Welcome Aboard

Not really that bad of a story, and written by Al Schwartz, writer for Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton and Lucille Ball. This likely all come about with the casting of new family member Ricky Segall on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY.

Robbie Rist was a little older than Ricky, but a fun kid who made his debut on LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE.

You had to give Schwartz credit for being creative, starting off the episode with the idea Carol may be pregnant??? -- though the child she's expecting is her cousin, Oliver. Right off the bat, he tries to fit in and things start going wrong, making him think he's brought a ton of bad luck with him. The idea may have been inspired by the introduction of Ernie on MY THREE SONS, years earlier, who also thought he was doomed.

Robbie, who is still acting today and doing voice work, was a talented kid. The problem is ABC didn't do much to introduce him, which made his addition to the Bradys kind of awkward. The clever bridge here is when everybody gets to go on a studio tour (naturally Paramount's famous backlot) and a WILD, old fashioned pie fight begins -- likely due to Oliver and lousy luck.

I give it 9 Stars because the pie fight is funny, and at a time when nostalgia (particularly silent movies) was thriving in the 70s. Applause to the costume department for coming up with some cool threads, and it looks like everyone had a blast. The pie fight episode got lots of publicity, especially in reruns.

The only negative note; Robert Reed refused to do the scene, long fighting with producer Sherwood Schwartz, which soon brought an end to the series. He was also dropped from a recurring role on MANNIX.

FYI: Robbie Rist DID have some extremely good luck (in real life) when Mary Tyler Moore and her producer husband, Grant Tinker, apparently liked his style and cast him as Ted's adopted son. TV history assured, and Ted Knight and Robbie made a hilarious team, still looking very much like Cousin Oliver. What a snub to ABC from CBS! That's showbiz, but a happy ending for Robbie.

SEASON 5 EPISODE 17 remastered color ABC/Paramount. The entire series is on dvd in a single box, slick 70s purple cover or green shag rug.

Although the addition of Cousin Oliver was a horrible idea Robbie Rist did not kill The Brady Bunch. The Brady Bunch was already dying due to the show was anachronistic and the fighting between Reed and Schwartz. The writers clearly ran out of ideas and people moved on to more cotemporary comedies by Norman Lear. Cousin Oliver is now the TV trope when a show needs a new cute kid.