The Brady Bunch: The Teeter-Totter Caper

The Brady Bunch: The Teeter-Totter Caper
ABC
December 31, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This was one of my favorite episodes as a kid, because it shows how little kids want to feel important, too.  Also, I wanted to break a record, probably for hula-hooping or card-house-building.  But I have to mark this down from a B for the repetitive and sexist jokes about weddings.  Note that Cindy is 9 1/2 and Bobby is 10, while Jan is not yet 13.

Vito Scotti provides the voice of the Cooking Show Host on the radio, in a sequence left out in syndication.  Dick Winslow is reporter Mark Winters here and would later be Truck Driver #1.

The Brady Bunch: Her Sister's Shadow

The Brady Bunch: Her Sister's Shadow
ABC
November 19, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B

This middle episode of the series is appropriately enough the one where Jan feels like she's in the shadow of "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia."  Apparently Bobby isn't the only one feeling like he doesn't have enough awards, and we can see that, among other things, Marcia did become Student Body President sometime after conceding to Greg.  Carol says Jan is three years younger than Marcia, and she should know, so I'm going to assume that the 12-year-old Jan in season two is just a mistake.  Interestingly, at one point when Marcia comes in to encourage her, Jan is drawing.  Eve Plumb was artistic in real life, and this would become a plot point in a later episode where Jan is again trying to find where her talents lie.  And, yes, this is a "voices in her head" episode for Jan, although he was hardly the only one in the family who suffered from that, movie satires aside.

This time Lindsay Workman is the Principal of the junior high.  Phil Leslie co-wrote this episode with Al Schwartz and would also do the Davy Jones episode.

The Brady Bunch: The Liberation of Marcia Brady

The Brady Bunch: The Liberation of Marcia Brady
ABC
February 12, 1971
Sitcom
DVD
B

The simplistic gender roles of the first season are cracking here, late in the second season, with
Charles Hoffman's middle of three Brady stories.  Marcia's point, a realization she comes to when interviewed by a local reporter, is that girls should have the same opportunities to try as boys do.  The ending is arguably a cop-out, with Marcia back in a dress, asking for the latest fashion magazines, and not going to the Frontier Scouts initiation, despite passing all the tests.  However, I think she just wanted to prove she could do it and it's not something she personally wants to do.  Meanwhile, Peter's attempt to become a Sunflower Girl (Greg's idea, but only Peter is between ten and fourteen) are played purely for comedy.  Poor boy, he already went through being called a "songbird" and a "sissy," and he looks very unhappy here.

Note that Marcia's friend Judy says her father and brother would "clobber" her if she talked like a women's libber, while Mike thinks women's lib is a little extreme, but he's generally supportive of Marcia here.  And Carol says something like, "I've never gone marching but I believe in some of their causes."  Things are starting to slowly change.

The Brady Bunch: Confessions, Confessions

The Brady Bunch: Confessions, Confessions
ABC
December 18, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Brad Radnitz's second Brady story is another of those from the second season that's well remembered, thanks to the repeated refrains of Greg's "Mom's favorite vase!" and Bobby's "She always said don't play ball in the house," particularly in Peter's guilt-induced nightmare.  The episode has the kids all teaming up to protect Peter, and the parents trying to use psychology to get him to confess, although it takes till the last minute.

Snag Werris has his first of four Brady roles as the Hardware Man, and previously was a Waiter on That Girl.

The Brady Bunch: The Tattle-Tale

The Brady Bunch: The Tattle-Tale
ABC
December 4, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Sam Locke wrote three scripts for Gilligan, while Milton Pascal did five for That Girl, and here they're teaming up for the first of five Brady times, on the episode that became one of Susan Olsen's least favorites.  Note that not only Sam but Peter are referred to but not seen.  On the other hand, Tiger makes a rare appearance and impacts the plot.  And I honestly don't think there are 4000+ jelly beans in that bowl.  Four hundred maybe.

John Wheeler makes his first of three Brady appearances, as the Postman.

That Girl: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?

That Girl: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?
ABC
March 12, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This is one of the better Turteltaub-Orenstein scripts, although it still feels a little off.  Ann, Donald, and a newly hirsute Jerry (mustache and mutton-chops) come back from seeing an independent film and decide to shoot one of their own.  But when Ann and Don screen footage that he shot of Ann washing the windows, the apartment visible in the background seems to contain Ruthie kissing a strange man.  Ann assumes she's having an affair, and blames Jerry!  It turns out Ruthie is pregnant, and was kissing the tenant across the way, who's promised to move out so she and Jerry can move in.  Kopell does a good job of acting ecstatic over the news of his impending fatherhood, especially considering Borden is the third woman to play his wife on the show.

