Recently @sirknight, a friend of mine, asked "What does the Brady Bunch mean to you?"
Does this look blurry to you? Well I'm sorry! Back in my day we didn't have HD television! Sometimes we even watched in... black and white!
Considering the question concerns a TV show that only produced 117 episodes with the last one airing over 45 years ago, you might imagine my answer would be, "Not much."
But nothing could be further from the truth. Although I do not recall ever watching a first-run episode (I was two when the show was cancelled) I also do not recall ever missing an episode. The show started its unprecedented run on syndication in 1975 when I was four years old. I have seen every episode at least a dozen times.
If you have ever read any of my other old man rantings, then you are well aware that back in my day, we only had four television channels... and we liked it! No we didn't! It sucked! We did not have much of a choice as to what to watch on a rainy day. Luckily for us, the Bradys were always there to help us pass the time.
By "us" I mean every single American born between 1945 and 1985.
By the way, this is not what I mean. No one wants to remember this variety show. No one.
This is where my answer to @sirknight's question comes into play.
There are not many things that can unite every member of a broad demographic. Love of sports teams can sometimes fill the bill. But that is usually limited by geographic location. Music can do it, but that might not bridge the gap between all 15 year olds and all 55 year olds. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet may be one of the few things that every person in America can relate to regardless of age. But who wants to talk about Romeo and Juliet at a party?
For my generation (and those directly before and after it), there is only one topic that everyone I know can converse about.
If I walk into a party filled with Americans ranging from age 30 to 75, I am 100% positive that I can strike up a conversation with any of them by simply asking one question:
"What is your favorite episode of the Brady Bunch?"
Come on Mom. Answer the question already!
Even people who do not like the show will smirk as they reminisce about a show they watched when they were kids... or with their kids.
I actually worry that due to the unlimited entertainment at our fingertips today, there will never be an all unifying cultural phenomenon like The Brady Bunch ever again. We didn't watch the show because it was great, we watched it because we could. Today there are so many options that I do not even have time to watch all the good shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Cable, and Youtube. I only have time for the great ones. What is great to me may only be good to someone else. As a result, there will be fewer unifying pieces of pop culture.
I think The Simpsons managed to pull it off for a while, but from my experience not many teenagers know or care about it. However, during every decade from 1970 to 2000, you could find many teenagers who knew the Bradys.
Even the Simpsons can't escape the influence of the Brady Bunch.
Back in my day, the Bradys brought us together... and we liked it!
We really did.
It is tough to pick my favorite episode. Is it when Marcia got hit in the face with a football? Or when Jan proved middle children are all insane enough to make up a boyfriend named George Glass? Perhaps it was Peter repeatedly saying 'Pork chops and apples sauce. Swell." Maybe it was one of the several episodes where the family inexplicably became musicians. Could it be the one where Sam the Butcher murdered that guy and hid him in his meat locker? (Just seeing if you were paying attention). Possibly it is the one which taught me the importance of "don't play ball in the house". How about the visit to the Grand Canyon where the Brady children find a boy living in the wilderness and they smuggle him beans in a flashlight... for some unknown reason?
Nope.
For me, there is one clear answer:
Hawaii Bound!!!!!!!!!
(and the two other episodes of the trilogy)
This trilogy includes surfing, cursed idols, a tarantula, caves inhabited by Vincent Price... and Don Freaking Ho!
If you don't have time to watch all three episodes, here's a nice musical synopsis.
So all of you between 30 and 70, what is your favorite episode of The Brady Bunch?
A little older or younger than that group but still have a favorite?
Groovy!
Hi Hanshotfirst,
I TOTALLY agree with your favorite episodes....
I can't even count how many times my older brother and sister recited those famous lines in our house! LOL
I do have to add....The Jan eposide when she says...All I hear is: "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" LOL
Thank you for sharing those fun memories of all of our past! I thnk we all need to remember those nostalgic shows sometimes.
Also, I have not been posting on Steemit in a while due to some health issues, but I hope I am back to start posting and upvoting again. You are still one of my VERY FAVORITE on Steemit!
Thanks for all your great posts!
I almost included 'Marcia, Marcia Marcia"! Great choice. I hope you feel better and can become more active. We miss you!
And thank you for the kind words.
When Marcia gets hit in the nose by a football thrown from either Greg or Peter ( I think) and it gets hugely swollen. Poor Marcia :) Also the episode when Davey Jones is on the show with his fan club
The Davey Jones episode was amazing. I think that makes the list of top 50 TV show episodes ever.
"Girl , look what you'v done to me " lol
Very nice, I had Eve Plumb in some of my college classes.
