The Brady Bunch: The Grass Is Always Greener

The Brady Bunch: The Grass Is Always Greener
ABC
March 13, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

David P. Harmon's second Brady script has a title that only this show could get away with in '70 and not have people think it was about marijuana.  It's not even about the Astroturf lawn.  It's that old '50s plot of the husband and wife swapping chores for a day, in this case teaching the boys baseball vs. helping the girls learn about cooking.  I was going to go with C+ since it's another episode about how rigid gender roles should always be observed, but there are a couple cute gimmicks: the heavy use of background music, e.g. "Goodnight Ladies" (or perhaps it's "Goodnight Bradys"), and the back and forth reading aloud of the cookbook and the baseball book.

The Brady Bunch: Father of the Year

The Brady Bunch: Father of the Year
ABC
January 2, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
C

This story by Skip Webster (who also did the "clubhouse" episode) has always been one of my least favorites in the series.  I can somewhat understand why Mike is so strict in this episode, but I think he crosses the line into vindictiveness when he tells Marcia that the family is all going on a ski trip, which he and Carol only decided on a few minutes earlier and could easily postpone, except for her because she's grounded.  Sure, ground her, but don't rub her face in it.  Also, there are plausibility issues, from Marcia sneaking out in the middle of the night to mail a letter (as if the mailman checks at midnight) to the fact that her essay, the bestest ever in the whole history of the contest, does not seem to follow five-paragraph or any other recognizable form.  It's just sentences jotted down in random order.  I expect more from a bright 12-year-old.

All that said, I do like the scene with Marcia almost confiding in Jan and then changing her mind when Cindy comes in.  (Jan would be Marcia's confidante more often in later seasons.)  Note that Marcia doesn't mind the idea of her siblings spreading false gossip about her and "that creep Felix Brown," although just a short time before the rumor of her being in the balcony at the movies with Felix would've been enough to Gary-Hart her presidential campaign.  And I will admit to crying at the end, when all is revealed, although some of that comes from my own communication issues with a sometimes stern father.

Bill Mullikin, who plays Lance, would be George on That Girl.

Gilligan's Island: Ring Around Gilligan

Ginger has worn this swimsuit before, but it's not unlike Ann's
"skimpy" outfit in the "That Girl" episode that aired a few days before.

Gilligan's Island: Ring Around Gilligan
CBS
November 7, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This is the first of two GI episodes written by John Fenton Murray, as well as Vito Scotti's fourth and last appearance.  This time mad scientist Boris Balinkoff has magic rings that turn people into robots, and he plans to use the castaways to rob Fort Knox.  There's no explanation of how he got turned back from a cat, or why his assistant Igor is now a monkey.

Gilligan's Island: Voodoo

Gilligan's Island: Voodoo
CBS
October 10, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Eddie Little Sky makes his second appearance as a native on the show, this time as a witch doctor who for some reason decides to make voodoo dolls and otherwise play pranks on the castaways.  I was going to go with a C+ on this but I like Ginger's two admittedly unsuccessful methods of trying to de-zombie the Professor (a kiss and a sexy dance of course), and I like how the Professor remains skeptical even after he recovers, a nice twist on the usual Professor vs. Skipper debates on superstition.  Note that the Professor seems to like it when both girls want to be held by him when they're scared.  Herbert Finn and Alan Dinehart again co-wrote.

Gilligan's Island: The Producer

Gilligan's Island: The Producer
CBS
October 3, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
A-

This is many people's favorite GI episode, mine included, and it's easy to see why.  You've got Phil Silvers's marvelous performance as the title character, and all the castaways reacting to him.  And you've got the fantastic musical version of Hamlet.  You've even got Gilligan driving around a little pedal-operated car!  And on an ordinary episode, Ginger's impressions of Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe would be worth tuning in of themselves.  There's little I can add to all that has been said by others, but I will note that the script is full of sharp little lines, like the throwaway reference to Steve Reeves and Hamlet's advice to Ophelia, "Hide anywhere but don't go near the water."  Note, there are two directors this time because Lupino had an injury on set but the episode is nonetheless seamless.

Gilligan's Island: Quick Before It Sinks

Gilligan's Island: Quick Before It Sinks
CBS
October 28, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This episode, the only one written by Stan Burns or Mike Marmer although director George Cahan would return, is filled with baffling decisions and conclusions, including by the supposedly logical and scientific Professor.  First he concludes that the island is sinking, purely on the basis of a measuring stick in the lagoon.  Then he and the other men decide not to tell the women, like the women wouldn't notice!  They even start building a hut on the highest point on the island.  When the women finally find out, they're not upset about being over-protected but instead suggest turning an abandoned raft project into an ark.  And no one thinks that maybe they could use the ark to leave the island.

The fact that Ginger flirts with all three bachelors keeps this from being a C.  First she plays with the Professor's hair, and later she kisses both Gilligan and the Skipper on the cheek.  (The Skipper, unsurprisingly, is the one who most welcomes her attentions.)