BRADYMANIA: A VERY BRADY SPECIAL {THE BRADY BUNCH} (TV)
Summary
This special, hosted by Florence Henderson, takes a fond look back at "The Brady Bunch," a situation comedy series about a widow with three daughters who marries a widower with three sons. The special focuses on footage from the 1969-1974 series; the show's huge success in reruns; its subsequent cult following; and its current status as a part of American popular culture, equally loved and lampooned. Henderson, who portrayed Carol Brady on the series, discusses the following topics, which are illustrated with clips from the show: a typical day for what she calls the first "merged" family on television in a montage of various episodes; a comparison between how Mike and Carol Brady dealt with their kids' problems versus how parents of more recent television families do, with footage from "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," and "Roseanne"; a look back at the dates and high school political successes of teen dream Marcia Brady; an overview of the Brady fashion sensibility, which reflects what Henderson calls "that nightmare of style and taste known as the 1970s"; examples of the use of period slang on the show, including such expressions as "groovy," "far out," and "right on"; the evolution of Mike Brady's hair over the run of the series; the Brady kids as pop stars, including their performance of "Sunshine Day" on the series; and Brady family problems, including Jan's distress over wearing glasses, Marcia's football injury to the nose, and Greg's desire for his own room. Other topics include the anxiety-fraught childhood of middle daughter Jan Brady, who tended to feel inferior to older sister Marcia; Greg's attempts at rock stardom; the daydreams of Bobby Brady, which often involved sports fame; Peter's battles with his own middle-child syndrome; sibling rivalry among the children, including fights over use of the one bathroom they all shared; a look at scene-stealing lisper Cindy Brady; live-in housekeeper Alice Nelson, who was more a beloved member of the family than an employee; and the Brady's fabulous Hawaiian vacation. The program also examines the show's phenomenal after-life, illustrated by clips from spin-offs and other incarnations of the series, like "The Brady Bunch Hour" (1977) which featured the cast in a variety show format; the animated "The Brady Kids" (1972); "The Brady Girls Get Married" (1981) featuring McCormick and Plumb as young adults; "The Bradys" (1990), a comedy-drama series reuniting most of the original cast; and the television movie "A Very Brady Christmas" (1988). To demonstrate the fact that the Bradys are an indelible part of American culture, the show includes references to "The Brady Bunch" in pop music, a speech by President George Bush, television situation comedies, stand-up comedy, pop music, "Saturday Night Live," and a popular weekly live play called "The Real Live Brady Bunch" which uses the original scripts. Also, cast members Christopher Knight, Susan Olsen, Mike Lookinland, Barry Williams, Ann B. Davis, and creator Sherwood Schwartz reflect on the impact of the show on their lives. Henderson closes by acknowledging that the show is innocent and unreal by current standards, but notes the positive, enduring qualities of the program that have made it a television classic and a part of Americana. Includes commercials and promos. This program is closed-captioned.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 19, 1993 Wednesday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:28
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:31226
- GENRE: Specials; Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1993
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Life with Mikey" (feature film)
- TV - Commercials - "Lost in Yonkers" (feature film)
- TV - Commercials - "Super Mario Bros." (feature film)
- TV - Commercials - American Dairy Association
- TV - Commercials - Bayer Select pain reliever
- TV - Commercials - Best Foods Mayonnaise
- TV - Commercials - Burger King restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Huggies Pull-Ups training pants
- TV - Commercials - J.C. Penney department stores
- TV - Commercials - Liquid Dial soap
- TV - Commercials - Lysol Hard Water Stain Cleaner
- TV - Commercials - Lysol spray disinfectant
- TV - Commercials - M&M's candy
- TV - Commercials - Quaker Oat Life cereal
- TV - Commercials - Ritz crackers
- TV - Commercials - Sea World theme park
- TV - Commercials - Tic Tacs breath mints
- TV - Commercials - Wal-Mart department stores
- TV - Commercials - Wendy's restaurants
- TV - PSA - "National Safe Kids Campaign"
- TV - Promos - "America's Funniest Home Videos"
- TV - Promos - "Coach"
- TV - Promos - "Family Matters"
- TV - Promos - "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper"
- TV - Promos - "Home Improvement"
- TV - Promos - "Life Goes On" (final episode)
- TV - Promos - "Nightline" (voice-over only)
- TV - Promos - "Step By Step"
- TV - Promos - "TV's Funniest Commercials"
- TV - Promos - "Wild Palms"
CREDITS
- Malcolm Leo … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- Bonnie Peterson … Supervising Producer
- Allen Rucker … Co-Producer, Writer
- Lesli Klainberg … Associate Producer
- Sherwood Schwartz … Consultant
- Lloyd Schwartz … Consultant
- Peggy Sandvig … Music by
- Florence Henderson … Host
- Melissa Sue Anderson
- C.B. Barnes
- Lisa Bonet
- George Bush
- Bill Cosby
- D.J. Jazzy Jeff
- Ann B. Davis
- Michael J. Fox
- Sara Gilbert
- Michael Gross
- Melanie Hutsell
- Victoria Jackson
- Davy Jones
- Christopher Knight
- Mike Lookinland
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Maureen McCormick
- Allan Melvin
- Joe Namath
- Kevin Nealon
- Ken Ober
- Susan Olsen
- Eve Plumb
- Rashad, Phylicia (See also: Ayers-Allen, Phylicia)
- Robert Reed
- Roseanne (see also: Barr, Roseanne; Arnold, Roseanne)
- Adam Sandler
- Rob Schneider
- Sherwood Schwartz
- Will Smith
- Julia Sweeney
- Marcia Wallace
- Barry Williams