Bradys and Partridges: Some Similarities and Differences - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

hawaii five-o · 02-06-2004, 04:16 PM

Simularities:
Both were on ABC on Friday nights in the 70's.
Both families had three sons.
Both families formed a bubblegum band.
Both mothers were widowed. (Or was Carol divorced??? We'll never know.)

Differences:
The Bradys had three girls. The Partridges only two.
Mrs. Brady remarried. Mrs. Partridge didn't.
The Partridges cracked the Nielsen top 20. The Bradys never did.
The Bradys had a housekeeper. The Partridges had Reuben.

TVFactFan · 02-06-2004, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
Simularities:
Both were on ABC on Friday nights in the 70's.
Both families had three sons.
Both families formed a bubblegum band.
Both mothers were widowed. (Or was Carol divorced??? We'll never know.)

Differences:
The Bradys had three girls. The Partridges only two.
Mrs. Brady remarried. Mrs. Partridge didn't.
The Partridges cracked the Nielsen top 20. The Bradys never did.
The Bradys had a housekeeper. The Partridges had Reuben.

I don't think Brady Bunch cracked the top 50.

Dilly · 02-07-2004, 05:37 PM

I never liked the Partridge Family. It didn't have the charm that Brady Bunch did. The Partridges weren't really polished and were a bit rough around the edges. I guess it's just preference because some people like one but not the other.

TV Guy · 02-08-2004, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sitcom Analyzer
I don't think Brady Bunch cracked the top 50.

It ranked #31 during the 1971-72 season.

CCRYDER1968 · 02-22-2004, 10:42 AM

I never knew the Brady Bunch wasn't in the top 20! This suprises me considering the huge fan base!

PracTz · 02-22-2004, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
Simularities:
Both were on ABC on Friday nights in the 70's.
Both families had three sons.
Both families formed a bubblegum band.
Both mothers were widowed. (Or was Carol divorced??? We'll never know.)

Differences:
The Bradys had three girls. The Partridges only two.
Mrs. Brady remarried. Mrs. Partridge didn't.
The Partridges cracked the Nielsen top 20. The Bradys never did.
The Bradys had a housekeeper. The Partridges had Reuben.

More similiarities:
Viewers never learned the first name of the departed father of either family nor did any relatives from that branch of the family make any appearances.
Both families wore matching costumes when performing.
Both families never had problems finding parking spaces for their rather large vehicles.

More differences:

All six Bradys kids had the same bodies they started out with throughout the show's run.
4 of 5 of the Partridge kids did,too, but Chris had a body switch between Seasons One and Two.

Bradys had a male dog named Tiger (who soon disappeared).
Partridges had a female dog named Simone (who also soon disappeared).

Despite seeming to have fewer liquid assets than the Bradys, the Partridges appeared to have a larger house and each child had more personal space in the house.

Carol always deferred to Mike for important decisions affecting everyone while the Partridges decided everything together with Shirley but with her rulings being final.

All the Brady sons and daughters had the same hair color as their same gendered parent (except for Bobby in the 2nd half of the series who inexplicably reverted to his natural red hair).
Neither of Shirley Partridge's daughters inheritted her blonde hair color but her youngest son Chris (#2) did. It's unknown what the late Mr. Partridge's hair color was yet considering that Keith and Laurie were brunetts while Danny and Tracey were redheads- it's possible the milkman may have stopped by at least twice.

AtlantaBravesFan29 · 02-22-2004, 08:56 PM

Both The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family were on opposite highly rated shows:

The Brady Bunch was opposite Sanford and Son from 1972-1974.
The Partridge Family was opposite All In The Family on Saturday nights in the 1973-1974 season.

Also,during the last season of The Brady Bunch,they had Cousin Oliver,the last season of The Partridge Family,they had the character played by Ricky Seagall who always sang.

Brian · 02-23-2004, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CCRYDER1968
I never knew the Brady Bunch wasn't in the top 20! This suprises me considering the huge fan base!

