I never understood the point of Sam the meat man who was Alice boyfriend or something of that sort. Why did we need to see Alice boyfriend since she was a small character on the show? The show wasn't about the personal life of Alice it was the story of a Man with three sons who met a woman with three daughters who all became a family. So Sam the meat man was a waste of time.

Originally posted by SOLOMON
I never understood the point of Sam the meat man who was Alice boyfriend or something of that sort. Why did we need to see Alice boyfriend since she was a small character on the show? The show wasn't about the personal life of Alice it was the story of a Man with three sons who met a woman with three daughters who all became a family. So Sam the meat man was a waste of time. I disagree with that. Alice was part of the 'family' as well. She played a very important role as the housemother, thus her problems should be just as vast as the other's. As for Sam, I thought he was a great addition to the show.

Originally posted by Jo's the bomb
I disagree with that. Alice was part of the 'family' as well. She played a very important role as the housemother, thus her problems should be just as vast as the other's. As for Sam, I thought he was a great addition to the show.

Focusing on Alice personal life took away from the show sometimes because she was only the maid. Now if one of the kids had a personal relationship with someone it was a little different because they were BRADYS-Alice was just a close friend of the family who was their maid.

I don't think it took away from the storyline. Alice was a part of the family. Besides, it gave the writers other directions to take some of the shows. If I remember correctly, wasn't there an episode where Alice's sister came to care for the kids?

Originally posted by SOLOMON


Focusing on Alice personal life took away from the show sometimes because she was only the maid. Now if one of the kids had a personal relationship with someone it was a little different because they were BRADYS-Alice was just a close friend of the family who was their maid.

I think that may have been the point of Alice having story lines at all, they didn't want her to be thought of as only the maid. In the pilot they had her heartbroken over having to leave (so she thought) the boys after taking care of them after Mike's first wife died. They couldn't have her be such an important part of the family and never mention her having a life of her own that the Brady's were a part of in return.

I think Alice is a very important character on the show, she's probably my favorite. I personally feel she has the best lines and is one of the Brady's. Sam was good too, He was pretty funny as Dopey in the Snow White & 7 Dwarfs Episode.

I've grown to like Alice more and more. She didn't have the good fortune of someone like Carol, a WASPy blonde Anglo/Nordic type who catches a wealthy husband the very second she loses her first one.

There's also a lot of funny lines dealing with Sam never proposing to Alice.

Originally posted by twinkle44301
I remember correctly, wasn't there an episode where Alice's sister came to care for the kids? Yes, there was. It was the one where her sister was working the whole family.. jogging, push ups, tough rules, and orders, lol. It was played by the same actress though. ;)

Originally posted by Dr. Frasier Crane
I think Alice is a very important character on the show, she's probably my favorite. I personally feel she has the best lines and is one of the Brady's. Sam was good too, He was pretty funny as Dopey in the Snow White & 7 Dwarfs Episode.
omg I remember that lol, that was pretty funny.

And as everyone else has been saying, Alice was part of the family. She wasn't just "the housekeeper." And Sam was a good addition to the show as well. He wasn't exactly essential, but I don't see why you feel that he shouldn't be a part of it.

I think the pointless character is Oliver. Why was he added? He didn't add anything to the show,he was unnecessary.

Originally posted by sweetlilnala
I think the pointless character is Oliver. Why was he added? He didn't add anything to the show,he was unnecessary.


Oliver was a relative of the Bradys Sam the Meat Man wasn't.

Alice rocks!!! Shes like, the only one who makes a GOOD joke. When others make a joke, Im usually laughing at them. Id say Oliver was pointless, but I kinda liked him. He wasnt really needed (he didnt kept the ratings), but still he made me laugh a couple of times.

Originally posted by ¤MsConanOBrien¤
Alice rocks!!! Shes like, the only one who makes a GOOD joke. When others make a joke, Im usually laughing at them. Id say Oliver was pointless, but I kinda liked him. He wasnt really needed (he didnt kept the ratings), but still he made me laugh a couple of times.


The character Oliver wasn't really needed but the fact that he was a relative of the Bradys kept his charcter on the show. Can't say the same for Sam the meat man.

Originally posted by Jo's the bomb
Yes, there was. It was the one where her sister was working the whole family.. jogging, push ups, tough rules, and orders, lol. It was played by the same actress though. ;)



Ahhh, now I remember that one. That was a funny episode. I thought I remembered that one.

Personally, I think that Sam, Alice and Oliver were great in the show. Remember the episode Top Secret? That's the episode where Bobby and Oliver thought that Sam the Butcher was a double agent. That story involved Alice, Sam and Oliver.

Crystal:happyface

Originally posted by Jo's the bomb
I disagree with that. Alice was part of the 'family' as well. She played a very important role as the housemother, thus her problems should be just as vast as the other's. As for Sam, I thought he was a great addition to the show.

