A Very Brady Christmas

A Very Brady Christmas
CBS
December 18, 1988
TV-Movie
DVD
C+

Sherwood Schwartz and his son Lloyd wrote this reunion, while director Peter Baldwin helmed seven episodes of Bunch, as well as The Brady Girls Get Married  (and incidentally The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island and twelve episodes of The Bob Newhart Show).  And to some extent there's continuity with the original series, and with Get Married.  But there are also inconsistencies, including but not limited to:

• I can accept Fake Cindy (Jennifer Runyon, of Charles in Charge and a guest shot on Who's the Boss?), but why is she still in college seven and a half years after she started?  There's no implication that she's taken time off to work or travel or what have you.  At least they let Bobby progress to grad school.
• Conversely, it doesn't seem like enough time has passed for Marcia to have two kids that old.  (In Get Married, she denied to Jan that she was pregnant, but maybe she was.)  And Greg has managed to meet Nora (played by "new Gidget" Caryn Richman), get married, and have a son who looks about seven.  (Zachary Bostrom, who plays Kevin, was almost eight.  He would be an unrelated Kevin on Who's the Boss?)
• Alice could never drive on the old show, and yet she goes to meet the visitors at the airport, then they come home separately, while Alice gets there last, with all the luggage!

Other than that, the writing is hokey and implausible, even by Brady standards, partly because serious, complex issues like adultery, divorce, and unemployment are brought up and then solved easily.  (Consider that such dilemmas as braces, dating scheduling mix-ups, and disagreements with teachers used to get twenty minutes each.)  On the other hand, when Mike has a conflict with client Ted Roberts (Phillip R. Allen, not chewing gum like he did as his psychatrist characters on The Bob Newhart Show and Bosom Buddies), it ends with Mike trapped in a building as Runyon flashes back to Susan Olsen's Christmas memories.

Ann B. in glasses and some random people in the back row

On the plus side, you do get to see everyone (except Olsen) reuniting.  More dubiously, you get Peter saying "hell," some of the "kids" smooching their respective romantic partners, and the Brady house in blander, '80s colors.  This is preferable to the Gilligan reunion movies, in that the regular cast interact to some degree, but I'd rather watch the Day by Day parody/homage of Bunch, which is truer to the spirit of the series.

Due to the overstuffed cast problem, worse than on the original series, I obviously can't tag everyone, but Jerry Houser and Ron Kuhlman are back as the husbands of the Brady brides.  Keep an eye out for Selma Archerd (2nd PTA Lady on Bunch and the Queen of Diamonds in the 1985 Alice in Wonderland TV-movie) as Mrs. Crane, Gerry Black (Ron on What's Happening!!) as the Police Chief, Bart Braverman as Bobby's Mechanic friend, Barbara Mallory (Helen on What's Happening!! and Cindy Smith in Rescue from GI) as Mrs. Powell, and Nick Toth (later Capt. Johnson on Roseanne) as Mr. Powell.  When Sam shows up at the end, dressed as Santa, he's played by Lewis Arquette, who was a Judge in Rescue from Gilligan's Island.

The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island

"Court jesters" is funnier than any joke in the actual program.

The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
NBC
May 15, 1981
TV-Movie
VHS
C

Yes, I'm giving this the same grade as I gave the first reunion.  (As I said, I'm missing the middle movie, but briefly, they all get rescued for good and then the Howells open a resort with guests like Tom Bosley and Marcia Wallace.)  Let me just list the people involved before I try to unpack this:

