video playlist this week, but that's different because it's plausible to interpret it as Barry Williams BEING Barry Williams even with the Renaissance Faire garb.. Poor McCormick is, for all the audience knows, an employee at a Burger King (And while I'm at it, 'nuff respect to the BK employees out there serving me at the drive-thru). Oh, we know she's not actually an employee, but the fact that she is playing one and isn't just, hey, it's Maureen McCormick, and I LOVE Burger King, is a sad reminder of how difficult it can be for actors and especially child actors.

There isn't anything wrong with being in a fast food ad, but on the heels of a 5-year run as an iconic (even then) TV character? That's rough.

Rosey Grier is awesome in this, by the way.

The Brady Bunch video playlist is now live!

After listening to our Season 8 premiere, continue to celebrate The Brady Bunch by enjoying our video playlist. Click below to see: Bobby wreaks havoc on Greg's date! Vintage promos! Commercials with the cast! Song and dance! And if you think we could resist including the disco medley from the variety show spinoff...ehhhh, you don't know us well, do you?

Show Notes Episode 8-1: The Brady Bunch "The Big Bet"

*Welcome back to BOTNS! We have a lot planned for this new season, and we thank you for supporting us.  With many people listening to podcasts less then ever due to current circumstances, we are even more grateful for our listeners.

*The Brady Bunch premiered in 1969 and lasted 5 seasons and 117 total episodes before ending its original run in 1974.  Of course it has lived on in reruns and spinoffs ever since!

*Leave it to Beaver ran 6 seasons and a whopping 234 episodes on ABC.

*"The Big Bet" first aired at 8:00 on ABC on Friday, January 28, 1972, followed by The Partridge Family, Room 222, The Odd Couple, and Love, American Style. NBC had Sanford and Son and Chronolog, while CBS' lineup was O'Hara United States Treasury, She Waits (a Patty Duke TV movie), and The Don Rickles Show.

*The Brady Bunch came to Nick at Nite in 1998 and lasted till 2002 in that initial run.

*The house used for the show's exteriors was built in 1959 and is located by the Los Angeles River. This is the house purchased by HGTV for a reported $3.5 million.

*Elroy Schwartz, credited writer of this episode, is credited on IMDB with writing 12 episode of Gilligan's Island and 9 episodes of Bunch. A later episode he scripted, Greg Gets Grounded, covers vaguely similar ground to this one with its exact words emphasis Greg uses to get around extra punishment for breaking punishment (as we mention on the show).

*As we mention, the series never got Paul Williams, but it did get this guy.

Close enough?

*This guy was not one of the kids with colorful on-point nicknames in Mike's dad's crew growing up:

*The book we mention on the podcast is Kimberly Potts' The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch highly recommended. As I said, she does a particularly good job at analyzing the complicated relationship Robert Reed had with the series. Click here for more info!

*Sam Franklin, AKA Sam the Butcher as played by Allan Melvin, was only in 8 episodes (though mentioned in many more)!

*The trampoline episode with Carol's overprotective fretting is season 2's "What Goes Up..."

*Hope Juber was in 4 episodes of Bunch as 3 different characters, credited each time as Hope Sherwood. She later was in The Bradys as another character and wrote scripts for several later brady projects as well as two episodes of The Munsters Today.

Episode 8-1: The Brady Bunch: The Big Bet

It only took eight seasons, but we finally talk about our second-favorite 8-member family--9 if you count Alice, which we do--the Brady Bunch! Bobby and Greg make a bet, and the unexpected winner becomes a tyrant! Plus one of our hosts wrestles with his complicated feelings about the show.

Check out this episode!

This Week on Battle of the Network Shows...

 

Great Moments in 70s and 80s TV History: Mike and Carol Brady rehearse their community theatre performance of "Deliverance"

 

Brady Bunch at King's Island

Because the episode was filmed this week in 1973, because National Roller Coaster Day was Sunday, and...just because, here are some more screencaps of The Brady Bunch at the Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati from its season 5 episode Cincinnati Kids:

Great Moments in 70s and 80s TV History: Deacon Jones meets Peter Brady

In season 2 of The Brady Bunch, music consumes the family as Bobby hammered away at the drums while Peter tried out for the glee club. The problem in The Drummer Boy (original airdate ###) is that Pete's football teammates mock him for his pursuit of singing.

Peter is not alone, though.  His coach has brought in L.A. Rams great Deacon Jones to help teach the kids, and he takes exception to the wise-ass kid's comments.

you think this guy can't play football because he sings?"

the kids says singing is for sissies--canary stuff.

Deacon stares at him and says, "I sing. Am I a sissy?" and things get really quiet for a second.

This is one of the great moments in the show's run.  In tone, it's not all that different from Bobby DeNiro's, "I have nipples, Greg. Can you milk ME?" in meet the Parents. For a split-second, though, this brady Bunch moment is even more tense.


Oh, let me tell you, I really wanted ol' Deac to give that kid a patented head slap, but instead he talks about how guys can sing and be real sportsmen.  He and Coach mention guys like Rosey Grier, Joe Namath, and Joe Frazier as examples.

The real lesson here is not that Deacon Jones can sing and still be a tough guy. No, the real lesson is that Deacon Jones can wear these pants and still be a tough guy.

Happy birthday to the late Davy Jones!

Davy Jones (1945-2012) of course became famous for hitting Marcia in the nose with a football during the Brady vacation in Hawaii.

Happy birthday, Christopher Knight!

The Brady Bunch is not yet part of the BOTNS universe, but how can we pass up the chance to salute the great Christopher Knight on his birthday?

Below, enjoy my favorite Peter Brady moment. I mean, what is he even thinking, the way he hurls the basketball--where IS he hurling it? Don't play ball in the house? How about, don't throw basketballs around like a moron without knowing where you are aiming them?