I'm gonna have to agree, I would NEVER watch this show without her...And I think her having a Boyfriend was good.

Oliver kinda annoyed me.. and I agree with TheFonz... Alice was awesome :)

-Ash

i liked alice as far as sam he was all right he didnt make a pest of himself he was only on a few eps

Originally posted by TurnBlue
Oliver kinda annoyed me.. and I agree with TheFonz... Alice was awesome :)

-Ash Oliver was beyondannoying. There are no words to describe him. ;)

Originally posted by twinkle44301
If I remember correctly, wasn't there an episode where Alice's sister came to care for the kids?
Close. It was her (identical) cousin, Emma. Alice's two sisters, Emily and Myrtle, were never seen on camera, although Alice occasionally spoke with them on the phone, particularly during the first season.

Sam didn't seem all that pointless to me -- after all, he was only in eight episodes. Peter is the one who's the most pointless, and the most dull (there was even an episode dealing with how dull Peter is). They should have gotten rid of him, and in the Brady grid, they could have replaced him with Tiger, or a nice plant or something.

IMHO, Nobody was a pointless character on The Brady Bunch. I love them all even Oliver.

Originally posted by TV Guy

Close. It was her (identical) cousin, Emma. Alice's two sisters, Emily and Myrtle, were never seen on camera, although Alice occasionally spoke with them on the phone, particularly during the first season...




Correct...good catch TV Guy...

Always remember folks, that as a rule of thumb, there are really no such thing as identical siblings on television...always remember that, with few exceptions, any time two characters are physically identical, they are COUSINS, not siblings!

Examples are numerous, but a few are:

1) Patty and Cathy on "The Patty Duke Show"
2) Steve Douglas and his Scottish Cousin on "My Three Sons"
3) Alice and Emma, of course, from the "Brady Bunch"
4) I'm not 100% sure about this one, but were Samantha and
Serena cousins on "Bewitched" or were they sisters? and along those lines, what about Jeannie and her look-alike on "I dream of Jeannie"?...were they sisters or cousins?
5) Corporal Agarn and any number of cousins (e.g. Cousin Pierre, the fur thief), on "F-Troop")

Other than the Olsen twins of recent vintage, the only identical twins I recall on TV who were siblings were the two boys who played the twins, Trevor and Tracy, on "Please Don't Eat The Daisies"...

I guess there may have been a few identical siblings in T.V. Land, but I'm sure that identical cousins are far more plentiful!

Originally posted by Tweety

Other than the Olsen twins of recent vintage, the only identical twins I recall on TV who were siblings were the two boys who played the twins, Trevor and Tracy, on "Please Don't Eat The Daisies"...


Yeah, they aren't very many. Jean and Liz Sagal of "Double Trouble" come to mind. Marlena and Samantha Evans on "Days of Our Lives", played by Deidre Hall and her real-life twin, Andrea. And then there's the Douglas triplets of "My Three Sons", played by two sets of twins.

Samantha and Serena of "Bewitched" were cousins, but Jeannie's lookalike on "I Dream of Jeannie" was indeed her sister (also named Jeannie).

The Olsen twins, for those who don't know, are actually fraternal twins, rather than identical. The plan on "Full House" was to switch to one twin when they started to look different from each other, but luckily, they turned out to look a great deal alike. But, one twin is right-handed, and the other is left. There is also a height difference. [There's a theory about half-identical twins, in which the egg splits in two before fertilization, and the resulting eggs are fertilized by two different sperm. This would explain fraternal twins who look identical, but there still is not enough scientific evidence to support the theory.]

The show wouldn't be the same without Alice, she was so funny. doesn't matter if she wasn't part of the family. And Sam was a good add on as well, even though he wasn't in but 8 or 9 episodes. And give me a break, Peter was awesome, one of the funniest kids on the Brady Bunch, i loved every story about him on the show.

Other than the Olsen twins of recent vintage, the only identical twins I recall on TV who were siblings were the two boys who played the twins, Trevor and Tracy, on "Please Don't Eat The Daisies"...




The Olsen twins were not twins on the show, just twins playing the same part. (which is very common, BTW!) The last couple of seasons of full house did have Jesse's identical twin boys.

The Olsen twins were not twins on the show, just twins playing the same part. (which is very common, BTW!) The last couple of seasons of full house did have Jesse's identical twin boys.


Actually, I wasn't thinking of "Full House", I knew that they had both twins playing the youngest daughter...

But when they were a bit older, the Olsen twins did star in another sitcom, "Two of a Kind" (I couldn't remember the name of it, but I just looked it up)... that series involved a single dad raising twin daughters... I'm not sure if it was ever on in prime time, I'm thinking it was one of those Saturday morning syndicated sitcoms

But you're correct, because of child labor laws, twins (or triplets) on TV are usually played by several sets of twins, because kids aren't allowed to be filmed for more than a certain amount of time during a day...and I think with infants, they're not allowed to be shown (or maybe just filmed) for more than a few seconds of consecutive air time in an TV episode. I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with having to be under the hot studio lighting.

