Miss Popularity

This episode was similar to a story a few seasons back where Marcia won the role in a play and it all went to her head, big time! And... if you stretch it a bit, there's the episode where Greg didn't keep his promises and wanted to live by "exact words." Remember?

Jan enters the "Most popular Girl" contest and to get votes -- spreads herself real, real THIN, promising the world to everybody. Once the contest is over, the promises are toast! What? Jan should have known better, and gets the proverbial cold shoulder from the gang, going as far as to call her the "Most Obnoxious."

Lessons learned. Although, I always thought Jan was cool anyway. Eve Plumb is very good in this emotional episode, thanks to director Jack Donahue. Jack was long time director and producer for THE LUCY SHOW and HERE'S LUCY. He directed some real funny stuff for Lucille Ball.

I agree with the goof. Marcia says she'll drive Jan around town to pass out flyers, but doesn't have her license. Actually she does -- however the famous driving test episode was aired AFTER this episode and filmed earlier.

In good and bad, we still love Jan, and don't miss Mike and Carol's plans for a romantic weekend which gets all messed up. From SEASON 5 EPISODE 13 remastered color Paramount/ABC. The entire series is on dvd in a single box, 70s purple or green shag rug cover.

Jan makes a bunch of empty promises to win the Most Popular Girl contest.

Another of the Swelled Head kid shows, but not one of the best. Jan is much older now, and this one might have worked better in the earlier seasons. After she wins the contest, she becomes a selfish egomaniac. The other kids call her the Most Obnoxious and a creep. Mike and Carol have a subplot where they try to make plans for a long weekend.

The Brady Bunch had a lot of great episodes that dealt with coming-of-age issues. Even though the scripts were corny, they were well-intentioned and grounded in reality, and the cast always rose above the material. This is NOT one of those episodes. For starters, it's unlikely that a school would sponsor a contest as shallow as Most Popular Girl and Boy. Second, having Jan make a bunch of campaign promises that she has no intention of keeping is silly. If she's so popular, why does she need to buy votes? The writing in this episode is lazy and broad. The writers were clearly running out of ideas..