Love The Brady Bunch, but who else thinks the pilot episode is STUPID? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Jack1000 · 02-26-2002, 04:34 PM

Hi Guys,

I have always been a loyal Brady Bunch fan! But man, that pilot episode IS slapstick. Actually what kills it is the "Tiger/Fluffy" chase sequence....pure slapstick. (No wonder Robert Reed went into this pissed off!) Sherwood Schwartz and his staff were comedy writers, and I can understand that. But when Robert Reed called the pilot of Brady Bunch "Giligan's Island with kids" he was on the money. (Nothing wrong with Giligan! But it's a different TYPE of show!)

The "Tiger/Fluffy" seqence is not funny at all and does not set the stage for some of the OUTSTANDING later epiosdes in the series. My favorites in terms of writing are:

The Dropout
Power of the Press
Her Sister's Shadow
Bobby's Hero

The tragedy is that so many times a pilot episode can determine a sitcom's take with critics. Back in it's inital run, Brady Bunch did not have a strong following until it was released in syndication after March '74. The problem IMO, critics saw "The Honeymoon" and said....."slapstick show" which Sherwood didn't have in mind. All Sherwood had to do was replace the Tiger/Fluffy scene with more "realistic or plausable situations" (i.e the kids, Mike and Carol preparing for the wedding, there could have been more issues dealing with Carol's first husband and Mike's first wife...(Take the scene of Mike telling Bobby that he doesn't need to put his mother's picture away and expand on that) I'll bet that if Robert Reed WOULD have had influence on the plot he could have incorperated these elements into the Honeymoon pilot.

I will discuss other epiosdes that basically suffer from too much slapstick. (Most DO NOT follow this trend) but I think that a lot of you will agree that sometimes slapstick just doesn't work.

ficlopri · 03-29-2002, 02:38 PM

I think the piiot was silly and BTW Barry Williams's book Growing Up Brady (in both versions) misquotes what Mike says to the hotel clerk in that first ep.

Montana Ponine · 03-29-2002, 03:19 PM

The pilot WAS kinda...yeah..but I liked it! It's not very likely that a couple would take their kids along with them on their honeymoon, but that's ok...it's unreality right?

80skid · 03-29-2002, 09:30 PM

yeah, I admit, even though I know the pilot by heart, it is a little, uh... unrealistic. just a little.

TV Guy · 03-30-2002, 07:35 PM

The pilot and "Kelly's Kids" are the only episodes of the series that were actually written by series creator Sherwood Schwartz (he co-wrote the two reunion movies as well). I also think they're two of the weakest. Robert Reed was right -- Sherwood's writing wasn't all that great.

Kristina · 04-04-2002, 05:19 AM

That whole Tiger/Fluffy chase was.. stupid I guess it was kinda silly.

mamamiasweetpeaches · 05-09-2002, 08:15 AM

I hate the first episode.Theres a few episodes I wont watch(Bobby and the aliens,Peter meets his double......)I'm trying to tape them off TV Land now but I dont want ALL of them,just the ones I like:The pilot is definatley a miss.

Tweety · 05-13-2002, 09:56 PM

Totally agree...the pilot is unwatchable...however, there is ONE line in there that I like and I think it's funny the way they handle it...it's the scene where the boys want to take Tiger to the wedding, and Mike says that they can't, because the wedding is just for friends and family...

Then Peter says "Tiger's part of the family" and then the camera switches to Bobby, who's face is being licked by Tiger, and Bobby says, "He's our brother". I don't know, that scene always cracked me up...but the rest of the episode is really, really stupid...I automatically change the channel as soon as I see the opening shot of the "old" house..

pontoon · 05-14-2002, 07:29 PM

...yet LOVE the show?

The pilot (IMO) 'set the stage' for what was to came of the 'Bunch'. IMO the 'Tiger scene' was HIGHLY indicitive of the struggle that had to ensue having that kind of 'immediate family'!

And how can you say it wasn't funny seeing Robert Reed get that cake planted on his kisser?

Alright...I'll 'fess up' and admit I actually liked the first episode!

