"Real" setting of the show - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

rich2 · 10-07-2004, 04:14 PM

There have been discussions about where the show was located. For example, somewhere in California.

This may just be conjecture on my part, but I feel like the show was set in an imaginary town in Sherwood Schwartz's mind. Fantasyland, USA. Somewhere in California probably.

This show did not have the gritty realism of most other productions of it's day. You won't find a Martin Scorcese-style New York from this show's creators. Their setting was an idealized, contemporary, modern town, not like anything that you had seen before. That's why they used the modern, ranch-style house in the outdoor shots. In fact, any time there is an outdoor shot in Bradytown, you never see any signs of a realistic setting. For example, rather than shooting at a real grocery store, they would find a building that looked "right" and disguise it into a supermarket. When Alice left the Brady's to work as a waitress, it was not the typical cafe in a storefront building on Main Street downtown. Rather, it was a modern, Frank Lloyd Wright (ranch) style diner at the bottom of a hill. When they showed the high school it was another Wright style building. The same with Mike's office building or any other outdoor shot of a building in a non-specific location.

This quality also accounts for the ridiculous clothing styles you see in the show. Nothing traditional like you see in other television shows of the day. All modern and go, go, go...

jon123 · 10-10-2004, 11:16 PM

In the "Bradys" sequel, they finally said that the Bradys live in an LA suburb. During the series it was never stated directly that they lived in LA, but some episodes had them visiting movie studios and also they said Alice was friends with Lucille Ball's maid(when Desi Jr. guest starred) which implied they lived in LA. I think Sherwood felt that middle America could relate to the show better if they didn't overstate their SoCal roots.

rich2 · 10-10-2004, 11:30 PM

Yes. The end of the series was a sign that the writers' minds were slowly drifting back into reality, when they went to the movie studio. I think the California aspect was there all along though.

10-07-2004, 04:14 PM	#1
rich2 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 07, 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 65	"Real" setting of the show There have been discussions about where the show was located. For example, somewhere in California. This may just be conjecture on my part, but I feel like the show was set in an imaginary town in Sherwood Schwartz's mind. Fantasyland, USA. Somewhere in California probably. This show did not have the gritty realism of most other productions of it's day. You won't find a Martin Scorcese-style New York from this show's creators. Their setting was an idealized, contemporary, modern town, not like anything that you had seen before. That's why they used the modern, ranch-style house in the outdoor shots. In fact, any time there is an outdoor shot in Bradytown, you never see any signs of a realistic setting. For example, rather than shooting at a real grocery store, they would find a building that looked "right" and disguise it into a supermarket. When Alice left the Brady's to work as a waitress, it was not the typical cafe in a storefront building on Main Street downtown. Rather, it was a modern, Frank Lloyd Wright (ranch) style diner at the bottom of a hill. When they showed the high school it was another Wright style building. The same with Mike's office building or any other outdoor shot of a building in a non-specific location. This quality also accounts for the ridiculous clothing styles you see in the show. Nothing traditional like you see in other television shows of the day. All modern and go, go, go...

10-10-2004, 11:16 PM	#2
jon123 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Feb 04, 2002 Location: Temecula Valley, CA Posts: 395	In the "Bradys" sequel, they finally said that the Bradys live in an LA suburb. During the series it was never stated directly that they lived in LA, but some episodes had them visiting movie studios and also they said Alice was friends with Lucille Ball's maid(when Desi Jr. guest starred) which implied they lived in LA. I think Sherwood felt that middle America could relate to the show better if they didn't overstate their SoCal roots.

10-10-2004, 11:30 PM	#3
rich2 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 07, 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 65	Yes. The end of the series was a sign that the writers' minds were slowly drifting back into reality, when they went to the movie studio. I think the California aspect was there all along though.