I never understood the point of Sam the meat man who was Alice boyfriend or something of that sort. Why did we need to see Alice boyfriend since she was a small character on the show? The show wasn't about the personal life of Alice it was the story of a Man with three sons who met a woman with three daughters who all became a family. So Sam the meat man was a waste of time.

Sam is one of the most beloved characters on Brady Bunch, even though he appears in only about half a dozen episodes.

On Maude, Conrad Bain (Arthur)'s real life twin brother came on the show once.

They needed Sam The Butcher on the show hot for Alice to explain why the family ate so well, having roasts several times a week - not to mention pork chops! You think Mike could afford all that on his own even if he did have a good job? No WAY!

So they needed a butcher close to the family and of course weren't going to have Carol having an affair or anything - and Marcia was too young to hook for food, therefore, Alice was the clear choice. ;)

Yes, there was. It was the one where her sister was working the whole family.. jogging, push ups, tough rules, and orders, lol. It was played by the same actress though. ;)

Actually that was her look a like cousin Emma and yes, it was a riot!:lol:

There was a very definite point to the character of Sam. And that point was to show us, the viewers, that there was more to Alice than taking care of the Bradys. Sam was evidence that Alice had a life outside of the Brady house. This served to flush out the character of Alice and make her more human. Which in turn helped us understand why the Bradys loved her and treated her like family.

I actually find Sam the Butcher to be a very important character! It gives us a chance to see that Alice has a life outside of the Brady home! If he wasn't in the show, we'd wonder today why Alice didn't get out much, and it would look pretty bad for her employers, as if she was being treated like a slave, haha! So no, I actually think he's a big character! His episodes are a treat too, because I mean let's face it, he's a legend in his own right! You've got to love the way he refers to Bobby as "Shrimpo", right?

Alice was like family so it was nice seeing her as more than a maid. She had family-the seen Cousin Emma and those she talked about, friends like Kay, and her boyfriend Sam. Speaking of Sam I liked how he sat down with Bobby and apologized for the shrimpo remark. It was a rare serious Brady kid/Sam moment.

Longterm character actors used to have their own fans. They weren't stars, but people liked them and looked for them , and they had their own little audiences. When it was in first run, there were adults who watched the show because they remembered Ann B. Davis as Schultzie on The Bob Cummings Show 15 years before. Because people were interested in her, Alice could have her own story lines. Allan Melvin was one of the biggest character actors on TV, and the Bradys were probably lucky to get him.very well said

The consensus is in.

No one agrees with you about Sam the butcher (not "meat man").

I liked Sam!:) I think it was nice they gave Alice a boyfriend! ;)



http://payphonenews.com/news/i/abd_pp_001.jpg

Pointless character was Oliver hands down!

Most likely because Davis was in the closet and they wanted to make sure Alice wasn't also in there.

When "the Lucy Show" debuted the producers were so worried about Lucy and Viv being thought of as lesbians they gave them boyfriends, though that didn't last more than half a year or so. But the writers wanted it established both the ladies had love interests in the male direction.

Same here.

Most likely because Davis was in the closet and they wanted to make sure Alice wasn't also in there.

When "the Lucy Show" debuted the producers were so worried about Lucy and Viv being thought of as lesbians they gave them boyfriends, though that didn't last more than half a year or so. But the writers wanted it established both the ladies had love interests in the male direction.

Same here.

On Maude, Conrad Bain (Arthur)'s real life twin brother came on the show once.

Conrad Bain's twin brother, Bonar, also made a hilarious appearance on SCTV as "Hank Bain", star of an SCTV sitcom knockoff of Diff'rent Strokes who happened to be a secret spy from a hostile planet. Conrad didn't appear on this show. I thought Bonar was Conrad, though he looked slightly different, until I saw his name in the closing credits.

Conrad Bain's twin brother, Bonar, also made a hilarious appearance on SCTV as "Hank Bain", star of an SCTV sitcom knockoff of Diff'rent Strokes who happened to be a secret spy from a hostile planet. Conrad didn't appear on this show. I thought Bonar was Conrad, though he looked slightly different, until I saw his name in the closing credits.

Bonar also appeared as Mr. Drummond's Dutch female cousin in the horrific "The Van Drummonds" episode of Diff'rent Strokes.

I liked Sam as well and I think he added a lot to the show. Alice wasn't just an extra, IMO. She had a big part in the show. It was nice that they gave her a boyfriend. I think the show would have been dull had they just had her doing housework and helping the kids and all of that.

On Maude, Conrad Bain (Arthur)'s real life twin brother came on the show once.

That was actually Conrad's real life twin? Wow! I always thought that was just Conrad playing two roles.

I always wondered if Alice knew about Blanche