The Brady Bunch is Still the Best – and Here’s (the Story) Why… - Herbie J Pilato

Thereamp8217s a surreal quality surrounding The Brady Bunch that has transcended television time and spaceWhat first aired from the fall of 1969 to the spring of 1973 as ABCamp8217s original halfhour family sitcom created by executive producer Sherwood Schwartz amp8211 of Gilliganamp8217s Islandhas transmuted over the decades into syndicated reruns with sequels retrospectives and remakes on additional networks CBS and NBC for the bigscreen and small with DVD releases on the live stage or the printed page and certainly onlineFirst there was animated sequel The Brady Kids ABC 1973amp8230followed by The Brady Bunch Variety Hour ABC 1976amp8230which gave birth to The Brady Girls Get Married NBC 1981amp8230which led to The Brady Brides NBC 1981amp8230and then onto A Very Brady Christmas 1988amp8230which morphed into the seriousmindedThe Bradys 1990amp8230followed a few years later by the first feature film The Brady Bunch Movie 1995amp8230and the subsequent bigscreener A Very Brady Sequel 1996 then straighttovideo with The Brady Bunch in the White Houseamp8230along with additional incarnationsOk but why What is the nearmiraculous appeal of this increasingly popular and everexpanding mediafamily franchise that made superstar names of Florence Henderson who played matriarch Carol Brady and Robert Reed father Mike Brady the former childactorsturnedicons Barry Williams Greg Maureen McCormick Marcia Christopher Knight Peter Eve Plumb Jan Mike Lookinland Bobby Susan Olson Cindy and everaffable Ann B Davis as the lovable wisecracking housekeeper AliceIn a recent view of reruns of the original series which is now broadcast among other places six times in succession on The Hallmark Channel I began to comprehend the core of its appeal amp8211 through adult yet childlike eyesBefore I began to rewatch the show I transported myself back in time and thought amp8220What if I was more a child What would I think if I saw The Brady Bunch through yesterdayamp8217s eyesamp8221My reflection gave birth to this perceptionIf I was a kid again and turned on the TV and was suddenly startled by a thin white line that streamed across the monitor have it subsequently transform into a visual of an extremely welcoming woman with a pretty smile only to have three similarly facialclad young lasses appear to the left of the screen followed on the other side of the screen by a pleasantly handsome man and his three charming young sonsamp8230 all of it happening as a bouncingly happy music with storytelling lyrics played in the backgroundamp8230 Iamp8217d be hooked from the getgo I would have been mesmerizedThe colors in the Brady kitchen alone all orange and blue would have transfixed me Into this mix was the perfect home settingamp8230 the amiable but at times conflicted personalitiesamp8230 the problemsamp8230 the strugglesamp8230 the challengesamp8230 all wrapped up within a thirtyminute timeframeIt would be like watching a living cartoonamp8230in the most beautiful surreal wayWhat more could any child want What more could any adult want than to view life through a kaleidoscope of lovingkindness that resolved all conflictWeamp8217d want to experience that feeling again and again in as many ways as possibleamp8230in as many formats as feasibleEven The Brady Bunch Variety Hour which many have unduly criticized and secretly loved over the yearsBut me I always outright loved it for all the world to seeThe Variety show debuted two years after the original Bunch sitcom was cancelled amp8211 and I was in television heaven The original cast sans Eve Plumb who was replaced by fakebuteager Jan Geri Reischl were all there singing and dancing their Brady hearts outBut they werenamp8217t billed as Florence Robert Barry and Maureen and so forth Instead it was Carol Mike Greg and Marcia etc who were given the reignsYears later A Very Brady Christmas with a new Cindy portrayed by Jennifer Runyon became the highestrated TVmovie of 1988 which inspired the thirtysomethingesque more dramaticoriented The Bradys weekly series with Susan Olsen back as Cindy but with Marcia now played by Leah Ayres from early 1990amp8230 and so forth and so on into BradyinfinityAgain there was something surreal about it allamp8230 and there always will beThank the Brady godsHerbie J Pilato is an actor writer producer and singer who has worked for Syfy AampampE TLC Bravo The Discovery Channel Universal Warner Bros and Sony As the author of a number of acclaimed classic TV tiein books such as The Bionic BookLife Story The Book of Life Goes On The Bewitched Book Bewitched Forever The Kung Fu Book of Caine The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom and NBC ampamp ME My Life As A Page In A Book Herbie J is the Founder and Executive Director for The Classic TV Preservation Society a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the gap between positive TV shows and education the Creative Director for Erie Street Entertainment a TV production company that is geared toward scififantasy and familyoriented material and the President of PopCulture Consultants an entertainment consulting firm Herbie J makes frequent television appearances on shows like the TV Guide Channel39s 100 Moments That Changed TV and Entertainment Tonight He39s performed on daytime soaps such as General Hospital and The Bold and The Beautiful as well as on classic TV shows like The Golden Girls and Highway to Heaven Herbie J39s newest books include Twitch Upon A Star The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery which was published by Taylor Trade in November 2012 and The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery A Guide To Her Magical Performances which Taylor Trade will release in October 2013 For more information log on to httpwwwherbiejpilatocomRead all Herbie J39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Herbie J39s Classic TV CornerCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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The Brady Bunch is Still the Best – and Here’s (the Story) Why… - Herbie J Pilato

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