Robert Reed's lines in "The Hair-Brained Scheme"

[James]

I read somewhere (likely Barry Williams' Growing Up Brady) that Sherwood Schwartz solved, at least in part, the problem of Robert Reed's absence from "The Hair Brained Scheme" (aka the final episode with Greg's graduation), by giving Mr. Reed's lines to the kids. I just saw that episode and paid close attention to what the kids were saying, and nothing sounded like it was originally intended for Mr. Reed/Mike Brady.

Does anyone here know which lines were originally for Mr. Reed/Mike?

[Vegas Girl]

No, not the kids. That part when Carol was having a talk with Bobby on the stairs, saying "Winners never quit and quitters never win", etc., THAT sounds like Robert Reed's lines.

[Bachu]

I think the lines would have been slightly re-written as well.

[Jack1000]

I think that ALL of the lines in the conversation with Bobby and Carol on the stairs were intended for Mike and Bobby.

If you REALLY know your Brady Bunch tidbits, you may note that several times during the series, the producers would use crew member names for minor characters! Carol tells Bobby if he ever heard of Carl Mahokean. Bobby says no. Carol says that's because he quit! In actuality Carl Mahokean was a post-production supervisor for the show.

Others included Lloyd Leeds. A guy who Greg asks if Marcia new in "Juliet is the Sun." This was a gag aimed at associate producer Howard Leeds and Sherwood's son, Assistent Producer (and director for "Room at the Top") Lloyd Schwartz.

Billy Garst: The most popular boy according to Peter at Peter and Jan's school mentioned in "Miss Popularity" was a series film editor.

Jack

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by Jack1000

I think that ALL of the lines in the conversation with Bobby and Carol on the stairs were intended for Mike and Bobby.


If you REALLY know your Brady Bunch tidbits, you may note that several times during the series, the producers would use crew member names for minor characters! Carol tells Bobby if he ever heard of Carl Mahokean. Bobby says no. Carol says that's because he quit! In actuality Carl Mahokean was a post-production supervisor for the show.

Others included Lloyd Leeds. A guy who Greg asks if Marcia new in "Juliet is the Sun." This was a gag aimed at associate producer Howard Leeds and Sherwood's son, Assistent Producer (and director for "Room at the Top") Lloyd Schwartz.

Billy Garst: The most popular boy according to Peter at Peter and Jan's school mentioned in "Miss Popularity" was a series film editor.

Jack

I think you're right...that was a pretty long dialogue between Carol and Bobby, exactly the kind that Mike would have.... I'm not sure I remember Carol having much in the way of 'long talks' with the kids in this manner. Usually, the long dialogues were left to Mike, while Carol would come up with a one-line saying or two ("you know Jan, sometimes when we lose, we win" or "Sometimes when you push people too far, you just can't bring them back")
Mike had long talks with Greg about baseball, and with Jan about being her "only child " deal, etc... So yes, that dialog about quitters sounds exactly like something Mike would do...

On your other point, I'd heard about Billy Garst, and a couple of other examples like that... I think that's pretty cool when shows do that... granted, not many people but those involved with the show would "get" the inside joke (although nowadays, it's harder to hide inside references like that), but I think it's a nice tribute to the folks who work so hard behind the scenes to get these shows on the air... gives them a little bit of immortality themselves, and it's a nice touch...

I'm sure there are a lot of other shows that do this as well ("Alec Berg" was a behind-the-scenes person for Seinfeld, and his name was used for one of the occasional characters - the guy who got Jerry and Friends tickets to the hockey playoff game in "The Face Painter")

[SKay]

In the babysitter episode, while Mike and Carol were at the restaurant, he says that he thinks he says Charlie Hoffman--another name from the shows credits.