I am curious as to what you all think.
I think she made a big thing out of it.

I don't know but she should have known that the genes would come from her parents not from other realitives..

for real...what a cry baby she was in this episode. And she can't blame Marcia for anything regarding that issue.

I agree, she was making a big deal out of nothing.

Most of the episodes featuring Jan were about her "woe is me" attitude.

I don't think she made that big deal out of it, she felt that is who she would look like at that age. It's natural for a child to feel that way given how society emphasizes beauty. Who is to say she wouldn't resemble her Aunt when she got to be Aunt Jenny's age. My Niece's kid looks a heck of a lot like her brother, in fact he would pass for his son.

Imagine how crappy Aunt Jennie must have felt.

Imagine how crappy Aunt Jennie must have felt.
you could see her reaction when Mike and Carol told her abt why Jan was distant to her.

I considered Imogene Coca a real beauty, especially from seeing pictures and clips from her younger years in television. She was still good looking when she appeared on Brady Bunch.

you could see her reaction when Mike and Carol told her abt why Jan was distant to her.


Tough to put that delicately..

You see, Aunt Jenny...basically what we're saying is...Jan doesn't hate you...she's just really, really afraid that she's going to look like you some day...and that frightens her!

ouch...(I know, that's not what they really said, but they might just as well have said it)...


Was it clarified in that episode that Aunt Jenny was actually Carol's aunt (Jan's great-aunt)? She couldn't have been Carol's sister...


I think Aunt Jenny should have walked into the house with the family after Greg's graduation (in the last episode) and said "...when I heard that your Dad wasn't going to be able to be at your graduation, I was at the top of Mt. Fuji looking for Godzilla with the Emperor of Japan, and I said to him, 'hito, I gotta split, my nephew needs me'...so, here I am!"

Carol: Oh, Aunt Jenny

Greg: Thanks Aunt Jenny, for being there for me!

Jan: And I hope you can make it to MY graduation too! <smiles>

Aunt Jenny: Honey, King Kong himself couldn't stop me from being there, even if Mothra was helping him!

<all laugh>

<fade out to Brady grid>

hell yea she made a big deal outta nothing! poor aunt jenny,... you think that jan could have just put up with her "problem" while jenny was ther instead of making her feel so awful lol.

Tough to put that delicately..

You see, Aunt Jenny...basically what we're saying is...Jan doesn't hate you...she's just really, really afraid that she's going to look like you some day...and that frightens her!

ouch...(I know, that's not what they really said, but they might just as well have said it)...


Was it clarified in that episode that Aunt Jenny was actually Carol's aunt (Jan's great-aunt)? She couldn't have been Carol's sister...


I think Aunt Jenny should have walked into the house with the family after Greg's graduation (in the last episode) and said "...when I heard that your Dad wasn't going to be able to be at your graduation, I was at the top of Mt. Fuji looking for Godzilla with the Emperor of Japan, and I said to him, 'hito, I gotta split, my nephew needs me'...so, here I am!"

Carol: Oh, Aunt Jenny

Greg: Thanks Aunt Jenny, for being there for me!

Jan: And I hope you can make it to MY graduation too! <smiles>

Aunt Jenny: Honey, King Kong himself couldn't stop me from being there, even if Mothra was helping him!

<all laugh>

<fade out to Brady grid>
:lol: :lol: :wave:

Jan made a big stink about everything, Irene!!!:D

A friend of mine once quipped that Jan Brady was the Queen Of Teen Angst. If The Brady Bunch was being done these days, Jan would be the central girl character. She'd probably have a nose ring and dyed black hair. Marcia would be the oddball with her perfect features and blonde hair.

Jan made a big stink about everything, Irene!!!:D

A friend of mine once quipped that Jan Brady was the Queen Of Teen Angst. If The Brady Bunch was being done these days, Jan would be the central girl character. She'd probably have a nose ring and dyed black hair. Marcia would be the oddball with her perfect features and blonde hair.
I don't know, I think Marcia had alot more things to cry abt. Can someone make a list of the crap Marcia cried and bitched abt and then one of Jan's complaints...I think Marcia has more than Jan. Jan just stood out more because i feel her character was made to stand out since she was the middle child.

Tweety, that was funny. I could even hear Imogene Coca's voice when I read that.