I guess that makes one of us.

pontoon

gotchrislady · 05-15-2002, 07:52 PM

So what ever Happened to FLUFFY anyway?? And their grandparents?? lol Sorry, I just couldn't resist

sweetlilnala · 06-23-2002, 04:17 PM

Everytime I watch the first episode, I wonder if Mike and Carol are divorced or widowed,that was never mentioned. I also wondered what happened to Fluffy after the first episode. When the boys wanted to take Tiger to the wedding, I thought Mike should have put his foot down and said no,dogs don't belong at a wedding. That hotel clerk was a jerk,he looked down at Mike and Carol all because they just got married and already have kids,when I saw that part I thought " didn't it occur to him that they got married for the second time?"

astro_smurf · 10-31-2002, 10:47 PM

Personally, I love the Pilot. I thought that it was a good idea for Mike to let the boys bring Tiger with them. Since Tiger is a member of the family.

The only thing that I hate about the pilot is that the house is different looking, and that the doll Cindy has is not Kitty Karry All.

I thought that it was funny when Greg said that he was too old to go on a honeymoon.

I wish that Fluffy had been in the rest of the episodes. I love cats so that's why I feel that way about Fluffy. I even have a boy cat that resembles Fluffy.

astro_smurf · 10-31-2002, 10:54 PM

Personally, I love the Pilot. I thought that it was a good idea for Mike to let the boys bring Tiger with them. Since Tiger is a member of the family.

The only thing that I hate about the pilot is that the house is different looking, and that the doll Cindy has is not Kitty Karry All.

I thought that it was funny when Greg said that he was too old to go on a honeymoon.

I wish that Fluffy had been in the rest of the episodes. I love cats so that's why I feel that way about Fluffy. I even have a cat that resembles Fluffy.

¤I Love Clay Aiken¤ · 11-07-2002, 12:56 AM

Eh, the pilot was ok. The whole hotel thing gets an

.

Warm & Fuzzy · 11-08-2002, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Montana Ponine
The pilot WAS kinda...yeah..but I liked it! It's not very likely that a couple would take their kids along with them on their honeymoon, but that's ok...it's unreality right?

I was ROTFLMAO when Alice and Tiger came along as well.. that was too funny.

02-26-2002, 04:34 PM	#1
Jack1000 Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 05, 2001 Posts: 2,055	Love The Brady Bunch, but who else thinks the pilot episode is STUPID? Hi Guys, I have always been a loyal Brady Bunch fan! But man, that pilot episode IS slapstick. Actually what kills it is the "Tiger/Fluffy" chase sequence....pure slapstick. (No wonder Robert Reed went into this pissed off!) Sherwood Schwartz and his staff were comedy writers, and I can understand that. But when Robert Reed called the pilot of Brady Bunch "Giligan's Island with kids" he was on the money. (Nothing wrong with Giligan! But it's a different TYPE of show!) The "Tiger/Fluffy" seqence is not funny at all and does not set the stage for some of the OUTSTANDING later epiosdes in the series. My favorites in terms of writing are: The Dropout Power of the Press Her Sister's Shadow Bobby's Hero The tragedy is that so many times a pilot episode can determine a sitcom's take with critics. Back in it's inital run, Brady Bunch did not have a strong following until it was released in syndication after March '74. The problem IMO, critics saw "The Honeymoon" and said....."slapstick show" which Sherwood didn't have in mind. All Sherwood had to do was replace the Tiger/Fluffy scene with more "realistic or plausable situations" (i.e the kids, Mike and Carol preparing for the wedding, there could have been more issues dealing with Carol's first husband and Mike's first wife...(Take the scene of Mike telling Bobby that he doesn't need to put his mother's picture away and expand on that) I'll bet that if Robert Reed WOULD have had influence on the plot he could have incorperated these elements into the Honeymoon pilot. I will discuss other epiosdes that basically suffer from too much slapstick. (Most DO NOT follow this trend) but I think that a lot of you will agree that sometimes slapstick just doesn't work.

03-29-2002, 09:30 PM	#4
80skid smile :) Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 18, 2000 Posts: 971	yeah, I admit, even though I know the pilot by heart, it is a little, uh... unrealistic. just a little.
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05-14-2002, 07:29 PM	#9
pontoon ~~VOTE GOAT!~~ Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 30, 2002 Location: Ba-a-a-a-a-ck at work. Posts: 219	I DON'T understand how can you hate the pilot... ...yet LOVE the show? The pilot (IMO) 'set the stage' for what was to came of the 'Bunch'. IMO the 'Tiger scene' was HIGHLY indicitive of the struggle that had to ensue having that kind of 'immediate family'! And how can you say it wasn't funny seeing Robert Reed get that cake planted on his kisser? Alright...I'll 'fess up' and admit I actually liked the first episode! I guess that makes one of us. pontoon