That is a "brush with greatness" that I'd love to hear more about!
I grew up in Hollywood and went to Hollywood High School, so I knew or met many famous people. Charlene Tilton, a star in the late 70’s, was a good friend in high school. I still see her once in awhile. I grew up making super 8 movies with Frank Darabont, director of Shawshank Redemption and creator of The Walking Dead tv show. We had a lot of fun!
Love it Han.
Can't say I have a favourite episode - but my favourite part of each episode was always when the incredibly wise Mr Brady would bestow that weeks life lesson upon the kids.
Because this is what good fathers do.
This Knight learned a lot from Mr Brady.
SirKnight.
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I would love the music they would play over behind the lessons. Actually i love dit all the time. Some song just sped up or slowed down to fit the mood.
Definitely Pork Chops and Applesauce, Swell. Old west episode for the win.
Did they get locked in a jail in the Old West one?
Yeah I think so, there was a train and Billy the Kid
I've had the same thought. We have too many choices to have a shared experience of TV now.
Ever start watching a movie on TV, complete with ad breaks; and realise you have the same movie on DVD and could watch it through without interruption, but forge on anyway?
I think its that feeling of a shared experience. You know that at least a few of your neighbours are watching the same thing at the same time. Like a drive-in but with walls.
For me, M * A * S * H (that's really easy to type with SHIFT held down) was the iconic show.
Dad used to watch it every evening at 5, and it probably taught me more than I realised.
I will never forget that my 6th grade teacher gave us homework on the night the last M * A * S * H* episode aired. He made it mandatory that we all watch the show. He knew it was going to be a cultural phenomenon and he did not want any of us to miss it. He was a wise man. I will never forget that episode. Although a different demographic, I am sure that if I walked into a party of people age 47 to 97 and said "How about that chicken in the last episode of MASH?" Every person would be able to chime in.
Hawkeye unraveling toward the end was particularly confronting, I found.
Alda was incredible in Horace & Pete's recently.
I was late for the party hahaha. Actually I'm 34 but not from the states so This show wasn't aired in my country in my time although I supose it was aired here before I was born. However during my childhood I did watch tons of reruns of american old shows like the munsters, bewitched, I dream of jeannie, and stuff like that. Anyways, I saw that Brady bunch movie from the 90's (I don't know what the fans think about that film)
Oh yeah those are all from around the same time. Same with me. Saw all of those.
I didn't grow up at that year when you have the The Brady Brunch, I was born in the era of Tom and Jerry, Skippy the new Kangaroo, Captain America cartoon, Brain pinky and the brain. Scooby Doo, Excalibur, and the likes.
It's amazing and weird that in your early days you only have 4 television stations, I know how it feel, in my state, we also had that too, till better television sets were brought in and it could search for station from neighboring states.
I've watched the Simpson's, am not a fan of that show, many sublimal messages underneath it, it's now very common with sitcoms, cartoon and animations.
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Yeah when I tell my kids I only had 4 choices they are amazed.
Thank you for sharing this nice memory and introduction of "Brady Bunch" I believe that was popular in America, it is really depend where you live and what people there watch. To tell the truth I have never heard about that series, but seeing the trailer, it reminded me a nice family show that you really can watch with the people from all generations.
Reading your post, that made me laugh too, because when I asked myself what the people who me and my friends and family members know it is legendary "Sponge Bob". Actually I started to watch it because of our son who is now 15 but was about 3 when first saw comics and then first cartoon series that usually last about 10-15 min. So it was instead of reading a book before go to sleep. Because of that we learnt all the inhabitants of Bikini bottom from the early beginning till the newest and I must say there are many things from real life, really good, nice jokes and the characters are brilliant. In Germany couple of years ago, there were two CD Hit Parade with SpongeBob adn his friends they did remake of Hit songs with texts passing to Bikini Bottom life. I love it. What about you, are you any fan of SpongeBob?
Oh yeah many of my students are bonded together because of Sponge Bob.
@hanshotfirst, In my opinion there is no Comparison between Old Days and Current Days and that is because, no matter if old days had less stuff but one saying really suits to old days and that is Less Is More. And in my opinion old days hold slow lives and by that i mean, we had an opportunity to explore every moment of our life, but now in my opinion we are entered into the Fast Paced World where 24 Hours are short for us.
Wishing you an great day and stay blessed. 🙂
I have no idea about this tv series.But now i am surely going to see The Brady Bunch show.I hope i will get it on youtube.
It will give a great look into 1960s and 1970s American culture.
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I never saw an episode of it because it wasn't aired in my country. But the 80's show like McGyver and the others I had enjoyed @hanshotfirst