The Brady Bunch

I have always been a fan of the show. Yes, they seemed like the perfect family, and could always solve problems in 30 minutes, but all that made it better. It was a great show to watch, and was always an escape from real life problems. I was, and always will be a fan of the Brady's.

Yes, the Bradys are corny, cheesy, tacky, etc. I LOVE them! I always liked Cindy the most out of all of them for some reason. The first few seasons were the best, but the show took a huge dive once Cousin Oliver showed up (he looked exactly like a pint-sized clone of John Denver). My favourite episodes are the Pilgrim episode, the one where Marcia gets hit in the nose with the football ("something suddenly came up"), and where Greg gets a used car. Where would pop culture be without the Bradys?

Ok, so it may be predictable and corny. However it is one of the few things that come into our home via that cable in the wall that my wife and I can let our young son watch without worry. He thinks the Bradys are "new" and laughs at every episode. By the way, if you don't like it, don't watch it. That's what remote controls are for.

The Brady Bunch came out the right decade. The Brady Bunch would have been unaccepted 10 years earlier at the end of the Eisenhower era cause it was about a blended family. It would be laughed and dismissed as anachronistic 10 years later. The reason The Brady Bunch came out was because it was The Vietnam War and it was escape TV from the realities of the time period. As the seasons gone by it was being overshadowed by the Norman Lear shows.

My first exposure to The Brady Bunch was at age 7, when I started watching the daily reruns. I don't know why I began to watch it, but what I can tell you is that it was (and still is) an entertaining situation comedy. It's no secret that critics were tough on the show. Sure it's corny, but it's fun to watch, and it has many great moments.

One of the favorite episodes is "Bobby's Hero," in which Bobby idolizes the notorious outlaw Jesse James. It has an interesting theme: you should always be careful who you pick for a hero.

Another favorite of mine is "Fright Night." That's the one where the kids' attempt to scare Alice backfires. In the dark, she smashes Carol's sculpture of Mike, thinking it was an intruder. Carol's important message in this episode: "If you carry a joke too far, someone might get hurt."

I have always associated myself with Peter Brady, because, like him, I'm a middle boy. To me, I'm very much the Peter Brady of my family.