The Brady Bunch is one of those shows that became more popular in syndication than in its original run. Like Leave it to Beaver, The Odd Couple, etc.

julian bozo · 02-25-2004, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PracTz

- it's possible the milkman may have stopped by at least twice.

Lamont Holmes · 03-11-2004, 07:51 PM

One similairity is when both shows were on location at King's Island. The Partridges did theirs in the 3rd season,while The Bradys did theirs in the 5th season.

Another similairity is Maureen McCormick and Susan Dey's hairdos.
Their both the same.

The difference is when Chris#2(played by Brian Forster) guest star on "The Brady Bunch". None of the Bradys guest starred on "The Partridge Family"

Another difference is the theme songs and opening credits. For "The Brady Bunch",the opening was a "Hollywood Squares" type that changed season by season(except the 2nd and 3rd seasons). The theme was sung by the Peppermint Trolley Company,and later sung by The Brady kids.

"The Partridge Family" only had partridges for its opening. They had 2 versions of the theme song: "When We're Singing" by Wes Farrell & Diane Hilderbrand,and "Come On,Get Happy" with new lyrics by songwriter Danny Janseen.

Why is that?

Lamont Holmes · 05-21-2004, 07:49 AM

The only reason the 2 theme songs sound a lot alike is because
Wes Farrell did the music for both. Diane Hilderbrand,a session lyric writer who did The Monkees written the 1st seasons lyrics.
Danny Janseen,who would later be famous for writing songs for
"Scooby-Doo","Josie & The Pussycats" and his biggest creation
"Sigmund & The Sea Monsters" written the 2nd seasons lyrics.

NOW THAT'S CREEPY!

Tweety · 05-25-2004, 12:20 AM

One big difference...

All of the kids on the Brady Bunch were very memorable in their own way...the show was a vehicle for all of the kids, and they were each given their own "episodes", of which they'd be the star... I don't know if the "star" billing was evenly divided, but each kid was featured on several episodes per season..

I never watched the Partridge Family, but it seems to me that the youngest boy and the youngest girl on the Partridge Family were all but useless...

hawaii five-o · 05-25-2004, 02:05 PM

Chris and Tracy were useful. After all, someone had to play the drums and tambourine.

TV Guy · 05-25-2004, 05:05 PM

And there were times when Tracy managed to cover for some of the bad lip-synching with her incredble tambourine work. She was right up there with Davy Jones! She was also aces on the triangle.

Tweety · 05-25-2004, 05:53 PM

Man, oh man...

I DEFINITELY stand corrected!!! Thanks for straightening me out on that, folks...

If you look at the time I posted that comment (I'm in the Eastern time zone), I'm sure you'll understand that I was probably delirious from lack of sleep, which made me hallucinate, which made me think that those two kids were useless...I don't know WHAT I was thinking... and I swear I wasn't under the influence of ANYTHING when I wrote that...

Thanks again...I'll NEVER again make the mistake of thinking that Chris and Tracy were of little or no use...

02-06-2004, 04:16 PM	#1
hawaii five-o Book 'Em, Dano Senior Member Join Date: Jun 27, 2003 Location: At home, eating cereal straight out of the box Posts: 1,406	Bradys and Partridges: Some Similarities and Differences Simularities: Both were on ABC on Friday nights in the 70's. Both families had three sons. Both families formed a bubblegum band. Both mothers were widowed. (Or was Carol divorced??? We'll never know.) Differences: The Bradys had three girls. The Partridges only two. Mrs. Brady remarried. Mrs. Partridge didn't. The Partridges cracked the Nielsen top 20. The Bradys never did. The Bradys had a housekeeper. The Partridges had Reuben.

