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.