The Brady Bunch: Getting Davy Jones

The Brady Bunch: Getting Davy Jones
ABC
December 10, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B+

This episode by Phil Leslie and Al Schwartz is probably my favorite of the series, or at least is in my Top Five.  Not only does it have a fun cameo by Mr. Jones, singing "Girl" around the time it was in the movie Star-Spangled Girl, but it gives all the kids something to do, not just fangirl Marcia.  My favorite moment is the youngest four singing "Girl" so offkey that Mike throws a pencil in the air.  There are also weird but innocent moments of the kids air-kissing their corresponding siblings, including Marcia, dressed as a busboy, blowing a kiss to Greg.  And there's this exchange.
MIKE: (to Marcia) How did you make out with Davy Jones?
CAROL: Were your knees shaking?
MARCIA: My knees didn't get anywhere near Davy Jones.
Not to mention that Greg wears a green & orange pajamas-and-robe ensemble that perfectly matches the kitchen!  Good fun all around.

Marcia Wallace returns, this time as Marcia Brady's teacher, Mrs. Robbins.  Kimberly Beck, who's Laura here, would I believe play the girl that Marcia dumps ice cream on a couple seasons later.  Special shout-out to Tina Andrews as Doreen, Marcia's cynical African-American friend.  I've never seen her in anything else but she makes this episode even better.

The Brady Bunch: Click

The Brady Bunch: Click
ABC
November 26, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Carol suddenly becomes overprotective about one of her stepsons playing sports, even though she's never had an issue with it before.  And Bobby is also uncharacteristic in sort of hero-worshiping Greg in this episode, although for his photography skills, not his football playing.  Bart La Rue is again the Coach, and the script was written by Tom and Helen August, who'd done the other "football" episode, "The Drummer Boy."

The Brady Bunch: The Personality Kid

The Brady Bunch: The Personality Kid
ABC
October 22, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is the first of three Brady episodes written by Ben Starr and earned its place in TV history through the repeated use of "pork chopsh and applesaush."  It's further notable for, one, both Greg and Cindy dressed all in purple, and two, the multi-ethnic party guests, including Pierre A. Williams (previously Jimmy) as Boy #2.  I also like it for the ways that the family tries to convince Peter he's not dull.  Note that Mike's Count Dracula imitation includes him "kissing Carol's lily-white neck."

The Brady Bunch: The Brady Braves

The Brady Bunch: The Brady Braves
ABC
October 1, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Tam Spiva wrote this part, too, where Bobby and Cindy return to camp with the help of their new Indian friend, who wants to be an astronaut.  Alice's reference to Tonto turns out to be prescient, since Jay Silverheels plays the boy's grandfather.  Note that Marcia is considered as responsible as Greg here, since Mike tells the younger kids to not leave camp again without an adult, Greg, or Marcia.  And I don't think "Stalking Wolf" would be considered a positive Indian name for Greg these days.  This is, by the way, the 400th program I've reviewed.

The Brady Bunch: Alice's September Song

The Brady Bunch: Alice's September Song
ABC
March 12, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Alice's old boyfriend, Mark Millard (Steve Dunne, who would later play Pete Sterne), comes to town and turns out to be a con-man, in this Elroy-Schwartz-written story.  Allan Melvin returns as Sam and is of course confused and jealous about the situation.  Alice gets more gussied up, and more often, than in any other episode I can remember.  I think Cindy must've been borderline dyslexic, considering how she spells Mark's name, not to mention the way she wrote "Vote for Marcia" in the first season.  And Mike at the end carries Carol out of the kitchen and presumably up to their bedroom when they have the house to themselves.

The Brady Bunch: Lights Out

The Brady Bunch: Lights Out
ABC
February 19, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Bruce Howard's third Brady script is another one for the sweet friendship between Peter and Cindy.  (The closest parallel, Greg & Jan, is more prickly.)  This episode references the "fairy princess" episode and it's consistent with the "hero" episode in that Peter is twelve a year after he was eleven, which I think makes it unlikely that Jan was twelve back in the Fall.  And when Jan has an injury in gym, she of course twists her ankle.

This time Lindsay Workman plays a Schoolteacher, while Snag Werris is the Store Owner.

The Brady Bunch: Coming Out Party

The Brady Bunch: Coming Out Party
ABC
January 29, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
C+

In David P. Harmon's penultimate Brady story, Mike's boss Mr. Phillips (Jack Collins again) invites the family to go on his boat, but Cindy starts sneezing.  The Doctor (John Howard, who actually would return, unlike Marion Ross and Herbert Anderson) says that both Cindy's and Carol's tonsils have to come out.  Trouble results when Carol, thinking Mike is trying to trick her into talking on the phone, insults the boat.  This time Mike L. is the missing Brady.  (If I recall correctly, Barry at 16 wasn't under as strict child labor laws.)

