Great Topic,
Robert was a stickler for realism and would often insist that scripts/storylines be changed to produce a less than "slapstick approach." Sherwood and Lloyd said that he hated comedy and had no sense of humor. There was always great friction between Reed and the Schwartzes, concerning how funny or serious storylines should be.
I liked the balance of humor/realism in the shows. Kudos to Reed for working so hard to maintain that. But Sherwood and Lloyd are great people as well, and because of a mixture of seriousness and comedy, the series worked!
According to Barry Williams, Growing Up Brady, an excellent reference except for the horribly inaccurate episode guide, Reed refused the following:
1.) He wanted nothing to do with the pie-fight scene. He thought the script was weak in itself. Robert may have found it unrealistic in the first place for Oliver's family to leave him with the Brady's for such a long unspecified period of time.
2.) He might have resented "Dough Re Me" saying, "How could a nice conservative family like us have kids who could sing so well in one episode, when it was never established they could sing in the first place? " Robert however liked to act and sing, and probably make less of a fuss about it because of this.
3.) According to GUB, Bob DID find it unbelivable that any child would run into someone at school, with so close of a resemblence that he fools his parents. "Two Petes in a Pod."
4.) Bob HATED the tag sequence of "The Impractical Joker" according to GUB. He was also infuriated with the scene that had him with Greg and Myran the mouse in the garage. He tries to blow on Myran to make him move in the right direction. He got so pissed at Sherwood, that he went over to a bar, like he did many times after arguing with him, and came back drunk when they were rehersing that scene! He finally said something like, "I don't give a f**K! Shoot this!"
5.) He also wouldn't appear in "The Hair Brained Scheme" because he found it riddiculous that any kid would be interested in selling "Hair Tonic." He did show up out of camera range, while the episode was being shot, complaining about it and sulking.
6.) He hated everything associated with Skip Farnum in "And Now A Word From Our Sponsor" and the fact that a family with a sense of frugality and caution would allow six children to dirty their own clothes. He thought the names of the laundry detergents were stupid. He hated Carol's overly happy, "Clear and Bright, then we switched to Champ" speech.
7.) He MUST have hated crawling on the floor and ribbiting like a frog in "Eeenie Meenie, Mommy Daddy."
8.) He thought the scene in "The Grasss is Always Greener" where he falls in the kitchen three times was total slapstick. When they first rehearsed the egg-dropping scene, Bob hit the floor really hard, and Ann said to him:
"Do you think you can play the scene realistically now?" Bob said, "You know Ann, I was thinking, when I fell down like that, I deserved this!" This is why Bob's filmed egg scene where he falls is a little slow and overly cautious, according to GUB.
9.) He must not have liked the obvious time filler in "Is There A Doctor in the House?", when Carol and Alice are doing a chalkboard chart of illnesses that the family has had. You can hear some disgust in his line, "The doctors have kept records that they can transfer from one to the other." It also appears that in his line, "Now, this is wrong, none of the kids have had shots for distemper." that his lips say, "rabies." Alice says, (and I am sure Reed objected to this.) "That's Tiger's column, might as well keep a record for the vet." He might have considered rabies an outdated term and demanded that post-production change that line.
10.) He also hated the Tiger/Fluffy slapstick sequence in "The Honeymoon."
Jack
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