Snow White and the Seven Bradys

MUST SEE TV.

Bruce Bilson, who cranked out so many classic episodes for LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE, and a ton of other sitcoms and cop shows, directed this way outrageous story. Has the feel of something the MONKEES got themselves into, minus Davy Jones. Real camp stuff.

Favorite teacher Mrs. Whitfield (played by Frances Whitfield) is retiring and the kids would like to buy her a pricey gift. Naturally, comes the idea of putting on a show to raise money (what else would it be?), but what kind of show?

Try Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with the kids cast as the legendary characters, and doing a terrific job. Marsha is Sleepy and Jan is Happy. Priceless.

Alice, though, STEALS the show playing the queen of mean, and she is nasty! Ann B. Davis shows off her great character skills in this one, and the makeup department obviously had a blast.

Wild side gag with Mike and Sam (Allen Melvin) taking a detour in Sam's van -- in costume! --- only to get pulled over by a cop, who thinks they've been smokin' or drinkin' somethin'? May have been an idea from Bruce Bilson himself, thanks to Love, American Style. Also, the kind of schtick the MONKEES were famous for.

Great trivia note; Frances Whitfield was actually the kids' teacher on the Paramount lot. Whether or not she was retiring, who knows? It was her only tv acting credit.

BEST of SEASON 5 EPISODE 3 remastered color dvd ABC/Paramount dvd box set. Final Season collectors edition.

Cindy wants to raise money for a gift for everybody's favorite teacher. She volunteers the whole family to put on a play of "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs".

One of the more entertaining Season 5 episodes. All the kids want to play Dopey, but that part ends up going to Sam. Carol and Mike are Snow White and Prince Charming. The kids draw names out of a hat and this is how it turns out: Greg (Doc), Marcia (Sleepy), Peter (Sneezy), Jan (Happy), Bobby (Bashful) and Cindy (Grumpy). Funny scenes as Mike and Sam in costume encounter a cop and the play is amusing as well.

Okay the premise of this episode is Cindy is wanting to raise money to pay for a present for a school teacher. Fair enough. But let us examine this carefully. Think of the cost of the lumber that the stage was made from (not to mention the cost of the saw horse that Peter ruined). Think of the cost of the fabric for the stage curtain. Think of the cost of the costumes (well only Alice's, Mike's and Carol's would cost much, not the kids or Sam's). Think of the cost of the chair rentals (because surely the Brady's would not already have had this many folding chair). Think of the cost of the permit that Mike had to pay to hold the event. If the Brady's had taken all the money they spent on the production of a play and donated it toward this school teacher she would have had a nice present. I know I overthink things, but I can't help it.