• The entire original cast, except of course Tina Louise, and with Backus's role reduced due to illness;
• Yet another Ginger, 30-year-old Constance Forslund (note, since the Professor claims they've been on the island 18 years, this would make her 12 at the time of shipwreck, or really well preserved here)
• 32-year-old David Ruprecht as the previously very much never mentioned (in fact his existence contradicted by an episode or two) Thurston Howell IV, and it's one of the better performances;
• Yes, the Harlem Globetrotters, whose plane goes down, but they wash up ashore on the island, and I guess they're playing themselves, like they did in their cartoon and other places;
• Scatman Crothers as their coach and pilot, and accompanist (it is cool to hear him do "Sweet Georgia Brown")
• Since this isn't enough plot, we get villains played by then husband-and-wife Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, as respectively a wealthy man intent on cornering the market on a mysterious ingredient called Supremium, and a blonde live-action version of Natasha Fatale;
• Not technically people, but their comic relief sidekick robot George, and a team of basketball-playing robots
• Bob Denver's wife Dreama as the Southern belle receptionist for the Howells (actually given more to do than Wells);
• 23-year-old Rosalind Chao, around the time she started teaching Arnold Jackson but before she married Klinger, as the Hotel Clerk;
• Sportscasters Stu Nahan and Chick Hearn (the latter played Announcers on Gilligan's Island) as, well, sportscasters;
• Not only the Schwartz Bunch (Sherwood and his brothers Al and Elroy) but Brady and Gilligan writer David P. Harmon, and Schwartzian newbie Gordon Mitchell (who did however write for a lot of other sitcoms, including Mork & Mindy; 
• and Peter Baldwin, who directed The Brady Girls Get Married and some episodes of Bunch, but not any previous rendition of GI.

Now, I noted with BGGM that it was playing to the fans, so the cheesiness and all could be forgiven.  But this doesn't really have any of the feel of the original show.  Yes, it's slapsticky but GI was never just about slapstick.  Rescue allowed for some sentimental moments, but here hardly any of the original cast interact with each other, beyond the Skipper and Gilligan.  And when they do, it's not terribly interesting.  It's in fact Space 1999's Landau and Bain who have chemistry and cheese.  This reunion does have more fanservice than previously, in the sense that Wells and Forslund do an aerobics routine and there are scantily clad guests that the Skipper flirts with, although they're about one-third his age.  I would say as I did of Rescue that this is only for completists, and it is after all the last time that the three oldest cast members would act together.  This is by no means the end of Gilligan's Island though, thanks to, for instance, ALF.

Whitney Rydbeck, who does the voice of George the Robot, was a Page on The Brady Bunch and Sgt. Hondo McKee on M*A*S*H.  Wendy Hoffman, who was Sheri, on Mork & Mindy, plays Jackie, one of the bikini-wearing guests.  This program finally allows Dawn Wells to reach her 100th TV show in my collection, the rest of the castaways (except Tina Louise) already having passed this milestone.

The Bob Newhart Show: Confessions of an Orthodontist

Pachinko!

The Bob Newhart Show: Confessions of an Orthodontist
CBS
February 23, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B

Bob covers for Dr. Frank Walburn (Roger Perry, who was Tom Blaine in Gidget Gets Married).  His secretary is Miss Brennan, who was one of Carol's possible fill-ins, and I have to say that Teri Garr looks more stunning than ever (a combination of her hair and her outfits), and she of course takes the "dumb blonde" character to a whole other level.  But the episode is mostly about Jerry's crush on Emily, and the Patchett and Tarses script handles this with the class and gentle humor I've come to expect from this series.

The Bob Newhart Show: By the Way...You're Fired

The Bob Newhart Show: By the Way...You're Fired
CBS
February 16, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B

Carol is distracted at work by her new romance with Don Livingston (who'd change his last name to Fezler but still be played by Richard Schaal).  Jerry gets so annoyed, he fires her, twice.  Bob is as always caught in the middle.  Note that Howard seems to be aging backwards, as he's celebrating his 40th birthday.  And despite having fallen in love with Ellen, he shows up with his old girlfriend Mary Ellen (Jill Jaress).  Maybe this episode is set earlier.

Besides Dr. Newman and Dr. Tupperman, Dr. Ralph Tetzi (Gene Blakely) returns.  Dick Wilson plays the Man With Hat.