10-31-2002, 10:47 PM	#12
astro_smurf Barry Williams Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 30, 2002 Location: USA Posts: 80	Personally, I love the Pilot. I thought that it was a good idea for Mike to let the boys bring Tiger with them. Since Tiger is a member of the family. The only thing that I hate about the pilot is that the house is different looking, and that the doll Cindy has is not Kitty Karry All. I thought that it was funny when Greg said that he was too old to go on a honeymoon. I wish that Fluffy had been in the rest of the episodes. I love cats so that's why I feel that way about Fluffy. I even have a boy cat that resembles Fluffy.
	__________________ <img src=http://www.ie-commerce.net/library/photos/221/221525.jpg><br><font color=deeppink size=4>Please visit my tape trading page at:<br>http://www.geocities.com/crystal30145</font> Last edited by astro_smurf; 10-31-2002 at 10:51 PM.

11-07-2002, 12:56 AM	#14
¤I Love Clay Aiken¤ MISS APRIL Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 19, 2001 Location: Parsonsfield ME Shaws - Screwing my way up the employment ladder! Posts: 68,780	Eh, the pilot was ok. The whole hotel thing gets an .
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03-29-2002, 02:38 PM	#2
ficlopri Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 27, 2001 Location: Methuen, Ma.USA Posts: 659	I think the piiot was silly and BTW Barry Williams's book Growing Up Brady (in both versions) misquotes what Mike says to the hotel clerk in that first ep.

03-29-2002, 03:19 PM	#3
Montana Ponine Tragically Beautiful Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 18, 2001 Location: Sondheimville Posts: 4,529	The pilot WAS kinda...yeah..but I liked it! It's not very likely that a couple would take their kids along with them on their honeymoon, but that's ok...it's unreality right?

03-30-2002, 07:35 PM	#5
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	The pilot and "Kelly's Kids" are the only episodes of the series that were actually written by series creator Sherwood Schwartz (he co-wrote the two reunion movies as well). I also think they're two of the weakest. Robert Reed was right -- Sherwood's writing wasn't all that great.

04-04-2002, 05:19 AM	#6
Kristina Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Mar 27, 2001 Location: CaLiFoRnIa, UsA Posts: 8,890	That whole Tiger/Fluffy chase was.. stupid I guess it was kinda silly.

05-09-2002, 08:15 AM	#7
mamamiasweetpeaches Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 30, 2002 Location: Middle Village,NY Posts: 390	I hate the first episode.Theres a few episodes I wont watch(Bobby and the aliens,Peter meets his double......)I'm trying to tape them off TV Land now but I dont want ALL of them,just the ones I like:The pilot is definatley a miss.

05-13-2002, 09:56 PM	#8
Tweety Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 18, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 6,804	Totally agree...the pilot is unwatchable...however, there is ONE line in there that I like and I think it's funny the way they handle it...it's the scene where the boys want to take Tiger to the wedding, and Mike says that they can't, because the wedding is just for friends and family... Then Peter says "Tiger's part of the family" and then the camera switches to Bobby, who's face is being licked by Tiger, and Bobby says, "He's our brother". I don't know, that scene always cracked me up...but the rest of the episode is really, really stupid...I automatically change the channel as soon as I see the opening shot of the "old" house..

05-15-2002, 07:52 PM	#10
gotchrislady Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 21, 2001 Location: usa Posts: 64	So what ever Happened to FLUFFY anyway?? And their grandparents?? lol Sorry, I just couldn't resist

06-23-2002, 04:17 PM	#11
sweetlilnala Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 24, 2002 Location: Michigan Posts: 44	Everytime I watch the first episode, I wonder if Mike and Carol are divorced or widowed,that was never mentioned. I also wondered what happened to Fluffy after the first episode. When the boys wanted to take Tiger to the wedding, I thought Mike should have put his foot down and said no,dogs don't belong at a wedding. That hotel clerk was a jerk,he looked down at Mike and Carol all because they just got married and already have kids,when I saw that part I thought " didn't it occur to him that they got married for the second time?"

10-31-2002, 10:54 PM	#13
astro_smurf Barry Williams Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 30, 2002 Location: USA Posts: 80	Personally, I love the Pilot. I thought that it was a good idea for Mike to let the boys bring Tiger with them. Since Tiger is a member of the family. The only thing that I hate about the pilot is that the house is different looking, and that the doll Cindy has is not Kitty Karry All. I thought that it was funny when Greg said that he was too old to go on a honeymoon. I wish that Fluffy had been in the rest of the episodes. I love cats so that's why I feel that way about Fluffy. I even have a cat that resembles Fluffy.