Customer Reviews

The Brady Bunch - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I grew up watching the Brady Bunch in repeats (every day @ 4:35 on TBS), now I watch it on TV Land. This is the best example of classic TV. Below is a description of every episode from season one that are on this DVD:

The Honeymoon (original air date: Sept. 26, 1969)
Description: In the series pilot, Mike Brady, a widower with three boys, marries Carol Martin, a single mother (it was never fully stated if Carol was a widow or a divorcee) with three girls. Mike and Carol decide to bring their 6 kids, Alice their maid with the can-do attitude, tiger the dog, fluffy the cat (who is never seen after the pilot), and Cindy's rag doll along on their honeymoon.

Dear Libby (original air date: Oct. 3, 1969)
Description: Advice columnist Dear Libby, draws Marcia's attention with a letter from someone of similar circumstances as her parents. This leads Marcia to draw the conclusion that Mike or Carol wrote the letter. Hurt feelings and misunderstanding encompass the entire family -- including Alice - that is until Dear Libby drops everything and makes a personal appearance to the entire bunch; just to clear everything up!

Eenie, Meenie, Mommy, Daddy (original air date: Oct. 10, 1969)
Description: Cindy has been cast as the fairy princess in the school play. She's excited that her mom and new dad will be able to see her in the production until she learns she can only invite one parent. If it were my kid, I would have pulled them from the play Mike decides to put Cindy's mind at ease. A private play is done just for the Brady family and Alice.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (original air date: Oct. 17, 1969)
Description: No longer feeling needed around the Brady household, Alice makes up a cockamamie story about an ailing aunt in Seattle in order to leave. Later the family finds out the truth and put "Operation Alice" in effect in an attempt to make her stay; which works!

Katchoo (original air date: Oct. 24, 1969)
Description: Jan comes down with a mysterious allergy and Carol and Alice try to determine just what is causing it. They deduce that the cause is Tiger, the family dog. This leads to the boys having to deal with getting a rid of their pet. Come to find out that Jan is really allergic to Tiger's new flea powder!

A Clubhouse Is Not a Home (original air date: Oct. 31, 1969)
Description: This episode should have been the first after the pilot because it shows everyone moving in together and often in syndication it is either dropped or it is put after the pilot. The family moves in together and the boys don't want to share their club house with their new sisters.

Kitty Karry-All is Missing (original air date: Nov. 7, 1969)
Description: When Cindy's doll, Kitty Karry-All turns up missing, she accuses Bobby. This leads to a mock trial with Alice as the judge to determine Bobby's guilt or innocence. Then later Bobby's kazoo turns up missing and he blames Cindy. At long last the real culprit is revealed to be Tiger.

A-Camping We Will Go (original air date: Nov. 14, 1969)
Description: This is one of my favorite episodes from the entire series. The entire family goes on a camping trip together. The boys don't want the girls there and the girls don't want to go but in the end they all wind up enjoying themselves.

Sorry, Right Number (original air date: Nov. 21, 1969)
Description: Fed up with the high telephone bill, Mike installs a pay phone in the family room. Has anyone ever heard of someone having a pay phone in their home? I didn't think so. This is a classic Brady Bunch episode.

Every Boy Does It Once (original air date: Dec. 5, 1969)
Description: After watching "Cinderella" on TV, Bobby becomes concerned about stepmother's especially since Carol asks him to sweep out the fireplace. Soon after, feeling worthless, Bobby decides to runaway. Mike a Carol foolishly decide to "buy" Bobby's love but then feel that they make a mistake and Carol comes up with a great way to show her true affection for her new son.

Vote for Brady (original air date: Dec. 12, 1969)
Description: Marcia & Greg are both running for student body president. It's a cutthroat campaign until Marcia decides to drop out after hearing Greg scold Rusty for making up malicious rumor's about her.

The Voice of Christmas (original air date: Dec. 19, 1969)
Description: Yes, Florence Henderson can sing and this episode proves it. Carol loses her voice and rather than pray (that's not done on TV), Cindy asks Santa to lend a helping hand. Sure enough on Christmas morning Carol has her voice back in time to sing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" for the entire congregation. By the way, this is anther episode that is rarely seen unless it's during Nick at Nite's or TV Land's Christmas specials.