The Bob Newhart Show: The Jobless Corps

The Bob Newhart Show: The Jobless Corps
CBS
January 19, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Patchett and Tarses story shows that Mr. Carlin will join almost any group, in this case the one for the Out of Work Workshop, composed of some new patients who would all return: Mr. Ed Herd (Oliver Clark), Craig Plager (33-year-old Howard Hesseman), Shirley Slavin (Millie Slavin, with her character later renamed Shirley Ullman), and Mr. Edgar Vickers (Lucian Scott).  When Howard is fired from his current job-- replaced by a computer, very timely-- he joins the group and gets his confidence back.  And he gets another job, for a cargo airline, at the end.

The Brady Bunch: Out of This World

The Brady Bunch: Out of This World
ABC
January 18, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Al Schwartz and Larry Rhine contributed this story about Greg's prank on his brothers getting out of hand.  It's notable for several reasons, besides the well-known one about the Kaplutians being played by the kids' stand-ins.  It features one of Bobby's dreams, with a UFO that looks about as convincing as the stage sets that the Bradys build in their backyard.  It has Williams's scraped up face (from a car accident) incorporated into the script, with Peter insulting him.  And it has some subtler Greg/Marcia flirting than in the previous episode, with him giving her back a caress when they're at his attic window.

Mario Machado, who's appearing as himself, would be a Reporter in Rescue from Gilligan's Island.

The Bob Newhart Show: The Modernization of Emily

The Bob Newhart Show: The Modernization of Emily
CBS
January 12, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Another very good story from Charlotte Brown, with Emily, after ten years of teaching and five years of being married, trying to act and feel younger.  The reactions of the others are spot on.  Ironically, in a decade of regrettable fashion (and we are deep into the plaid slacks era now), Emily's two "tacky" outfits look adorable.  It is definitely the mid-'70s, with jokes about the high cost of meat, much like the frequent similar jokes on The Brady Bunch that season.

J.J. Barry, who's the Man in Market, would show up in some of my other shows, most notably as Janet's boss on Three's Company.  And, yes, that's 30-year-old Sharon Gless as Howard's date.  This is, by the way, the 600th program I've reviewed.

The Bob Newhart Show: Oh, Brother

The Bob Newhart Show: Oh, Brother
CBS
January 5, 1974
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Martin Cohan wrote this story about Jerry's brother (Raul Julia), which contradicts some other information about Jerry's family, but no matter.  Rhoda Gemingnani returns as Miss Rossi, still suspicious of men, but this time she's Bob's patient rather than a possible fill-in for Carol.

The Bob Newhart Show: I'm Dreaming of a Slight Christmas

The Bob Newhart Show: I'm Dreaming of a Slight Christmas
CBS
December 22, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this Patchett and Tarses story, Bob has one appointment on Christmas Eve and makes the mistake of telling Mr. Peterson that he doesn't need therapy anymore.  Meanwhile, a blizzard starts.  Bob and Emily's chances of spending the holiday alone together dwindle.

Gene Blakely makes his first of two appearances as Dr. Ralph Tetzi.  And we finish off '73.

The Bob Newhart Show: T.S. Elliot

The Bob Newhart Show: T.S. Elliot
CBS
December 15, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B+

This is Gerry Renert and Jeff Wilhelm's only BNS script (they''d also write one for M*A*S*H) and it's sweet and funny, the humor mostly coming from the characters but also with some physical gags.  (There's a moment where the audience is still reacting to Mr. Carlin wordlessly going into the elevator and then Jerry comes in with a talking tooth.)  Carol goes on a date with Mr. Carlin and he proposes to her before they can go on a second date.  Emily's glee when she finds out that Bob has sort of matchmade a couple is something that resonates through the whole series.

Hostess Shizuko Hoshi had played a Waitress in the first season.  Shirley O'Hara would return as Carol's scatter-brained replacement Debbie.  Robert Reisel, who's Mr. Miller here, would be a Motel Clerk on Three's Company.  

