Anyone think that Jan Brady was like Tracy Partridge?

[um]

I watched the original episodes of The Brady Bunch when it was originally on the air, but I did not catch each and every episode either, yet it seemed to me that Jan Brady was the one character of the entire Brady Bunch fictional family who the episodes ever so rarely focused on.

Jan was supposed to be the most wise of the three girls and even of all the Brady children. I don't understand the big fuss that Eve Plumb herself as well as other people made about Jan Brady being such a "goody-two-shoes" and a "nerd." I always thought actors, especially young ones, were too self conscious about the characters they play and want to incorporate "raunchiness" into the characters they play. I heard that Eve Plumb thought that Jan Brady was so boring and too much of a "good girl."
However it goes to show the kind of social climate that existed in the 1970s and how a lot of young people, even those who were actors, did not want anything to do with being "unpopular."
Nevertheless , I don't look at it as a matter of a character being "nerdy" or
"un-cool" but it seems to me that Jan was the "Tracy Partridge" of the Brady Bunch. Sure not to the same extent really, but episodes were almost never about her.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by um

I watched the original episodes of The Brady Bunch when it was originally on the air, but I did not catch each and every episode either, yet it seemed to me that Jan Brady was the one character of the entire Brady Bunch fictional family who the episodes ever so rarely focused on.

Jan was supposed to be the most wise of the three girls and even of all the Brady children. I don't understand the big fuss that Eve Plumb herself as well as other people made about Jan Brady being such a "goody-two-shoes" and a "nerd." I always thought actors, especially young ones, were too self conscious about the characters they play and want to incorporate "raunchiness" into the characters they play. I heard that Eve Plumb thought that Jan Brady was so boring and too much of a "good girl."
However it goes to show the kind of social climate that existed in the 1970s and how a lot of young people, even those who were actors, did not want anything to do with being "unpopular."
Nevertheless , I don't look at it as a matter of a character being "nerdy" or
"un-cool" but it seems to me that Jan was the "Tracy Partridge" of the Brady Bunch. Sure not to the same extent really, but episodes were almost never about her.

I disagree. Although stories seem to center most on the oldest two kids(Greg and Marcia) all the other kids had episodes that centerd on their characters as well. In fact I would say that Jan wash the Brady kid that evolved the most over the run of the series. We saw her have to get glasses, come to terms with being the middle sister, attempt to alter her personality by donning a wig, and eventually blossom into a beautiful young woman.

[Donthe2nd]

Originally Posted by um

I watched the original episodes of The Brady Bunch when it was originally on the air, but I did not catch each and every episode either, yet it seemed to me that Jan Brady was the one character of the entire Brady Bunch fictional family who the episodes ever so rarely focused on.

Jan was supposed to be the most wise of the three girls and even of all the Brady children. I don't understand the big fuss that Eve Plumb herself as well as other people made about Jan Brady being such a "goody-two-shoes" and a "nerd." I always thought actors, especially young ones, were too self conscious about the characters they play and want to incorporate "raunchiness" into the characters they play. I heard that Eve Plumb thought that Jan Brady was so boring and too much of a "good girl."
However it goes to show the kind of social climate that existed in the 1970s and how a lot of young people, even those who were actors, did not want anything to do with being "unpopular."
Nevertheless , I don't look at it as a matter of a character being "nerdy" or
"un-cool" but it seems to me that Jan was the "Tracy Partridge" of the Brady Bunch. Sure not to the same extent really, but episodes were almost never about her.

I'm afraid there is really no comparison. All of the Brady kids had a good number of episodes that were focused on them; Tracy of The Partridge Family had none, and there was only one episode that focused on the two youngest together "Home is where the Heart Is" when they ran away from home. Jan Brady's famous meltdowns are among the most interesting of all the episodes - who can forget Jan's imaginary boyfriend "George Glass", Jan's crazy wig, and of course her rivalry with her older sister in "Her Sister's Shadow" (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!). Tracy and her counterpart Chris were not given anything interesting to do; they were used as little more than stage props. Which is a shame because I feel that both of them could have done more if they were given the chance.

