Two episodes of the short-lived "Accidental Family" will air on Decades TV on October 20 from 3-4 PM ET and again from 2-3 AM that night.

The concept of "Accidental Family," which aired in 1967-68, stopped just short of beating "The Brady Bunch" to the punch. "Accidental Family" starred Jerry Van Dyke (Dick's brother) as a widowed father who hires a divorced woman (Lois Nettleton) to be his governess. I'm guessing there was a long-term plan for the pair to wed, but the series was cancelled after 16 episodes before that could materialize.

Check decades.com to see if the station is available in your area.

I watched the episodes today. Remember, it will be on again at 2 AM ET (less than 4 hours from now) on Decades TV.

"Accidental Family" has part of the same premise as TBB but was not a warm viewing experience. The episodes went for cheap jokes at the expense of creating a pleasant viewing experience.

In the first episode aired, "What Is This - Thanksgiving or a Nightmare," it is obvious that Jerry and Sue are interested in more than an employer/governess relationship. Sue's conservative parents (Edward Andrews & Mabel Albertson) come to visit and are not impressed by Sue's living with a man even if she isn't really "living with" him. The scene gets more chaotic when Jerry's two irresponsible friends (John Byner, Sammy Shore) show up uninvited.

Three-time Brady guest star Jim Backus and his wife Henny Backus show up playing Sue's crazy uncle and aunt. The Jim Backus character promptly gets drunk, while Henny's character reads Jerry's palm. Their daughter (Luana Anders) appears rather unsocial and simply smokes in a corner.

The second episode ("The Woodsman") aired deals only marginally with the Jerry/Sue relationship, and Sue's daughter is not seen. Jerry takes his son on a day hike. The action is stolen by the scoutmaster (Dave Ketchum), who keeps pointing out Jerry's inadequacies as an outdoorsman.

It can't have been a surprise when this was cancelled after 16 episodes.

Interestingly, the series was created by Melville Shavelson, who wrote and directed "Yours, Mine and Ours." Someone from that film -- perhaps Shavelson -- accused Sherwood Schwartz of plagiarizing "The Brady Bunch" from it. But Schwartz retorted that the original script for TBB (titled "Yours and Mine") was registered more than a year before the one for "Yours, Mine and Ours," so HE should be glad Schwartz didn't sue HIM!