The Bob Newhart Show: Fit, Fat and Forty-One

The Bob Newhart Show: Fit, Fat and Forty-One
CBS
November 24, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Harvey Miller, who wrote one That Girl episode, contributes his only one for BNS, collaborating with Bill Idelson, whose last of four it is.  Bob turns 41.  Emily plans another surprise party for him.  Meanwhile he struggles to lose eight pounds on the advice of his doctor.

Bruce Kirby, who's Dr. Klein, would be Sgt. Kimble on M*A*S*H.  Samantha Harper, who's Nurse Burke, would be Mrs. L.W. on Mork & Mindy.  And, yes, that's 28-year-old Ron Glass as one of the Elevator Repairmen.  (The other, Robert Ridgely would be Marvin a few years later.)

The Bob Newhart Show: Mutiny on the Hartley

The Bob Newhart Show: Mutiny on the Hartley
CBS
November 10, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

This story by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses has Bob raising his rates for the first time ever.  There's a bit of back story, with Mr. Carlin as Bob's first patient (before he could afford a couch) and Michelle walking into his office in her high school graduation gown (at the time of the Bay of Pigs, so 1961, making her 30 now).  The funniest parts are the characteristic reactions to the price increase by the group members, and the reactions to the products of Mrs. Bakerman's late husband's taxidermy.

Henry Corden, who'd recently been Mr. Haskell on The Brady Bunch, plays Mr. Nenn, the plumber.

The Brady Bunch: Quarterback Sneak

The Brady Bunch: Quarterback Sneak
ABC
November 9, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B

Chris Beaumont plays his last Brady character and arguably the sleaziest, while Denny Miller, who had played two jocks on Gilligan's Island (Duke Williams and Tongo the Ape Man) is Carol's jock high school boyfriend, Tank Gates.  Ben Gershman and Bill Freedman put a new spin on the boys vs. girls theme, focused on Greg vs. Marcia but with their younger siblings taking sides, as Marcia dates Jerry Rogers from the ironically named Fairview High football team.  No matter how many times I've seen this, I'm still not clear if Marcia knows that the stolen playbook is a phony one, but what matters to her is that Jerry has faked an interest in her.  All ends happily of course, with Alice having "winning" and "losing" cakes just in case.  There's a big Mike & Carol smooch at the very end.  And note that Carol has clearly gotten over her fear of Greg playing football, maybe because he's older and bigger now.

The Brady Bunch: Marcia Gets Creamed

The Brady Bunch: Marcia Gets Creamed
ABC
October 26, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this Ben Gershman and Bill Freedman story, Marcia gets a job working at an ice cream place run by Mr. Haskell (Henry Corden, who's mostly known for his cartoon voices but who would be on The Bob Newhart Show later that year). Since Peter is job-hunting, Marcia first talks her boss into taking time off and then recommends having her brother fill in in the afternoon.  Mr. H makes no objections.  Unfortunately, Peter, who had been a perfectionist at the bike shop, now is a "capital-G Goof-off."  Marcia fires him and then hires Jan, who is a very hard worker.  Meanwhile, Marcia doesn't have time for her new boyfriend Jeff, who shows up with a Girl (Kimberly Beck, who was Marcia's friend Laura before).  Marcia sprays them with whipped cream.  Mr. H comes in a minute later and it seems like he must've seen the customers leaving with whipped cream on their clothes, but actually he's tired of leisure time, so he fires Marcia and keeps Jan.  Marcia is upset so Jan offers to quit, but then Jeff and Marcia make up, so Marcia "retires."  And Peter gets a job delivering pizza.  There's also a subplot that has Alice and Mike both dieting, and yet Mike digs into the pizza that Peter brings home, without any qualms, or scolding from Carol.

I've gone into detail on all this, because I don't think the script quite works.  It's entertaining, but full of holes, including that there's no way that Carol could know what Mike weighed in college.

The Bob Newhart Show: A Home Is Not Necessarily a House

The Bob Newhart Show: A Home Is Not Necessarily a House
CBS
February 10, 1973
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Bob and Emily consider buying a house but don't.  It's revealed that Mr. Carlin wears not only a toupee but elevator shoes.  Jenna McMahon and Dick Clair, who'd written a different episode for this show, play the rival realtors.