Bobo Lewis again is Gloria at the answering service.

That Girl: Gone-A-Courtin

That Girl: Gone-A-Courtin
ABC
March 5, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
C+

I have to admit that some of the entertainment value for me in this Joseph-Bonaduce-written episode was exclaiming, "That doesn't make any sense."  Ann goes to an audition for a role as "a typical emancipated woman" who's apparently supposed to be emasculating as well, but the producer has a tantrum and scares her.  Then later she's thrilled to be called back to his office at 8 p.m., but the role he wants her to play is that of clumsy secretary to his lawyer, in order to prove that he didn't stab a man with a shish-kabob and the man instead stabbed himself.  By the time Ann is holding a flaming shish-kabob in the courtroom and scaring that man, any realism has pretty much disappeared, not that it hasn't been slipping away from the show in the last two or three years anyway.  Still, um, Ann wears some cute outfits.  Oh, and there's another How Did This Tag Get Past the Censors tag, where Ann spills water in Donald's lap, she tries to help, and he says a line that sounds ad-libbed by Bessell: "Move your hand away."

Associate producer Lew Gallo and creator Sam Denoff are two of the men who go to the hat check stand.  Alan Oppenheimer's third of four roles on the show is as Morgan Jerome.  Allen Davis, who's Lionel Vernon, was the Desk Clerk in the Vegas episodes.  Harvey J. Goldenberg, who plays Jones, would later be an Assistant Chef.  Thirty-one-year-old Hal Williams, later of 227, has his first of three TG roles, as the Court Clerk.

Alan Oppenheimer shares my reaction.

The Brady Bunch: The Big Sprain

The Brady Bunch: The Big Sprain
ABC
February 6, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This is the first of nine BBunch episodes written by Tam Spiva, who only wrote a bit for Gentle Ben, nothing else, but those nine include some very memorable episodes.  This isn't one of them, but it's not a bad start.  With Carol out of town taking care of her sick Aunt Mary, Alice sprains her ankle and not only do the kids have to take over the housework (note, Mike doesn't contribute anything except advice), but Alice is going to miss the Meat-Cutter's Ball.  This is only the second Allan Melvin episode, although there are references to Sam on other episodes, so it feels like Sam is around more, and again his rapport with Alice is good comedically if not amazing romantically.  Greg/Marcia shippers can take heart at his reaction to her calling him a "dazzling basketball star," although this is nothing like the chemistry they'd have in the last two or three seasons.  (I know, I know, step-siblings, but blame Barry & Maureen.)

That Girl: Opening Night

That Girl: Opening Night
ABC
January 8, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
C+

In this middle of five Arnold Horwitt TG stories, Ann is nervous about opening on Broadway and finds it hard to relax.  Then she gets her finger stuck in, no, not a bowling ball, but the kitchen sink faucet.  She seems to have a dial-phone in the kitchen rather than a push-button like in the living room.  The scene of her trying to dial is cute, but otherwise there's not much to this episode.

Patty Regan makes her last TG appearances, as the Operator.  Vernon Scott is himself here but would be Reporter #1 later, while Army Archerd would go from appearing as himself to appearing as a TV Critic.  Gino Conforti is Nino for the third time.  This time, Bobo Lewis is Gloria at Ann's answering service, a role she'd reprise.  And it's Ted Bessell's 100th episode, since he missed a few of the early ones.

That Girl: I Am Curious Lemon

That Girl: I Am Curious Lemon
ABC
December 25, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
C+

In this episode with a title inspired by arty pornography, Donald flirts with Ann's younger cousin, before being encouraged to kiss his ex-girlfriend by her husband, while Ann, who pretends to be pregnant, refuses to shower with a stranger.  Only, it's not that interesting.

Gino Conforti returns as Nino.  Corinne Conley plays Ann's cousin Trudy and would later be Jeanne.  Susan Quick makes her first of two appearances as Donald's old girlfriend (of two years, from four years ago, in college) Heather Dolan.  And 37-year-old William Christopher plays Donald's old college friend Chippy Dolan.

That Girl: The Snow Must Go On

That Girl: The Snow Must Go On
ABC
October 30, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
B

All these "snow" episodes for TG, this one written by Arnold Howitt, and we're still in October.  Maybe it's meant to be set later, since Donald claims he's known Ann for four years.  Also, I could've sworn that Don had already written an article about Ann, in the first season or two.  I'm not clear if Lew is hoarding sandwiches for his family or if he was planning to sell them to the other people stranded at JFK airport.  I was going to go with a B-, but I found Ann's on-air audition very funny.