She had a great voice too.

Tweety, that was funny. I could even hear Imogene Coca's voice when I read that.

She had a great voice too.


She did, indeed!

I don't know, I think Marcia had alot more things to cry abt. Can someone make a list of the crap Marcia cried and bitched abt and then one of Jan's complaints...I think Marcia has more than Jan. Jan just stood out more because i feel her character was made to stand out since she was the middle child.


It's close...real close...perhaps too close to call...

Marcia
1) Father of the year episode, upset about being punished
2) Vote for Brady, cried when Pete and Bobby gave her the silent treatment during her "speech" to the family
3) Getting braces
4) Losing her diary
5) Slumber party punishment
6) Loses role of Juliet (really cried big time in that one)
7) Upset when she gets herself into trouble over Davy Jones
8) First day of high school angst
9) Hit in nose with football, ruined her life (temporarily)
10) Turns into blubbering idiot (her words, not mine) in fight over attic room with Greg
11) Loses her ice cream job to the harder-working Jan
12) Flakes out on her first drivers test


Jan:
1) Upset about boys doctor walking into her room (understandable, however)
2) Lost her locket
3) Lost the mouse while playing a practical joke
4) Jealous of Marcia in her Battle of Clark Tyson episode (Marcia came, SLINKING IN and turned on her icky old charms)
5) Upset that her wig was not taken seriously at the party
6) & 7) The Marcia's shadow episode, first upset at comparisons with Marcia, and then she STILL loses after she thought she won the essay contest
8) Having to get glasses
9) Aunt Jenny episode
10) Jan, the only child episode
11) Can't dance ballet, can't tap dance, can't twirl a baton (but she CAN paint)
12) Most popular girl...for a while...

One episode where they BOTH bitched is the "Underground Movie" in which they both wanted to play Priscilla (not that Greg's movie actually TOLD that story)...


Anybody think of any others? I basically went quickly through an episode guide from "Bradymania", but there may be sub-plots involving Jan or Marcia's whining that I didn't catch...

What if Imogene Coca & Marty Feldman (Young Frankenstein) got together and had children??????

What if Imogene Coca & Marty Feldman (Young Frankenstein) got together and had children??????

They did, and she grew up to play Ms. DiPesto on "Moonlighting".

Seriously - I've known couples who were not model-perfect, but had great-looking kids. Similarly, I've known really great-looking couples who had less-than-good-looking kids.

But Jan was certainly out of line - isn't it every girl's dream to grow up to look like Imogene Coca?

I don't know, I think Marcia had alot more things to cry abt. Can someone make a list of the crap Marcia cried and bitched abt and then one of Jan's complaints...I think Marcia has more than Jan. Jan just stood out more because i feel her character was made to stand out since she was the middle child.

Yeah, but all Marcia had to do was flash that million-dollar smile of hers, bat her eyelashes and all her whining was forgotten.

Jan wouldn't stoop to doing that...she had integrity!:lol:

They did, and she grew up to play Ms. DiPesto on "Moonlighting".

Seriously - I've known couples who were not model-perfect, but had great-looking kids. Similarly, I've known really great-looking couples who had less-than-good-looking kids.

But Jan was certainly out of line - isn't it every girl's dream to grow up to look like Imogene Coca?

Tough to put that delicately..
...

Was it clarified in that episode that Aunt Jenny was actually Carol's aunt (Jan's great-aunt)? She couldn't have been Carol's sister...
...


Carol did say they Jenny was her aunt, this episode really should have been called "Jan's great aunt Jenny"

I have great aunts and NEVER have I ever referred to them as my great aunt.

Correct--we always called our great aunts, simply "Aunt".

perhaps, but for the sake of clarity they should still say "great aunt" in the episode description.

perhaps, but for the sake of clarity they should still say "great aunt" in the episode description.
True. I agree.

Tough to put that delicately..

You see, Aunt Jenny...basically what we're saying is...Jan doesn't hate you...she's just really, really afraid that she's going to look like you some day...and that frightens her!

ouch...(I know, that's not what they really said, but they might just as well have said it)...


Was it clarified in that episode that Aunt Jenny was actually Carol's aunt (Jan's great-aunt)? She couldn't have been Carol's sister...