The Bob Newhart Show: His Busiest Season

The Bob Newhart Show: His Busiest Season
CBS
December 23, 1972
Sitcom
DVD
C+


This episode never quite gets going but it's not bad.  The "his" in the title is presumably Santa rather than Bob, although that does look like an overpopulated group session.  (Couldn't they have at least found cushions or folding chairs for the people sitting on the floor?)  Probably the first sitcom examination of seasonal depression, but not exactly a cure for it.  And we never find out what Bob and Emily got each other.

King Moody was the Fireman earlier and is Ken Willett here.  Harvey J. Goldenberg, who plays the very Woody-Allen-like Barry Gorman, would be on M*A*S*H twice.  Twenty-six-year-old Renee Lippin debuts as Michelle Nardo.

The Brady Bunch: My Fair Opponent

The Brady Bunch: My Fair Opponent

Don't try wearing that outside the '70s, Molly!

ABC

March 3, 1972

Sitcom

DVD

B-

Marcia gives a classmate a makeover only to have the girl, that's right, get a swelled head.  By the early '80s, this was an odd episode to watch, because Molly's post-makeover outfits were the height of nerd-dom.  Also, if Molly could wear contact lenses, why couldn't Jan?  I remember once busting up laughing because Molly kept referring to Patty Hobert as Sally Hobert, and then later in the episode she called out, "Hey, Sally!"  Note that Peter makes fun of Molly but Greg is more chivalrous.

Lindsay Workman's last Brady appearance is as Mr. Watkins, although arguably he's still the school principal.

The Brady Bunch: And Now, a Word from Our Sponsor

The Brady Bunch: And Now, a Word from Our Sponsor
ABC
November 5, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Robert Reed was very unhappy with the script by Albert E. Lewin, his last of three for BBunch.  OK, so it's not the most realistic episode, but it's not bad.  As a kid, I most enjoyed "Meerna's" acting lessons and the fun that the kids have getting dirty.  Notice how Alice gets glammed up even more than she did for her dates with Mark Millard.  This time Lennie Bremen plays the Truck Driver.

The Brady Bunch: Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?

The Brady Bunch: Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?
ABC
January 15, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Al Schwartz's third and Bill Freedman's fourth Brady script is still another everyone remembers, the one where Jan buys a black wig and becomes "the new Jan Brady."  This is the kind of thing, following not too long after the George Glass debacle, that would later fuel the psycho-Jan humor of the movies, but I like how Jan is the Brady who's least comfortable with her place in the family.  Even after Alice gave her the locket, it's still not easy for her being the middle girl.  By the way, she is definitely twelve.  I'd always thought the girls were three years apart, as were the boys, but maybe Jan is only two years younger than Marcia, and Peter is only two years younger than Greg.  Or maybe continuity is as bad here as on most other sitcoms of the time.  This is another episode where Peter is a supportive brother, although I could've done without the subplot of the homely girl chasing after him.


Karen Foulkes, who plays Margie Rimple, would have a similar role later, as Muriel.  I don't think I have Pamelyn Ferdin in any of my other TV shows, but she did a lot of memorable voicework, including as Fern in Charlotte's Web.  And, yes, 28-year-old Marcia Wallace makes her debut, as the Saleswoman.

The Brady Bunch: The Dropout

The Brady Bunch: The Dropout

ABC

September 25, 1970

Sitcom

DVD
C+

The second season kicks off with the first Brady script written by Ben Gershman and the third by Bill Freedman, as well as the first directed by Peter Baldwin.  I find sports boring so most of my attention was on Mike and Carol, watching them parent Greg in his first "swelled head" episode, and be more affectionate with each other than they generally were in the first season.  Note, Greg is in high school (or at least is not planning to finish high school), while Peter seems to be in junior high now.  Also notable that Greg actually cries, although not sobbing like Marcia does.