Counterman Danny Goldman had previously played a Waiter on TG.  Porter Steven Benson would later be Chicken Boy.  Rudolpho Hoyos is the P.A. Announcer and would later play Rudy Sanchez.  If the voice of John Stephenson as Howard Samrock sounds familiar, it's because he was a voice artist for Hanna-Barbera, including on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home.  This is around the time that reporter/actor Larry McCormick, here appearing as himself, was in the movie The Love God?, and he'd soon be on The Brady Bunch as a TV Announcer.  Milton Parsons, who plays Mr. Bailey the mortician, would play a similarly mournful-looking character on The Brady Bunch, Peter's teacher Mr. Price.

That Girl: At the Drop of a Budget

That Girl: At the Drop of a Budget
ABC
October 16, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Sigh.  At least when Ann would have Lucy-esque adventures in the first season or two, like her toe in the bowling ball, it was done with some degree of plausibility and humor.  But this time Ann is hypnotized by a dentist, played by Monty Hall, and she becomes a shopaholic.  Dig the cheesy "Donald piecing things together" montage to see how unrealistic this has all gotten.  Not sharkbait, but not exactly classic TV either.  Still, the episode is notable for a couple guest stars who went on to become minor characters on other shows:  Gino Conforti, better known as Felipe on Three's Company, makes his first appearance as Nino, while Will Mackenzie, who plays the Fiance on the soap opera, would later marry Carol on The Bob Newhart Show.

Ticket Seller Mari Oliver was Girl #1 on the "chicken" episode. TG producer Sam Denoff appears as Dudley Moss.   This is Ed Scharlach's penultimate TG script, while it's Warren Murray's first of three.

That Girl: Sue Me, Sue Me, What Can You Do Me?

That Girl: Sue Me, Sue Me, What Can You Do Me?
ABC
March 27, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This script, co-written by Milt Rosen, Ruth Brooks Flippen, and Danny Arnold, has Jerry urging Lew to sue Newsview when Lew slips on some water near a drinking fountain.  Donald ends up quitting, after four years, when his integrity is questioned.  The episode never quite comes together, but it has its moments.  Alan Oppenheimer plays his first of four TG roles, as Stewart Hurly.

The season ends after 26 episodes, as compared to 36 for Gilligan's Island in '64-'65.  I don't know the reasons why seasons shrank at this time, with half the year in "summer reruns."  Perhaps it was production costs, but this length for a season would be consistent I believe well into the '90s.  (For sitcoms anyway.  Obviously, Saturday morning TV was a different matter.)

The average for That Girl's third season remains a B-, but now on the lower end rather than the higher.

That Girl: It's So Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House

That Girl: It's So Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House
ABC
March 13, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This has a slow start but picks up when Donald (who's traded apartments with Ann for the night because of the mouse) answers the door in his underwear and Lew of course jumps to conclusions.  William Bramley, who's the exterminator Bert Weevle (a pun?), had previously played Tim.

That Girl: There Was a Time Ann Met a Pie Man

That Girl: There Was a Time Ann Met a Pie Man
ABC
February 13, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Milt Rosen's second of two TG scripts is kind of odd because Ann and her father both react to her getting a pie in the face on TV as if she's done a nude scene or something equally "shameful."  Still, I like the scene where Ann uses Donald as a sounding board and herself looks at both sides of taking the part, while he calmly eats and doesn't say a word.

This time Jesse White plays Hal Grissom, and he warns Ann against "hypothetical needles."  Maida Severn was Miss Stoddard on Gidget and is the Elderly Lady here.  Wardrobe Lady Lea Marmer had been made two earlier TG appearances.  Gene Baylos, who's Mort here, would be an Agent later.  And Renata Vanni plays Mrs. Brentano for the last time.

That Girl: The Earrings

That Girl: The Earrings
ABC
January 23, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Well, we're now in the Nixon era, at least as far as air dates go.  This was a time when the trend was away from escapism and towards realism, although you won't really be able to tell that from my TV collection.  This episode isn't exactly topical, beyond being set (a bit early) on Valentine's Day.  Donald buys Ann diamond earrings (I guess Newsview was paying pretty well), and she loses one, and he gets annoyed with her, even though she didn't want such an expensive gift for that very reason.

Albert Carrier has his first of two TG roles, as the Waiter, while Fabian Dean's first of two is the Messenger.  This is Howard Leeds's only TG script, although he'd also write one for The Brady Bunch, along with a bunch of other series, while this is the first TG episode Russ Mayberry directed out of ten, and he would also direct six episodes of B Bunch, among other shows.