This week I saw a new Publisher's Clearing House ad with the Prize Patrol appearing to give Mike Brady a large check for winning its sweepstakes. There are also PCH commercials using characters from Diff'rent Strokes and Gilligan's Island, but I have yet to see these. Here is a link about the commercials:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/business/media/publishers-clearing-house-imagines-handing-a-big-check-to-gilligan-and-mike-brady.html?_r=0

I would love to know which TBB episode was used in the clips of Mike Brady. He's opening his front door then hollering for Carol at the end.

I saw the commercial yesterday and the Gilligan's Island one today. Did you notice in the Brady Bunch one that the names of the real winners were Carol and Greg?

I saw the Gilligan's Island one. I really was turned off by it. I don't like using a dead actors' image for profit, particularly when it's without their OK (and yes, I understand that the show and it's images are the property of a company, not the actors, but that doesn't make any less tasteless to me)>.

B]Ya, what u said! I saw the one with Mike and Carol and got that same creepy feeling like when they made the smoking commercial with Yule Brynner after he died.....The first thing I thought with the PCH commercial was "Gee, the guy's dead, how could you do something like that"? It just creeped me all the way out - had to change the channel....[/[/B]:eek:

The commercials didn't bother me any more than watching the Brady Bunch since the clips were from that show.

jehobden--My son said that the clips are from the episode about Marcia getting braces when everyone gets dates for her.

For a long time, Robert Reed's estate forbidded the use of Robert Reed's image, even on Brady Bunch products. Something must have changed.

I saw the Gilligan's Island one. I really was turned off by it. I don't like using a dead actors' image for profit, particularly when it's without their OK (and yes, I understand that the show and it's images are the property of a company, not the actors, but that doesn't make any less tasteless to me)>.

I thought it was kind of distasteful when MeTV had a current promo of Ed Asner saying "Not now, Ted" to Ted Knight's character, as Knight is deceased. Also they did something similar with Carl Reiner yelling at Mel Cooley -- the character of deceased Richard Deacon -- that was probably worse. This type of stuff does pop up from time to time.

I think they are using taking clips of the dead actors because the actors from today wants nothing to do with their corny ads.

Just wanted to let everyone know out there in TV Land, that not only did the show/studio have to give permission (and receive payment) to use these clips, each actor (living or deceased) had to give authorization (and also be paid). In the case of deceased actors, their estates received the payment (and I can tell you that they were happy to get the $$). These spots when through exhaustive research, and the issue of using someone who has passed away never once came up. Most people just simply appreciated the humor and bit of nostalgia the ads brought forth. As one user in this forum put it -- no different than seeing them on TV in one of the episodes.