I think Aunt Jenny should have walked into the house with the family after Greg's graduation (in the last episode) and said "...when I heard that your Dad wasn't going to be able to be at your graduation, I was at the top of Mt. Fuji looking for Godzilla with the Emperor of Japan, and I said to him, 'hito, I gotta split, my nephew needs me'...so, here I am!"

Carol: Oh, Aunt Jenny

Greg: Thanks Aunt Jenny, for being there for me!

Jan: And I hope you can make it to MY graduation too! <smiles>

Aunt Jenny: Honey, King Kong himself couldn't stop me from being there, even if Mothra was helping him!

<all laugh>

<fade out to Brady grid>
Yeah, what was the point of this episode - that you CAN judge a book by its cover?? :eek: :lol:

Yeah, what was the point of this episode - that you CAN judge a book by its cover?? :eek: :lol:


Yeah, there were some contradictory messages we saw on the show...

I guess it wasn't until later (I don't have the chronology clear in my head at the moment) that we learned that looks DON'T matter (when Jan got glasses). Of course, we'd already learned that lesson earlier when Marcia got braces.

But Mike and Carol definitely thought that looks DO matter when it came to getting Clark Tyson to notice Jan.... instead of saying "Jan, forget about Clark Tyson, he's not worth it, all he cares about is looks", they go out of their way to put a pretty dress on Jan for the exact purpose of impressing Clark.

And of course, they never told Jan that it's OK to look like Aunt Jenny... they tried to make Jan feel better by saying that maybe she WON'T end up looking like Aunt Jenny.

But Jan in the end thought Aunt Jenny was cool and exotic and admired the free spirit she exuded. She wanted to be like Aunt Jenny when she saw it was personality/attitude that ultimately decides how you turn out.

Jan went a little overboard about the picture (and fearing that she would look like Aunt Jenny). Remember she was so excited at first when she found that picture that had her "soul sister" in it, and she was amazed at the resemblance. Then I guess she just figured that since they looked the same when they were younger that they would look the same as they got older.

But something bothers me; something I never thought of. Would you (as an actor or actress) want to be called in for a part in a popular sitcom because you were "ugly"? That's terrible!:nonono: That would be a touchy subject. Trying to find an actress that the audience would think was "ugly" just to prove a point on a show.

And then when Aunt Jenny told Jan that she had the option to have plastic surgery or something like that and Jan says "Why didn't you do it?", like she's appalled that Aunt Jenny would refuse to do such a thing. Geez... now that's kind of harsh, if you ask me! :cuckoo

Andrea

...But something bothers me; something I never thought of. Would you (as an actor or actress) want to be called in for a part in a popular sitcom because you were "ugly"? That's terrible!:nonono: That would be a touchy subject. Trying to find an actress that the audience would think was "ugly" just to prove a point on a show.

And then when Aunt Jenny told Jan that she had the option to have plastic surgery or something like that and Jan says "Why didn't you do it?", like she's appalled that Aunt Jenny would refuse to do such a thing. Geez... now that's kind of harsh, if you ask me! :cuckoo
Andrea


It would certainly offend some actresses to play such a part, but I doubt that Coca was much offended by being asked to play Aunt Jenny.

Coca was a comedic actress who was never known for being glamorous. In a lot of publicity shots for her TV shows and appearances, she's often shown making a funny face.

It was not plastic surgery that Aunt Jenny decided against, it was marriage. Jan asked her why she's never been married, and Jenny told Jan that she'd received "lots of proposals" over the years, but said something about not wanting to be tied down. And she'd apparently gotten marriage proposals from some famous and/or rich guys, which impressed Jan.

But something bothers me; something I never thought of. Would you (as an actor or actress) want to be called in for a part in a popular sitcom because you were "ugly"? That's terrible!:nonono: That would be a touchy subject. Trying to find an actress that the audience would think was "ugly" just to prove a point on a show.