03-11-2004, 07:51 PM	#10
Lamont Holmes Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 05, 2003 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 166	"The Difference Between The Brady Bunch & The Partridge Family" One similairity is when both shows were on location at King's Island. The Partridges did theirs in the 3rd season,while The Bradys did theirs in the 5th season. Another similairity is Maureen McCormick and Susan Dey's hairdos. Their both the same. The difference is when Chris#2(played by Brian Forster) guest star on "The Brady Bunch". None of the Bradys guest starred on "The Partridge Family" Another difference is the theme songs and opening credits. For "The Brady Bunch",the opening was a "Hollywood Squares" type that changed season by season(except the 2nd and 3rd seasons). The theme was sung by the Peppermint Trolley Company,and later sung by The Brady kids. "The Partridge Family" only had partridges for its opening. They had 2 versions of the theme song: "When We're Singing" by Wes Farrell & Diane Hilderbrand,and "Come On,Get Happy" with new lyrics by songwriter Danny Janseen. Why is that?

05-21-2004, 07:49 AM	#11
Lamont Holmes Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 05, 2003 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 166	"The Brady Bunch & The Partridge Family: Simularitied And Differences" The only reason the 2 theme songs sound a lot alike is because Wes Farrell did the music for both. Diane Hilderbrand,a session lyric writer who did The Monkees written the 1st seasons lyrics. Danny Janseen,who would later be famous for writing songs for "Scooby-Doo","Josie & The Pussycats" and his biggest creation "Sigmund & The Sea Monsters" written the 2nd seasons lyrics. NOW THAT'S CREEPY!

02-07-2004, 05:37 PM	#3
Dilly Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 03, 2003 Location: California Posts: 133	I never liked the Partridge Family. It didn't have the charm that Brady Bunch did. The Partridges weren't really polished and were a bit rough around the edges. I guess it's just preference because some people like one but not the other.

02-22-2004, 10:42 AM	#5
CCRYDER1968 #1 Sitcom Fan Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 15, 2000 Location: Chicago Posts: 438	I never knew the Brady Bunch wasn't in the top 20! This suprises me considering the huge fan base!

02-22-2004, 08:56 PM	#7
AtlantaBravesFan29 Atlanta Braves Fan Senior Member Join Date: Aug 13, 2002 Location: Pleasanton,TX--40 Miles South Of San Antonio Posts: 1,859	Both The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family were on opposite highly rated shows: The Brady Bunch was opposite Sanford and Son from 1972-1974. The Partridge Family was opposite All In The Family on Saturday nights in the 1973-1974 season. Also,during the last season of The Brady Bunch,they had Cousin Oliver,the last season of The Partridge Family,they had the character played by Ricky Seagall who always sang.

05-25-2004, 12:20 AM	#12
Tweety Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 18, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 6,804	One big difference... All of the kids on the Brady Bunch were very memorable in their own way...the show was a vehicle for all of the kids, and they were each given their own "episodes", of which they'd be the star... I don't know if the "star" billing was evenly divided, but each kid was featured on several episodes per season.. I never watched the Partridge Family, but it seems to me that the youngest boy and the youngest girl on the Partridge Family were all but useless...

05-25-2004, 02:05 PM	#13
hawaii five-o Book 'Em, Dano Senior Member Join Date: Jun 27, 2003 Location: At home, eating cereal straight out of the box Posts: 1,406	Chris and Tracy were useful. After all, someone had to play the drums and tambourine.

05-25-2004, 05:05 PM	#14
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	And there were times when Tracy managed to cover for some of the bad lip-synching with her incredble tambourine work. She was right up there with Davy Jones! She was also aces on the triangle.

05-25-2004, 05:53 PM	#15
Tweety Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 18, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 6,804	Man, oh man... I DEFINITELY stand corrected!!! Thanks for straightening me out on that, folks... If you look at the time I posted that comment (I'm in the Eastern time zone), I'm sure you'll understand that I was probably delirious from lack of sleep, which made me hallucinate, which made me think that those two kids were useless...I don't know WHAT I was thinking... and I swear I wasn't under the influence of ANYTHING when I wrote that... Thanks again...I'll NEVER again make the mistake of thinking that Chris and Tracy were of little or no use...