The Bradys

Sure it was cheesy and took itself too seriously, but I find it very easy to love, nonetheless, and it holds a special place among my favorite shows.It isn't high quality in the way my other favorites are, but there is still something very special about it, and it's the natural followup to "A Very Brady Christmas". Leah Ayres did a fine job as the replacement Marcia, and the rest of the cast got a chance to show that they truly were talented dramatic actors all along. I can't help but love this show.

That one word describes this series. The pilot episode involving Bobby being paralyzed and Jan and Phillip's marital problems (among other side archs) was actually well written. The rest of it went down from there. The family has to move because their house at 4226 Clinton Way is in the path of a freeway development. ok, fair enough so far. They are unsucessfull at getting that changed; uh huh. Next, so they decide to move the house; literally cut it into pieces and move it, so that the producers can stop using the fooage of the actual house filmed back in the 60's (the real house, while still there, looks nothing like it did and is now protected by a big wall), but not design new sets. This is where it started to be a stretch. Mike is mad that their councilman wouldn't support them in their opposition so he decides to run against him, and (surprise! surprise!) he won. This is where they lost me. The rest of the series went downhill from there, culmunating with Marcia's alchoholism. Don't get me wrong, I think that Marcia becoming an alchoholic was a good idea (it was built on from the way things were when the series started -- can we say good plot development?) but the writing could have been better, and then she admits her problem (after hitting bottom) gets and into treatment (becoming an advocate for people with her problem to seek help); all in one episode. Then in the next episode it was completely forgotten. Oh, please! The next, and final (thankfully)m episode dealt with the girls putting together a catering business (The Party Girls). Oh, and least I forget, throughout the show Cindy is dating her widowed (or was it divorced, I forget) boss at the radio station where she works as a D.J. Ack Ack Ack. Go away!

This show probably ended the notion of people trying to milk the Brady franchise for all its worth. The idea of trying to turn one of the corniest, but memorable, sitcoms in television history into an hour long drama is probably one of the worst ideas in the history of television. To me, the idea of the Brady's finally having real life problems is so absurd after the surrealism of the original series. Just thank God they didn't bring back cousin Oliver.

Being a fan of "The Brady Bunch", I was interested when I first heard that CBS was going to release this show as a Spring replacement.

Since I couldn't watch the episodes at the time it aired due to other commitments, I set the VCR for the first episode. When I watched it, I didn't like what I saw. It looked horrible. I thought that maybe it was a fluke, so I taped another episode and it was more of the same.

What bothered me the most is it seemed like the Brady Family was going out of their way to say, "we are no longer that goody-goody little family you used to know and remember, way back when".

Also, it seemed like every week, a new crisis struck the Brady family; From Marcia becomes an alcoholic, or Bobby becoming a paraplegic in a racing accident. You had to ask yourself what tragedy could happen next; Peter gets shot in a bank holdup? Or maybe Cindy ends up missing.

With every week being what seems like "The Brady crisis of the week", it makes the show unbelievable and you end up thinking; No family could have as many problems as they do.

Just watching it makes it painful to watch; Not painful in the sense that you're feeling the Brady's tragedy, but getting that "I can't take anymore of this crap" feeling.

Only 4 episodes were aired and Maureen McCormick had the good sense to stay away from this "turkey". In a way, I felt it was 4 episodes too many.

Mike Brady running for office? Bobby handicapped? True enough, the original Brady Bunch wasn't funny. But why rub it in with this schlock??

I have to admit, when Bobby gazed up like Bambi at Mike and asked if he'll walk again I did get a little choked up. But then I immediately started laughing! God strike me down. I've loved the Bradys since the beginning, so I felt a little torn, but let's be serious, there's nothing dramatic about the Bradys. So why try? This attempt at drama, turning the Brady Bunch into the Colbys was ridiculous!

There was something really wrong-headed about this show. I kept waiting for footballs in the nose and lies about George Glass and arguments about using the toilet and Pork Chops and Applesauce! And if everyone was supposed to be there, then where the hell was Cousin Oliver?