And then when Aunt Jenny told Jan that she had the option to have plastic surgery or something like that and Jan says "Why didn't you do it?", like she's appalled that Aunt Jenny would refuse to do such a thing. Geez... now that's kind of harsh, if you ask me! :cuckoo

Andrea
I too have wondered that. I mean, especially when an actor/actress is called in to play a heavyweight person and the plot is centered around that person being called names, being degraded, etc. I mean, it can't feel good for someone to be hired because they are fat and then to be called names. I realize these people are actors and they know what the role calls for, I am not that stupid, but to have your agent call you up and say, "Hey Roger, there is a role here on Little House on the Prairie where an overweight teen is needed." Basically, you are playing the role of a kid who gets picked on and is told they are ugly and you want to lose weight to impress the rich girl." :crazy:

^ Good point. Look at Johnny Brown, who played Bookman on Good Times...how many times did his character get picked on because of his weight? Then there's Tracey Gold. Her character was constantly picked on by her brother for being "fat". Tracey and her dad asked the producers to stop that, but they didn't. Tracey caved to the pressure and developed anorexia. Gives one pause...

^ Good point. Look at Johnny Brown, who played Bookman on Good Times...how many times did his character get picked on because of his weight? Then there's Tracey Gold. Her character was constantly picked on by her brother for being "fat". Tracey and her dad asked the producers to stop that, but they didn't. Tracey caved to the pressure and developed anorexia. Gives one pause...
I felt for Tracey simply because who in the hell gave the writers the freedom to allow that kind of crap into the script? The girl was not obese BUT EVEN IF SHE WAS, why is that ok? I realize in the real world, siblings, family members and strangers say crude and horrible things to people and abt people if they don't fit "the norm", but I don't get why a bunch of writers on a family show would even go there with Tracey. Bad situation.

Johnny Brown, very good example my salt sister! I really would like to know how much input (if any) he had on what was said. Did he let the writers have the power to write what they wanted or did he have them change some things that he didn't like? I am really curious now. :lol:

The same thing with the J.J. character, except it was the opposite, he was SKINNY.

Then there's Tracey Gold. Her character was constantly picked on by her brother for being "fat". Tracey and her dad asked the producers to stop that, but they didn't. Tracey caved to the pressure and developed anorexia. Gives one pause...

Wow, I had no idea that her anorexia stemmed from being on Growing Pains. I never, ever thought she was fat. In fact, she was extremely pretty. I wonder how Kirk Cameron felt about having to say all those things to her. I mean, being that he's an evangelist now, I wonder if he regrets those years of having to do that. That's just awful to think that it was "work related". If that was the case, I would have quit, or had my parents try to intervene. I know that you said her dad asked for it to stop, but I would have been more forceful if it were my daughter. I always thought that the "Seaver Family" had a close-knit relationship in real life. This just blows my mind.

Andrea

^ Nobody makes you anorexic. You are born that way. Yes, there can be events that triggered them like her ordeal with GP but she unfortunatley had that mindset all along. There were symptoms long before GP according to her parents.

Back to the topic, it's funny, Jan had a history of dumping on her siblings for being vain about their looks but the apple doesn't drop far from the tree!!!

Wow, I had no idea that her anorexia stemmed from being on Growing Pains. I never, ever thought she was fat. In fact, she was extremely pretty. I wonder how Kirk Cameron felt about having to say all those things to her. I mean, being that he's an evangelist now, I wonder if he regrets those years of having to do that. That's just awful to think that it was "work related". If that was the case, I would have quit, or had my parents try to intervene. I know that you said her dad asked for it to stop, but I would have been more forceful if it were my daughter. I always thought that the "Seaver Family" had a close-knit relationship in real life. This just blows my mind.

Andrea
Kirk Cameron talks a bit about that in his book, Still Growing (a very interesting book, by the way).

^ Nobody makes you anorexic. You are born that way. Yes, there can be events that triggered them like her ordeal with GP but she unfortunatley had that mindset all along.
I suffered from Anorexia when I was almost 17. I have read abt this disease since then (1982).
I seen a special on 20/20 where it was suggested it might be hereditary, but there still remains too many questions on whether one is born to be anorexic or not.

As for Jan worried abt her looks and how she may end up growing up, it would have made more sense to have Marcia be the worried wart, afterall, she was the one who cried abt her braces and seemed vain at times, had all these boyfriends, etc.

^ Yeah, Jan was much more of a tomboy. Marcia was the beauty queen. It would've made more sense for Marcia to be afraid of growing up to look like Aunt Jenny!!! :eek: :crazy: :lol: