Top 6 Worst Brady Bunch Episodes

[TMC]

http://www.manic-expression.com/apps...bunch-episodes

#6. The Hair-Brained Scheme (Season 5)

This may strike everyone as an odd choice for the #6 slot. I mean, this was the final episode and so dumb Robert Reed was so angry about it he ended up being written out of it! But to be fair, if you accept the ludicrous plot the episode isn't the abosloute worst. In fact the worst thing is that Robert Reed is not in it, which makes no sense since the story is Greg's graduation and Mike would never miss that! In fact the episode right before it about Bobby thinking Sam was a spy was much more stupid. Don't get me wrong I get what happened and even respect Robert Reed for how he handled it, but his absence is what really hurts this episode. So yeah while it is bad, I can't say it's the worst ever.

#5. And Now a Word from our Sponsor (Season 3)

It seems like everytime a show does an episode where the characters appear on TV the characters have to turn into idiots. So, The Brady's are selected for a commercial and long story short, they learn from a horrible actress to overact and ruin the commercial. This was so stupid Robert Reed wrote a four page letter about it. Why is it stupid? Because the director does not rehearse with the family at all, and rather than just telling them to start again he loses his temper and fires them. Just dumb. To be fair the first half isn't all bad, as they test the detergent they will be selling. But when The Brady's take lessons from the actress it's all downhill. Even as amateurs they should know better. Even for a Brady episode it's just to silly. Maybe if they learned what "Motivating" meant.

#4. "Mike's Horror-Scope" (Season 1)

The episode is an example of two huge problems. One is the dreck of season one. I don't know what it was with the over somber tone of those early shows. Glad they lightened up a bit. The other problem is that this is the one time Mike gets the focus. This doesn't work because this show is done from the child's point of view. It's why the stories are so light. So to have this episode where Mike meets a new client who monopolizes his time justy feels out of place. The ending is kind of funny, but the kids are barely in it and the episode is a bore. Also while it's never said flat out the insinuation that Carol is worried that another woman would cause Mike to cheat on her just feels out of place. I realize that they were still newleyweds at this time, but still.

#3. Kelly's Kids (Season 5)

I hate backdoor pilots, in fact one of my very first articles was on that very subject, and that's what we have here. The whole episode is a pilot for another Sherwood Schwartz show that never went anywhere. Which means, of course, THE BRADY'S ARE NOT IN THE EPISODE! Well, they do appear but barely and are sure not the focus. Now I may not mind if the pilot is interesting. For instance "Assignment:Earth" on Star Trek was a backdoor pilot but it's not an unwatchable episode. This is, because the kids are so bland we just can't get invested. If you don't know the story is about the Brady's neighbors adopting three kids who happen to be three different races. Ok, not the worst idea I have ever heard but I WANT TO WATCH THE BRADY'S! This episode is just a dull bore.

#2. "Eenie, Meenie, Mommy, Daddy" (Season 1)

This was a Cindy episode but it's not her fault it was awful. It's another horrible season one episode. To be fair, it is well acted on Susan Olsen's part but say what you want about Season 5, some of these early shows were terrible. In this one Cindy is in a school play and all excited about her parents seeing her. However, there is a problem-there isn't enough seating for all the childrens parents so each child will have to pick one.This is dumb, has this school NEVER held a play before? It gets better because Cindy can only invite one parent and she has to decide which. Ok, WHAT SCHOOL WOULD MAKE A SIX OR SEVEN YEAR OLD DECIDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT?? Of course Cindy is beside herself, she wants both of her parents there. She even fakes an injury to get out of it, So what's the solution? The school stages a private showing JUST for the Brady's. Not just Mike and Carol, all of them.....AND ONLY THEM! Wait a minute, if you could do that then why not add a second show so all the kids can invite whoever they want???? Are you telling me the other kids wouldn't want some of their family at the "special showing", why is Cindy so special? AWFUL script. The problem is forced, the solution is contived, and the whole thing just falls apart.

#1. "Tell it Like it is" (Season 2)

Remember what I said about #4, that making it a Mike episode was a mistake because the series is supposed to be focused on the kids. Well this episode takes it a step further, and it's worst! Carol is writing an article for a magazine on a typical family. Her first story is rejected for being unrealistic (sure). The second time she tries by sugarcoating everything and it's a hit and she's published. Carol feels out of character this whole show, suddenly showing this ambition. Now here is where it gets really dumb. The magazine is sending people to meet her family. Carol for no reason mistakes the time they are arriving. When the magazine people get there she is not dressed, and then the kids walk in fighting with each other. The girls are fighting, Cindy has the hiccups, Bobby has wrecked his clothes, Pete has a black eye and Greg has poison oak. What?? Then Mike enters through the backdoor, for no reason, and crashes into Alice who had the snacks for the guests. The whole thing doesn't even feel like an episode of the Brady Bunch and that ending isn't funny, it's slapstick which is wrong on this show. Yes I said before that the characters weren't always perfect and happy on this show, but this seemed really forced,as if they were determined to prove that the family is not perfect no matter how contrived it is. If you have to take the characters out of character to make the scene work...you did something wrong. Oh and then the idiot magazine editor decides to go with the first article he originally rejected. Good thing Carol's a good sport.

[sixfingers]

Originally Posted by TMC

...
#2. "Eenie, Meenie, Mommy, Daddy" (Season 1)

This was a Cindy episode but it's not her fault it was awful. It's another horrible season one episode. To be fair, it is well acted on Susan Olsen's part but say what you want about Season 5, some of these early shows were terrible. In this one Cindy is in a school play and all excited about her parents seeing her. However, there is a problem-there isn't enough seating for all the childrens parents so each child will have to pick one.This is dumb, has this school NEVER held a play before? It gets better because Cindy can only invite one parent and she has to decide which. Ok, WHAT SCHOOL WOULD MAKE A SIX OR SEVEN YEAR OLD DECIDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT?? Of course Cindy is beside herself, she wants both of her parents there. She even fakes an injury to get out of it, So what's the solution? The school stages a private showing JUST for the Brady's. Not just Mike and Carol, all of them.....AND ONLY THEM! Wait a minute, if you could do that then why not add a second show so all the kids can invite whoever they want???? Are you telling me the other kids wouldn't want some of their family at the "special showing", why is Cindy so special? AWFUL script. The problem is forced, the solution is contived, and the whole thing just falls apart.

Read more: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...#ixzz2oGvaM0r6
...

You might think this is unrealistic, but according to Sherwood Schwartz, this was based on an actual experience where he heard a kid talking about how he could only invite one of his parents to a school play and he was agonizing over which one to invite.

The solution is a bit contrived, I'll grant you that and I always did wonder why families of other kids weren't at the special performance.

[sixfingers]

Originally Posted by TMC

#3. Kelly's Kids (Season 5)

I hate backdoor pilots, in fact one of my very first articles was on that very subject, and that's what we have here. The whole episode is a pilot for another Sherwood Schwartz show that never went anywhere. Which means, of course, THE BRADY'S ARE NOT IN THE EPISODE! Well, they do appear but barely and are sure not the focus. Now I may not mind if the pilot is interesting. For instance "Assignment:Earth" on Star Trek was a backdoor pilot but it's not an unwatchable episode. This is, because the kids are so bland we just can't get invested. If you don't know the story is about the Brady's neighbors adopting three kids who happen to be three different races. Ok, not the worst idea I have ever heard but I WANT TO WATCH THE BRADY'S! This episode is just a dull bore.

Read more: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...#ixzz2oGxdu3ka

I really liked this show when it first came on and hoped they would actually make that show.

This wouldn't have been a true spinoff, it would have been a launching, since the characters appeared on Brady Bunch only for that purpose. But some very sucessful shows started that way, The Andy Griffith show, for example, as well as Mork and Mindy.

Of course, if the launching is unsuccessful then you have an episode that seems kind of pointless and out of place.

I really don't have a problem with backdoor pilots, but the resulting shows aren't really spinoffs. A real spinoff is when one or more characters created for show A get a show B of their own, not when they appear on show A for that specific purpose.

A primary spinoff is when one or more main characters get a show of their own. Rhoda and Phyllis, for example. A secondary spinoff is when a recurring character created for show A gets a new show after several appearances on show A. Gomer Pyle was a good example of that.

Launchings, shows involving characters not created for show A but which appear just for the purpose of being on show B aren't really spinoffs at all.

I do think backdoor pilots are a legitimate device, but they need to be put in proper perspective.

[Wildchats]

I did not like Kelly's Kids but I also did not like The Impractical Joker, it was so out of Jan's character to play jokes like that, seemed more like Peter than her to get that storyline but why they gave it to her, I don't know.


Going Steady one was also weird because it was out of Marcia's character to like bugs, seems something more of Cindy than Marcia to like bugs.

[king of comedy]

I'll have to look at these again.

[sixfingers]

Originally Posted by Wildchats

Going Steady one was also weird because it was out of Marcia's character to like bugs, seems something more of Cindy than Marcia to like bugs.

Cindy did collect lizards with her boyfriend, much to Alice's horror when one escaped!

[rcbrad]

Originally Posted by Wildchats

I did not like Kelly's Kids but I also did not like The Impractical Joker, it was so out of Jan's character to play jokes like that, seemed more like Peter than her to get that storyline but why they gave it to her, I don't know.


Going Steady one was also weird because it was out of Marcia's character to like bugs, seems something more of Cindy than Marcia to like bugs.

I do not think that Marcia really liked the bugs. She only pretended to like them, since a boy that she liked collected bugs as a hobby. Marcia was trying to get him to notice her and pay more attention to her.

[Jack1000]

1.) Never too Old (Grandparents Visit)

Bad enough that the kids grandparents are introduced when the only other time you see Carol's Parents is at the wedding. Not sure if you can spot Mike's parents there or not. The worst is having Florence Henderson and Robert Reed "dress up" to play them! At least the studio could have found actual actors to play the grandparents.

2.) And Now a Word From Our Sponsor (Laundry Soap Commercial)

The character of Skip Farnam is nauseating and humiliating. The appearance of some drugged out hippie. The problem is, why even select someone like that? A NORMAL director could have worked, and it would have been better to have seen the Brady's actually doing a commercial with realistic dialogue. Carol's too happy with her description of the soaps the Brady's used to Mike. The kids dirtying their clothes like that rehearsing in a family of nine with tight budgets doesn't make much sense. The acting coach Myrna Carter is a complete waste. Robert Reed's memo in Barry's book, Growing up Brady, says it all. You can see Robert's disgust in many scenes just by looking at his face in this episode!

3.) Top Secret

Bobby and Oliver become convinced that Mike is involved with espionage after Sam visits the Brady home with "Secret Plans" for Mike. WHAT? The plans are little more than ideas ("blueprints") that Sam wants Mike to examine in deciding if he should enlarge his butcher shop.

4.) Is There a Doctor in the House?

All the kids get the measles nearly at the same time and a big family debate ensures over the quality of men vs. woman doctors. The problem is the kids look and act so healthy in this episode that all credibility is lost. Alice and Carol are making all kinds of different lunches for the kids, going overboard with catering to their every whim. Carol and Mike are able to call Dr. Porter or Dr. Cameron on a whim and get them to come to the house. The list of the different illnesses on the blackboard that the kids (and Tiger?! WHAT?) have had is stupid.

5.) The Super Snooper

Marcia and Jan try to teach Cindy a lesson about eavesdropping when Cindy keeps reading Marcia's diary. In retaliation, Marcia writes that Cindy is going to become a famous movie star, the next Shirley Temple, and at the same time, a client of Mike's happens to show up at the house, who Cindy believes is a talent scout. UGHHHH! Within hours, Cindy and the client are dancing around the living room to "On the Good Ship Lollipop." Just awful.

6.) Love and the Older Man

Marcia falls in love with Dr, Vogal the new family dentist. She than reads some teen gossip magazine about how older men are developing attractiveness to younger woman. Dr. Vogal than contacts Mike to ask Marcia if she's free Friday night. Marcia thinks it's for a date and gets super excited! In reality, Dr, Vogal just wanted Marcia to baby-sit his kids. Jan finds out that Dr. Vogal is married and tells Marcia, "Yes, your "date" has a wife, kids, maybe even a dog!" (One of the few sort of funny lines in this episode.)

The only thing that's funny are the kids working on the go cart and the can't get it to run until the tag scene where it chases Alice around the driveway.

Jack

PS. Dishonorable mention

Tank Gates in Quarterback Sneak. Can't stand him!

[WalterTheDrinker]

"Kelly's Kids" was, without question, the WORST of all, because it wasn't a Brady Bunch episode. It was some other (lame) show.

[tlc38tlc38]

I don't even consider "Kelly's Kids" a Brady episode. IMO, the Jesse James episode was, by far, the worst.

[1960'sTVfan]

The Brady Bunch is not the type of show that intends to bowl you over with it's intelligent scripts. It is a light, simple family sitcom that's supposed to make you laugh and forget your troubles for a half hour, maybe teach a lesson in life at the end. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't over analyze the episodes and tear the scripts apart, I don't have a problem with the writing for the most part, I just enjoy the show for what it is. It's fun family fare, certainly not intended to be Shakespeare.

No one forced Robert Reed into his role on The Brady Bunch. If he didn't like the scripts, he didn't have to agree to be on the show. He accepted the role, he should have stayed quiet and do his job. He always complained about the scripts, but had no problem cashing his paychecks.

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

IMO, the Jesse James episode was, by far, the worst.

Bobby's stupid dream sequence killed it for me but at least Burt Mustin was in it.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

The Brady Bunch is not the type of show that intends to bowl you over with it's intelligent scripts. It is a light, simple family sitcom that's supposed to make you laugh and forget your troubles for a half hour, maybe teach a lesson in life at the end. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't over analyze the episodes and tear the scripts apart, I don't have a problem with the writing for the most part, I just enjoy the show for what it is. It's fun family fare, certainly not intended to be Shakespeare.

No one forced Robert Reed into his role on The Brady Bunch. If he didn't like the scripts, he didn't have to agree to be on the show. He accepted the role, he should have stayed quiet and do his job. He always complained about the scripts, but had no problem cashing his paychecks.

Actually RR's "pay or play" contract with Paramount did force him into TBB. Paramount wanted him in a series since it had to pay him anyway. He had signed the contract a few years earlier following his time on The Defenders and apparently only was in one movie as a result, Star! with Julie Andrews, which was a flop. RR probably much would have preferred being in a different Paramount sitcom, like Houseboat, which never went to series, or Barefoot in the Park, which became a sitcom a few years later with Scoey Mitchlll and Tracey Reed in the lead parts.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by jehobden

Actually RR's "pay or play" contract with Paramount did force him into TBB. Paramount wanted him in a series since it had to pay him anyway. He had signed the contract a few years earlier following his time on The Defenders and apparently only was in one movie as a result, Star! with Julie Andrews, which was a flop. RR probably much would have preferred being in a different Paramount sitcom, like Houseboat, which never went to series, or Barefoot in the Park, which became a sitcom a few years later with Scoey Mitchlll and Tracey Reed in the lead parts.

That is interesting. The story I've been told is: Sherwood Schwartz wanted Robert Reed for the role of Mike Brady, Reed accepted, and after production started on the episodes, he began complaining about the scripts.

[mets82]

I think Kelly's Kids is the worst followed by the episode in which Mike has a new client and its some weird woman. I think you have to be in the mood for The Brady Bunch because you can watch them and get bored real fast.