The Brady Bunch: The Drummer Boy

The Brady Bunch: The Drummer Boy
ABC
January 22, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Tom and Helen August, who had written for That Girl, contribute their first of two Brady episodes about football.  In this one, Peter's masculinity is questioned by his teammates when he joins the glee club.  Meanwhile, Bobby is the title character, driving his family crazy with his practicing.

Pierre A. Williams, who's Jimmy here, would later be Boy #2, at Peter's "personality party."  (I think he's the black kid.)  Jimmy Bracken has his middle of three Brady roles, as Larry.  Bart La Rue would play the Coach again, but for Greg's football team.

The Brady Bunch: Where There's Smoke

The Brady Bunch: Where There's Smoke
ABC
January 8, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B

David P. Harmon contributed the script for yet another of the second-season episodes that everyone remembers, even if in this case it's partly for the campiness of Greg's "Clowns Never Laughed Before" song (co-written by Williams, Sherwood Schwartz, and Lloyd Schwartz) and the heavy use of slang, particularly by adults.  For this series, the idea of Greg smoking cigarettes (and the line "It's just a regular cigarette," suggesting that there are other things that young people could be smoking) is pretty daring.  Note that Marcia and Greg are probably each other's best friends in the family by this point, since she considers them "close," and she's the first person he wants to tell about the mix-up with the jackets.

The Brady Bunch: The Impractical Joker

The Brady Bunch: The Impractical Joker
ABC
January 1, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Burt Styler's second Brady script was heavily criticized by Robert Reed, mostly because of the tag scene.  My issue is that it feels a little out of character for Jan to be playing all these jokes.  I do like how Mike refers to the recent slumber party.

Lennie Bremen, who'd appeared on That Girl a couple times, has his first of three Brady roles, as the Exterminator.  This is the 300th sitcom episode I've reviewed, and yes, almost half are from Sherwood Schwartz, which will be true for awhile.

The Brady Bunch: A Fistful of Reasons

The Brady Bunch: A Fistful of Reasons
ABC
November 13, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is another of Tam Spiva's memorable Brady stories, the one where Peter deals with bully Buddy Hinton and Cindy deals with her lisp.  It's interesting to look back 45 years and think of how the school provides absolutely no intervention about the bullying.  (It doesn't happen on school grounds, but still.)  The message is not pacifist but it does advocate talking first and then defending yourself.  I like how Peter points out that mocking the bully puts you on his level.  And when I was a little girl, about the age Cindy is here, this was one of the episodes (the "missing earrings" one is another) that made me wish I had a big brother like Peter, because I liked how he was with Cindy, kind and protective.  Later, probably in my preteens, this transitioned to a crush on Peter, but that was more based on the last two or three seasons, and I'll talk about that when we get there.

This time, the missing Brady kid is Jan, but the next episode would make up for that.

The Brady Bunch: The Treasure of Sierra Avenue

The Brady Bunch: The Treasure of Sierra Avenue
ABC
November 6, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

I'm with the boys on this one: they shouldn't have to split the money with the girls, despite Mike's constant "one for all and all for one" urging.  This isn't like the trading stamps, which arguably belonged to the whole merged family, since they all ate the groceries.  I do like how good the rapport among the kids is at this point.  Even when they argue, they genuinely feel like a close-knit family.  Later in the episode, when Greg has an idea, the others leap up from their seats to hear it.  As with Greg and Jan making fun of Harvey Klinger together, I think some of this must come from the cast being really comfortable with each other by then.  And Mike and Carol are getting cozier than ever together.  Notice the scene where he gives her a massage, and how about the kissing in the tag?  The honeymoon may be over but the romance definitely isn't.

Gwen Bagni never wrote for any of my other shows, but her co-writer here, Paul Dubov, had acted on That Girl, as a Maitre D.

The Brady Bunch: Going, Going...Steady

Chicks dig a guy who's aloof.

The Brady Bunch: Going, Going...Steady
ABC
October 23, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B

David P. Harmon's third Brady episode is the first one in the series where I feel like the program is recognizably itself.  The characters look and act like I remember.  (The first season feels like prehistory to me.)  The theme of Marcia's love life begins here, with probably her most baffling romantic choice.  It's not just that Harvey is nerdy; so is Charlie but he seems like a sweetie, while Harvey hardly seems to know Marcia's alive, even after they start "going steady."  By the way, by the '80s, no one went steady except on TV, and 13 was not regarded as "the year between childhood and adolescence."  I'm not even sure if this was realistic for the early '70s.  But for the Bradys, this is contemporary and realistic.  Maybe it's a sign of middle age, but I pay more attention to what the parents are going through on these episodes than I did as a kid, and my favorite scene is when Mike asks Harvey his plans for the future.  Also, check out how Mike growls "ours" to Carol in the tag scene.