[Retro4Life]

Gonna go with the majority here (believe it or not). I think Jan got quite a few episodes centered around her, and you certainly got somewhat of an understanding of who Jan was; a smart, somewhat insecure and lonely girl who, as Marv said, did evolve into a more secure teenager and young adult.

Tracy just barely seemed like a character at all, unfortunately. Maaaybe (though probably not) if The Partridge Family had gone another year, she and Chris would have gotten some stories. At that point they would have been, what 11 or something? You couldn't just keep putting them at the "kids' table" forever!

[Tweety]

Certainly every Brady kid got to be the center of many episodes during the series' run...

Greg - baseball star; getting his own room; getting a job at Mike's office; starting high school; getting his own car

Marcia - Father of the year; in love with her dentist; Desi Arnaz Jr; Ow my nose; joining clubs in high school; Juliet in school play

Peter - Benedict Arnold; school paper reporter; bike shop job; glee club singer; look alike classmate; saves a little girl at the toy shop

Bobby - safety monitor; shrimpo; Joe Namath; Jesse James; wins chin up bet with Greg

Cindy - fairy princess; Shirley Temple; quiz show on TV; has a secret admirer

Jan had episodes about: being the invisible middle child; having an older sister who's an achiever; wig; george glass; won the essay contest (or so she thought); tries everything but can't do anything right (finally settles on drawing); gets an allergy to flea powder; wants to be an only child; finds out her Aunt looked just like her at the same age

Lots of stories centered on more than one kid, of course.

I'd say Jan had a lot of good episodes centered around her. If anyone had the fewest plots, I might guess it was Cindy (I'm just listing these off the top of my head).

It's possible that Eve might have been upset about always being portrayed as the "good" girl... but I'd bet that's more likely something she thought of later, as opposed to during the actual run of the BB.

Afterwards, of course, she made a name for herself in another way, as "Dawn" in "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway".

[um]

Originally Posted by Tweety

Certainly every Brady kid got to be the center of many episodes during the series' run...

Greg - baseball star; getting his own room; getting a job at Mike's office; starting high school; getting his own car

Marcia - Father of the year; in love with her dentist; Desi Arnaz Jr; Ow my nose; joining clubs in high school; Juliet in school play

Peter - Benedict Arnold; school paper reporter; bike shop job; glee club singer; look alike classmate; saves a little girl at the toy shop

Bobby - safety monitor; shrimpo; Joe Namath; Jesse James; wins chin up bet with Greg

Cindy - fairy princess; Shirley Temple; quiz show on TV; has a secret admirer

Jan had episodes about: being the invisible middle child; having an older sister who's an achiever; wig; george glass; won the essay contest (or so she thought); tries everything but can't do anything right (finally settles on drawing); gets an allergy to flea powder; wants to be an only child; finds out her Aunt looked just like her at the same age

Lots of stories centered on more than one kid, of course.

I'd say Jan had a lot of good episodes centered around her. If anyone had the fewest plots, I might guess it was Cindy (I'm just listing these off the top of my head).

It's possible that Eve might have been upset about always being portrayed as the "good" girl... but I'd bet that's more likely something she thought of later, as opposed to during the actual run of the BB.

Afterwards, of course, she made a name for herself in another way, as "Dawn" in "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway".

From what I read of Maureen McCormick's book, Eve Plumb had some strong feelings against being portrayed as a "good girl" even while she was playing Jan Brady. Then later on when she got older and the original Brady Bunch was off the air, she resented it even more.
Maureen even says that there were hard feelings between her and Eve then and now, and it has something to do with Maureen making a joke long long ago on a talk show indicating that Eve might be lesbian, or that is the way that Eve took it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65WTPU1bUlQ

[Donthe2nd]

Afterwards, of course, she made a name for herself in another way, as "Dawn" in "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway".

It's interesting that you mention that, because Suzanne Crough (Tracy) also had a small part in that film (as an uncredited extra)