Bobby's Hero

[Robert Tilton]

And Keep Us Ever Mindful of THY Bountiful Blessings. AAH=MEN!

And so starts my watching of the Jesse James show of Brady Grid.

Its time for Spectrum Analysis:

This show on its face value is corny at 1st glance but w/the Bradys' talking to Bobby's Principal about "Bobby's Obsession" it became interesting around the time they brought up the cap gun.

You see in this modern age we know that writing a paper about Jesse James would be about like chewing gum in class when it came to discipline...Not A Big Deal in Other Words.

But you see...Back in the early 70s in Brady Land Chewing Gum in Class, Running in the Halls (Bobby's Safety Monitor Ep), And Writing Papers about a Villian like Jesse James was a Big Deal. Well to be fair they were just concerned about "Bobby's Obsession" but then a bit of Symbolism of Modern Life Crept In:

Bobby you see had brought a Cap Gun to Class. In this day and age...you bring one to class you get suspended...or worse. In my part of the country (North Carolina) a high school kid was suspended from school Just For having a Deer Rifle in a Rack on His Truck. Well being as hunting occurs in rural areas a Deer Rifle's just SOP (standard operating procedure) but this of course was around the School Shootings...so I digress.

It was most interesting..and symbolic to bring up the cap gun that Bobby had at school...and it shows what a quaint time it was for kids back then. You see the fact that they were worried about Jesse James influencing Bobby was incidental in light of having guns in school..even Cap Guns...But Yet the Brady Family And Principal was Most Concerned about Jesse James...with the Cap Gun being Secondary.

Amen.

Of course later on to be fair the cap gun goes off and Bobby gets a Brady Lecture (duration 2.5 seconds) but still Jesse James became the Dinner Topic.

The rest of the Ep was Resolved Pretty Good w/an older man talking to Bobby about how Jesse James had killed his father years ago. Most pleasant part of the show that.

And Bobby did turn in his guns...However the Moral of the Show:

Heroes And Their Influence Upon the Brady Culture of Youth.

Now lets analyse how the modern times would have dealt with "Bobby's Obsession":

A reverse of the Brady Grid Activity Would have Taken Place.

Bobby's Jesse James "hero worship" would have been a minor footnote if mentioned at all + he'd a been suspended/expelled from school (for having a cap gun at school). Sad isn't it?

The Grading Lowers A Touch with the Corny Brady Moments:

1: Prayer at dinner table was most corny and silly. THY BOUNTIFUL BLESSINGS? That's Gay! But then again Jesus is the Way...so it does indicate Brady Grid had Religion. Morman right? Personally I'd say Catholic but then again in the Xmas ep that Mrs. B sang in I didn't see a Priest.

Amen.

I'd say Word of Faith for Faith in the Brady Life Lessons and the Grid was Paramount! (rimshot!)

2: Slick Nick edited the scene w/Bobby at the dinner table w/him talking w/the Family about Wilt Chamberlain. He says:

Yeah I have a real chance of being 7*2

SLICK NICK EDITED THIS LINE OUT

And Black!

Well Wilt was Black won't he...and black's just an identifying character; Bobby won't Prejudiced OTOH ****** and Honkie are NEVER edited out for Archie Bunker. Yes Virginia kiddies do know those words N@N. Digress Jeff:

Right.

<My brother once called me the N Word at a restauarant when we were in the car...and what do you know? An African American was in the next car. He says to my brother:

Who you calling ******? Huh? Meaning Him...but my brother was talking to ME at the time. Weird that. Where was Slick Nick then? Oh forget it. He probably picked it up from adult TV or more than likely from his friends at School.