The Brady Bunch: The Slumber Caper

The Brady Bunch: The Slumber Caper
ABC
October 9, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B

This second episode written by Tam Spiva is one of the most fondly remembered of the series.  I don't think it's quite a classic, but it gives everyone something to do, including some of the real-life daughters of the Brady folks.  In particular, Barbara Bernstein,  who's Ruthie here (under her mother's maiden name of Henderson), and more memorably Hope Sherwood (Sherwood Schwartz's daughter), who's Jenny, would both return, in other roles.  I like how Marcia includes her younger sisters at her party, and Jan even gets to tell a ghost story.  And meanwhile, the boys are pulling pranks.  This is one of those episodes with a very obvious message, about not accusing someone without all the evidence, but it's handled well.

The Brady Bunch: The Babysitters

The Brady Bunch: The Babysitters
ABC
October 2, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Fourteen-year-old Greg and thirteen-year-old Marcia babysit their siblings for the first time.  Their parents and Alice of course worry, especially since Cindy has the sniffles.  Note that, unlike That Girl, they don't even bother making up the name of the play that Mike and Carol have tickets to.  And, as in the first season, Jan spends a lot of time on the phone, which here impacts the plot.

Bruce Howard also wrote for That Girl and this is first of four for BBunch.

The Brady Bunch: To Move or Not to Move

The Brady Bunch: To Move or Not to Move
ABC
March 6, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Paul West's middle of three Brady episodes officially retcons the original Brady house (from the pilot) out of the series, with moments like the brothers reminiscing about accidents they've had in this house.  Compared to that, I guess the later attic expansion is minor.  This episode is also notable for being the first one where the kids really team up for a common cause, even if it's counter to the adults, and it is the first time they scare Alice, a theme that would be expanded on in "Fright Night."  Oh, and when Alice says she'll never leave the Bradys, I'm dubious, considering she's already almost left them and will actually quit a few seasons later.  But, yes, she won't permanently leave them until the kids are all grown.

Lindsay Workman makes his first of four Brady appearances, as realtor Bertram Grossman.  (Usually, he would be working at the kids' schools.)  Fran Ryan, perhaps best known as Arnold the Pig's "mother" on Green Acres, plays Mrs. Hunsaker (in a knee-length skirt I found shockingly short as a kid).  We'll see her again.

The Brady Bunch: The Possible Dream

The Brady Bunch: The Possible Dream
ABC
February 27, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Al Schwartz co-wrote this episode with his frequent partner Bill Freedman and, while not as classic as the Davey Jones episode, it has its moments.  Maureen McCormick really did have a crush on Desi Arnaz, Jr., and they dated many years later, when the four-year age difference mattered less, and the height difference wasn't as dramatic.  As for Marcia, she'd move on to other crushes, although she'd still be keeping a diary in the fifth season.

Jonathan Hole, who's Thackery here, would later be Willie Witherspoon.  And, yes, 37-year-old Gordon Jump makes his first of two Brady appearances, here as Collins, the man who assumes Mike is having an affair.

The Brady Bunch: The Hero

The Brady Bunch: The Hero
ABC
February 20, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Peter is the last of the kids to get an episode centering on him, and it's a motif that would become common: a Brady child does something awesome, receives praise, and gets a swollen ego.  Pitt Herbert returns as Mr. Driscoll and doesn't seem at all worried about a lawsuit or bad publicity.  The Daily Chronicle is still the local newspaper.  And Peter is eleven by this point.  Once again, the Williams-Knight-Olsen commentary is hilarious, but I'm not grading commentaries.

The Brady Bunch: Brace Yourself

The Brady Bunch: Brace Yourself
ABC
February 13, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Brad Radnitz, who wrote four Gilligan episodes, offers his first of four for BBunch.  I always think of this one as Marcia's first serious meltdown.  "I HATE YOU, ALAN ANTHONY!  I HATE EVERYBODY!"  We often hear about what a psycho Jan is (especially after the '90s movies), but Marcia was pretty hormonal herself at this point, somewhere before her thirteenth birthday.  This episode is also notable for the first significant Mike/Carol innuendo since their wedding day, when she asks him if he'd still love her if she wore braces, and he says, "Every chance I got."  Then he turns out the light and the tag ends.

Molly Dodd, who plays the Saleslady, would have a more memorable Brady role four years later as bigoted neighbor Mrs. Payne.  The 1970s have already passed the '50s on this blog, because I'm just not that into "the Golden Age of Television."  Or I guess the '70s are my golden age.

The Brady Bunch: The Undergraduate

The Brady Bunch: The Undergraduate
ABC
January 23, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This first of six Brady scripts written by David P. Harmon, who did five for Gilligan, these days is probably less notable for the appearances of Wes Parker and Gigi Perreau than that of Teresa Warder, in her only screen credit, as "Linda from See At All."  I also like Jan jumping to the conclusion that Mrs. Brady is pregnant.  Note how Greg indicates infatuation by staring off into space; as the pioneer in the field, Barry Williams had to set a precedence for McCormick and the others to follow, although the soundtrack does not yet feature the Romeo & Juliet theme.  The show isn't as campy as it would get but it's a nice toe-dipping into kitsch.