View Full Version : Copout about the mistakes in the Growing Up Brady book


ficlopri
04-12-2002, 10:36 AM
Two years ago I e-mailed Williams's website and asked why there were so many mistakes in his GUB book. I was told they didn't know! There as no mention about this false bit about most of the mistakes being in keeping with the sense of humor in which the book was written (which his website now maintains)!

Jack1000
04-12-2002, 01:26 PM
Originally posted by ficlopri
Two years ago I e-mailed Williams's website and asked why there were so many mistakes in his GUB book. I was told they didn't know! There as no mention about this false bit about most of the mistakes being in keeping with the sense of humor in which the book was written (which his website now maintains)!

Knowing Robert Reed being such a stickler for Realism, he would sh*t if he were alive today and saw all of the mistakes in that book!

I didn't know that the book was writen to be humorous...(Sounds like a BLATENT cop-out to me!) I've never seen so many misquotes/misprints in any book that is supposed to be a factual reference to the show. At least there are a few more Brady Bunch books and excellent web sites that give Brady fans much more factual information about the episodes/storylines.

ficlopri
05-26-2002, 02:25 AM
Yeah, I really think this bit about the mistakes being in keeping with the sense of humor with which the book was written was indeed an invention created long after both versions of GUB came out.

Jack1000
05-26-2002, 01:44 PM
Hey Ficlopri,

What other Brady Bunch books do you have? I have the book by Elizabeth Moran, I think it's called, "Insiders Guide to the Brady Bunch" and it is WAAY better for factual information than "Growing up Brady" or as I call it....(" I was a teenage Greg, growing Up stoned because I can't recall simple details of my very own show, so I'll just make stuff up.") Best advice is to discredit anything that book says until you can verify it with more reliable sources!

BTW, what do you think of all my edit/comparisons list on the Nick/TV Land v.s syndicated versions of The Brady Bunch? Do you have uncut episodes? I did that list mostley from memory and it's amazing what's different between each version!

You should check out www.bradyworld.com it's a cool site!

Jack

ficlopri
05-26-2002, 02:35 PM
Hey Jack

I have Elizabeth Moran's excellent Bradymania (revised '95 edition). I love that book of Moran's. She did very good research on the topic (so unlike Barry Williams).

Jack1000
05-26-2002, 10:50 PM
Yea that's it! "Bradymania!" I think I have the original edition. What's different about the revised edition?

In "Growing Up Brady" it is unreal how inaccurate that thing is! And even the revised editions don't correct all the errors! We both know about the TONS of errors in the episode guide alone! But in the "story chapters" which I haven't checked as throuroughly for accuracy, do you know of any details that are mentioned in the story chapters, that through your own research of the show have proven to be untrue?

Jack

ficlopri
05-27-2002, 05:45 PM
Well Jack

The revised edition of Bradymania has a lot of info on the Brady Bunch Movie released in 1995 (the origial version released years earlier of course doesn't mention this).

As for mistakes in the GUB book outside the ep guide it's tougher to say. Well, it's harder to say because alot of the info is about personal info on Barry Williams' life. It doesn't mean there aren't any screw us there too just that it's harder to know if there are (how the hell do we really know about that bumblebee stinging adventure he says he was in, for example). But he does use a photo from that Brady Christmas tv movie made in 1988 to illustrate the 90's series The Bradys. That might or might not be something of an error. I thought Florence Henderson disputed the details of their date as well. I'd believe her over him any day. I never read she smoked pot!

ficlopri
05-27-2002, 06:01 PM
Jack, I'm sorry but I never actually saw your edit comparisons list you wrote of on this board. Where can I find the list?

And to answer your other question. No, I do not contain in my video collection any uncut Brady eps! But through various viewings on Nick at Nite and TBS I have noticed some edited out scenes.

Jack1000
05-28-2002, 08:18 PM
Hey Ficlopri,

Go to this site as you usually do, than go to the "70"s than "Brady Bunch Section" and scroll down to where it says, "Brady Scenes no Longer Aired" this list was started by some other member of the board. Although I do NOT have access to uncut episodes......(damn) I have a photograhic memory for scene changes/edits. I remember watching Brady Bunch most vividly during the first syndicated run (April-August 74) Even back than, when a show was released to syndication, it was common for a network to take out about 1 minute of scenes. I was only 8 years old when Brady Bunch went out of prime time with the last epiode in March of 74 so I don't have a specific recall of the TRUE ORIGINAL TOTALLY UNCUT PRIME TIME AIRINGS. But, I do know that in 1975, with the single exception of maybe a TOTAL of a minute or less of one scene cut. (And it was really minor back than) Brady Bunch was shown almost unedited.

It stayed that way until the early to mid 80's where now, Brady Bunch Epiosdes have more holes in them (on all versions) than swiss cheese. The uncut editions run 25 minutes each. Syndicates/TV Land versions are chopped down by anywhere from 3-5 minutes. When TBS acquired Brady Bunch in the mid 80's (at about the time we got cable) I noticed things that were cut immediatly and where obvious. Flash forward to Nick at Nite getting Brady Bunch and I thought, "well they're just gonna show the TBS edited versions." Then, as you know we all discovered that Nick at Nite (TV Land) restored some cut footage but took out stuff that TBS left in! It is believed that Nick needed their Brady Bunch versions to be a slightly different length than the syndicated versions. So, before selling the show to Nick, they had Paramount (now Viacom) "insert" some lost scenes. But to maintain the 22-23 minute time frame, Nick had to "cut out" other scenes themselves. At the same time, some scenes had to remain cut from both versions for time constraints go figure.

The list is a work in progress and is a comparison /contrast of syndicated vs. Nick/TV Land Brady Bunch edits. (Not the original uncut versions) What I am hoping for is that someone with access to Columbia House tapes of the uncut shows can post the "missing content" on both versions!

Enjoy the list! (But due to TV Lands 6am only Brady schedule as of now and June, I'll be sleeping when it comes on!) So you guys have to add to the list! Thanks!

Jack