It Happens. Digressing Back but w/out 1st saying you'd better believe my brother was a Right Proper Charlie from then on for he got a Proper Dressing Down. And so will Nick at Nite. Stop censoring the eps please..I have the show memorized and you can't jive the Kid=No not Kevin Garnett but the Man of Barnes Here...besides you're hypocrites. Ask the Facts of Life fans on this board. Amen. And if you're not censoring, make sure you insert the voiceovers AFTER the show not DURING...I Caught a Boo Boo the othe day on Jeffersons!>

3: In another Bizarre Twist Regarding Editing the Bradys' got the bright idea later to LET BOBBY WATCH A JESSE JAMES MOVIE. I believe the concept in Psych Class is called Reinforcement of Negative Behavior (Bobby's Obsession).

You see Bobby had asked them about watching the movie (Mr B said no) and then comes this dialogue:

Mike: Oh honey Jesse James killed 45 people in that movie

Carol: And that was before the credits

But then they figured w/Logic and Reason
"Hey We Know! We'll let Bobby watch the show under Parental Supervision and prove our Point that we're trying to get across...that Jesse's a Killer, A Bad Dude, etc.

But. AND THIS GAVE ME A BUZZ RIGHT HERE OF IRONY IN THE MEDIA!

The show had EDITED OUT all references to killing in the Movie. For example in one scene:

Mr B: In this part Jesse robs the bank (killing people) and rides off w/the prospector's daughter

The scene just showed Jesse riding off w/the Chap giving this Classic Line! Yea this was Righteous to the Marrow that is Bones!

Bobby: Wasn't it nice of Jesse to give that girl a ride?

Cracked me up right there for the Brady Grid had Goofed Something Fierce! The grade is upped a tad.

Redemption draweth nigh as Word (KJV Bible) says however when the Bradys' invite the older guy to 'Reason with Bobby" in the Vernacular leading to the Dream Sequence.

<Incidentally didn't the boys ever have Nocturnal emissions (wet dreams?). Masturbation? Looking at the girls...Never mind. Brady Bunch movies cover it! Another reason why the symbiosis of the culture and Brady Life is Perfect to ALL NATIONS from USA to Liechestein to Dijbouti. Righteous. Digress.>

Anyway Bob had his Bad Dream about Jesse shooting it up (BTW it looked CheeseWiz to watch; they No Sold their Dying when Jesse shot em) and "turned in his guns" and the Brady Resolution Saved the Day.

Time for Grading.

I'll give this episode a:

C++ No Not the Computer Language that even Wharton Graduates have trouble mastering..much less Pascal but:

A nice above average score by several 10ths.

Amen.

[TVLanFan]

btw, Robert -

Did you also notice that Mike and Carol, even though they were trying to show Bobby what a terrible person Jesse James was, and how horrible the movie was (showing all the killing, etc.), seemed to know every scene in that movie..."oh here come the part where Jesse kills the prospector"...I mean, they knew that movie pretty well, which sounds to me like they've seen it not just once, but a number of times...and Mike and Carol turned out ok, didn't they (at least on the show)?
I don't think that knowing every scene in this horrible movie turned THEM into deranged killers...at least, I don't THINK it did..

[Robert Tilton]

Originally posted by TVLanFan
btw, Robert -

Did you also notice that Mike and Carol, even though they were trying to show Bobby what a terrible person Jesse James was, and how horrible the movie was (showing all the killing, etc.), seemed to know every scene in that movie..."oh here come the part where Jesse kills the prospector"...I mean, they knew that movie pretty well, which sounds to me like they've seen it not just once, but a number of times...and Mike and Carol turned out ok, didn't they (at least on the show)?
I don't think that knowing every scene in this horrible movie turned THEM into deranged killers...at least, I don't THINK it did..

Yeah I knew something was going on there.

[Jack1000]

I think that this is one of the greatest Brady Bunch episodes ever done. The imagery is very powerful for what is supposed to be a sit-comody. It would have been better if the Jessie James in the "dream sequence" had shown the sound of the gun going off instead of him just saying "Bang! Bang!" but who would have thought that a sitcom would talk about kids bringing guns to school in the 70's! One of the best

[boechsner]

A very good episode and Burt Mustin was fantastic.