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Comment count is 16
Maggot Brain - 2017-06-17

Can someone please explain the Brady Bunch fad, danke schoen.


betabox - 2017-06-17

Was it a 'fad?'

Well, after the 1950s TV wholesomeness of nuclear families (Leave It to Beaver, The Ann Sothern Show) or families where one parent had died (Andy Griffith, My Three Sons, Family Affair), the 1970s wanted to show that widowed parents (divorce was still pretty much not a topic for TV) could still find love and happiness, and that their children could have a loving home.

Throughout this time, increasing numbers of families were ceasing to be what TV told them they should be. It was reassuring for many to believe that their broken family might someday be fixed. And besides, their antics were just so very charming and relatable, and easily remedied in 30 minutes, including format and commercials.

Even if Bobby's frog ruined Greg's date, or if Jan's first period caused her to miss Pep Club practice, everything would be OK next week.

What's there to explain?


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2017-06-18

I can speculate.

First, the cast was pretty good, especially Florence Henderson. They were likable and funny. The kids were distinct characters, and not just cute props. There was so much shit on TV back then.

It can appreciated ironically or unironically, as white middle-American culture or camp. At one time, there was a live theater group who reenact Brady Bunch episodes onstage. Davy Jones of Monkees recreated his one-time guest spot.

It was on Friday nights. I can say from my own experience that my memories of Friday night TV in the 60s and 70s have a special nostalgic glow. The Odd Couple, That Girl, Love American Style, The Partridge Family. It felt good to be a kid with the weekend ahead of you, in front of the TV.

I never cared for it, but that didn't matter. If you grew up during the seventies, there was no escaping the Brady Bunch.


Bort - 2017-06-18

A show needs, what, 100 episodes to go into syndication, right? Was that the rule back in the early 70s? Assuming it was, "The Brady Bunch" hit the magic number (117 episodes per IMDB), so maybe it became a staple of stations trying to fill air time.

Why it succeeded in making it to 117 episodes in the first place, I was too young to form an opinion. But it seems a solid enough inoffensive sitcom. Considering that "Petticoat Junction" made it to 222 episodes, I'd say people were starved for entertainment back then; those savages would have had no idea what to do with "Aqua Teen Hunger Force".


BiggerJ - 2017-06-17

Clark's dialogue in the scene from 3:55 to 5:09 sounds odd, like it was ripped straight out of a comic book. It's a nice, possibly unintentional touch.


Xenocide - 2017-06-18

"It's almost as if he's seen something he doesn't want to see again!"


Seven Arts/H8 Red - 2017-06-17

This was the perfect opportunity for Marlon to cut the standard Filmation inept-wizard bit and kill Superman with magic. It's not like such an episode's going to have lasting effects on a Sherwood Schwartz property.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2017-06-18

Well, Marlon was standard Filmation inept-wizard, so that never occurred to him.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2017-06-18

Can't hold a candle to Scooby Doo meets Kiss.


Caminante Nocturno - 2017-06-18

The slide that Clark does at 0:59.


Bort - 2017-06-18

13:36 and the mush-mouthed "LlllLlooook!" Is he Welsh?


BHWW - 2017-06-18

It just seems odd to me that a sitcom would have so many spinoffs. Sure, the Brady Bunch was popular and we know in the TV industry nothing succeeds like success, so if something is successful you can bet the network wizards will try to wring every last drop out of it but still, can you imagine any sitcom post 2000 getting musical and animated attempted spinoffs?


Bort - 2017-06-18

Bear in mind that Filmation and Hanna Barbera gave zero shits about quality. They felt kids would watch a "Brady Bunch" cartoon, therefore they squeezed out a "Brady Bunch" cartoon.


BHWW - 2017-06-18

After a certain point, nobody tried making cartoon spinoffs of TV shows or movies you'd wouldn't think would lend themselves to it - no more Laverne & Shirley in the Army or "Gilligan's Planet" type shows. Imagine if they still had Saturday morning cartoons and adaptions of sitcoms today - we might have already seen "The Glee Kids in Space" and "The Big Bang Theory Presents 'The Adventures of Sheldon and the Bazingers'."


jangbones - 2017-06-18

ugh Cindy episodes were always the worst


Bort - 2017-06-18

Especially that homophobic episode the other month that cost her her radio gig.


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