More on Season 5 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

BuddyHinton · 08-04-2006, 11:39 PM

Is it just ME or does this season/series unravel completely 2/3 of the way through? And Oliver really isn't the worst of it, in fact I don't really mind HIM but what he represents. In essance the scripts, no matter how you look at it for the last 1/3 of the season are more or less trash. I guess they just ran out of steam... sad way to go out.

tdr · 08-05-2006, 01:28 AM

I am old enough to remember the time of the original run of TBB, and there was... something... I can't remember about their being off the air for weeks, maybe a month or 2, before the season's run was completed with the last several eps. Or was it they didn't show the 5th season at all till winter or spring of 1974?

I guess it's interesting, on looking back, that I hardly ever got to watch TBB in the years of its original run, since we had the one TV to watch, and I don't remember what we did watch on Friday nights then. But the year of the final season, I was home from school recovering from several injuries ( I had a 'homebound' teacher who came twice a week), and ABC was then running the previous years' eps on weekday mornings, and that was when I first became really familiar with the show. So since it was still in production, I decided to watch the "new" ones, and you're right; the show had already outgrown itself, or something like that, by then.

BuddyHinton · 08-05-2006, 02:04 AM

Yeah..... I can't quite put my finger on the problem. Scripts I guess...

TV Guy · 08-05-2006, 09:19 AM

What happened with the fifth season is that the ratings had dropped off, and it was widely expected that ABC would not order any TBB episodes beyond the initial 13-episode order (ABC almost never ordered a whole season of TBB at once). In fact, in the 1973-74 season, the rest of ABC's Friday night lineup (Room 222, Love American Style, etc.) was cancelled at midseason. But not TBB - ABC unexpectedly picked the show up for the rest of the season, and Sherwood Schwartz had to scramble for scripts. That's really reflected on screen for those last 8 or 9 episodes.

BuddyHinton · 08-05-2006, 09:46 AM

Ahhh.... I knew something was amiss! Good eye, huh? The last few even had some back echo problems on the set, I wonder what that was all about?

Jack1000 · 08-05-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuddyHinton

Ahhh.... I knew something was amiss! Good eye, huh? The last few even had some back echo problems on the set, I wonder what that was all about?

It was a combination of things:

Barry said that after Season 5 ended, everyone was fairly optimistic about a Season 6. But what happened was that Sanfred and Son was taking away a lot of Brady Bunch's audiences. The kids also had grown older and their was a lot of "star tensions" between them, the producers, and their parents. Some of the kids were also into their live singing act and others hated it, but it conflicted with other things they wanted to do. Additionally, many of the kids wanted to go out and lead "normal lives." Lastly, Sherwood got so sick of dealing with Robert Reed's script and storyline changes each season, that when you take all these things into account, it was time for it to end.

Sherwood said that if there HAD been a season six, "Mike Brady" would have either been replaced or killed off in a story line when he was sent to check on some project that he helped design. Without a main patriach, this great program would not have survived another year.

Jack

studd911 · 08-06-2006, 06:11 PM

I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE DELETED SCENE ON BB A CAMPING WE WILL GO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey i have a question on the episodes of the brady bunch on the dvd a camping we will go what are some of the deleted scenes that are on the dvd which are not shown in syndication

brgmgb · 08-07-2006, 12:35 PM

Sanford & Son and the Brady Bunch being on at the same time was the reason we got a 2nd TV in our house. My dad hated the Brady Bunch. And as an adult, I don't care for the later seasons as much as the earlier episodes.

During the 5th season, did ABC show reruns while waiting for new episodes?

08-04-2006, 11:39 PM	#1
BuddyHinton Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 31, 2006 Location: CA Posts: 441	More on Season 5 Is it just ME or does this season/series unravel completely 2/3 of the way through? And Oliver really isn't the worst of it, in fact I don't really mind HIM but what he represents. In essance the scripts, no matter how you look at it for the last 1/3 of the season are more or less trash. I guess they just ran out of steam... sad way to go out.

08-05-2006, 01:28 AM	#2
tdr Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 23, 2001 Posts: 1,454	I am old enough to remember the time of the original run of TBB, and there was... something... I can't remember about their being off the air for weeks, maybe a month or 2, before the season's run was completed with the last several eps. Or was it they didn't show the 5th season at all till winter or spring of 1974? I guess it's interesting, on looking back, that I hardly ever got to watch TBB in the years of its original run, since we had the one TV to watch, and I don't remember what we did watch on Friday nights then. But the year of the final season, I was home from school recovering from several injuries ( I had a 'homebound' teacher who came twice a week), and ABC was then running the previous years' eps on weekday mornings, and that was when I first became really familiar with the show. So since it was still in production, I decided to watch the "new" ones, and you're right; the show had already outgrown itself, or something like that, by then.

08-05-2006, 02:04 AM	#3
BuddyHinton Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 31, 2006 Location: CA Posts: 441	Yeah..... I can't quite put my finger on the problem. Scripts I guess...

08-05-2006, 09:19 AM	#4
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	What happened with the fifth season is that the ratings had dropped off, and it was widely expected that ABC would not order any TBB episodes beyond the initial 13-episode order (ABC almost never ordered a whole season of TBB at once). In fact, in the 1973-74 season, the rest of ABC's Friday night lineup (Room 222, Love American Style, etc.) was cancelled at midseason. But not TBB - ABC unexpectedly picked the show up for the rest of the season, and Sherwood Schwartz had to scramble for scripts. That's really reflected on screen for those last 8 or 9 episodes.

08-05-2006, 09:46 AM	#5
BuddyHinton Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 31, 2006 Location: CA Posts: 441	Ahhh.... I knew something was amiss! Good eye, huh? The last few even had some back echo problems on the set, I wonder what that was all about?

08-06-2006, 06:11 PM	#7
studd911 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 21, 2004 Posts: 1,285	I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE DELETED SCENE ON BB A CAMPING WE WILL GO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey i have a question on the episodes of the brady bunch on the dvd a camping we will go what are some of the deleted scenes that are on the dvd which are not shown in syndication

08-07-2006, 12:35 PM	#8
brgmgb Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 26, 2006 Posts: 88	Sanford & Son and the Brady Bunch being on at the same time was the reason we got a 2nd TV in our house. My dad hated the Brady Bunch. And as an adult, I don't care for the later seasons as much as the earlier episodes. During the 5th season, did ABC show reruns while waiting for new episodes?