Is There a Doctor in the House? (original air date: Dec. 26, 1969)
Description: All six kids come down with the measles and a fight ensues when Carol calls her doctor (a woman, played by Marion from Happy Days), and Mike calls his doctor (a man, played by Mr. Mitchell from Dennis The Menace).

Father of the Year (original air date: Jan. 2, 1970)
Description: Marcia enters Mike in a "Father of the Year" contest through the newspaper. However, in order to do this she's had to sneak around and break some rules. When Mike catches her and she's unable to explain, he grounds her from the family ski trip. All is forgiven when Mike is surprised with his award during a televised awards presentation at the family home.

54-40 and Fight (original air date: Jan. 9, 1970)
Description: The Brady family learns that a trading stamp company is going out of business. A fight breaks out over who should get all of the saved stamps, the boys or the girls. If the girls get them, they'll buy a sewing machine and if the boys get them, they'll by a rowboat. How do they solve the problem? By having a card house contest. The girls win but buy a TV instead. Side Note: Look VERY closely and you will see a card standing up after the house falls down, and Mike even uses his fingers to try to press them down.

Mike's Horror-Scope (original air date: Jan. 16, 1970)
Description: The day after Carol reads Mike's horoscope, which states "a strange woman will enter your life tomorrow," Beebe Gillini enters Mike's office and proves to be a most difficult client. Why any man would choose Beebe over Carol is beyond me. Beebe is a pretentious, stuck-up, overindulgent, shrew of a women.

The Undergraduate (original air date: Jan. 23, 1970)
Description: When Greg's grades start to drop the Bradys quickly deduce he has puppy love for a certain girl named Linda. After a run-around, the Bradys quickly learn just who this Linda is; it's Greg's teacher who is also dating a baseball player. Greg agrees to hit the books in exchange for tickets to a game.

Tiger, Tiger! (original air date: Jan. 30, 1970)
Description: A city wide search is on, when Tiger, the family dog turns up missing. Come to find out, Tiger was just spending time with his new puppies and their mom.

The Big Sprain (original air date: Feb. 6, 1970)
Description: When Carol is out of town, Alice sprains her ankle (tripping over a Chinese checkers board), putting Mike and the kids in charge of the household duties and her boyfriend Sam dateless for an upcoming ball. They all pull together though and work together as a team.

Brace Yourself (original air date: Feb. 13, 1970)
Description: Marcia is distraught after getting braces and becomes convinced she's ugly. This compounds when her boyfriend Alan Anthony breaks their upcoming date, thinking it's due to her braces.

The Hero (original air date: Feb. 20, 1970)
Description: Peter gets his 15 minutes of fame and lets all the attention he gets go to his head after saving a little girl from a falling shelf at Driscoll's Toy Store.

The Possible Dream (original air date: Feb. 27, 1970)
Description: Marcia's sense of security is shattered when Cindy inadvertently gives away her diary to a book collection. Marcia is especially concerned since in it, she confessed a secret desire for Desi Arnaz, Jr. Of course, DesiJr., nothing better to do so he shows up (Alice knows his mother's cook) and tries to console poor Marcie.

To Move or Not to Move (original air date: March 6, 1970)
Description: With constant complaints about the size of the house bombarding Mike and Carol, Mike puts the house up for sale and looks into buying a new one. Immediately after this, the Brady house seems to be haunted.

The Grass is Always Greener (original air date: March 13, 1970)
Description: Mike and Carol switch roles for a day in order to prove a day with the opposite sex involves much less work. Their duties: Carol must help the boys with baseball practice and Mike must help Marcia with a cooking badge. Both find out that the grass is NOT greener on the other side.

Lost Locket, Found Locket (original air date: March 20, 1970)
Description: Jan receives a mysterious locket in the mail with no indication of who sent it. While the Bradys are trying to figure out who sent it, the locket mysteriously vanishes.

Who has never heard of the BRADY BUNCH?! The Brady Bunch ran from 1969 to 1974. From the beginning the show was a hit to audiences and became a classic altogether. When I got my copy of the first season I was amazed of the effort they put into it. Usually, Paramount has plain, ordinary DVD sets. Not this time though, they added a lendicular cover and a few extras. This set is also a space saver too. Instead of making 4 cases for the 4 discs, they put two discs in each case cutting the size of the set in half. The picture to me was very clear and crisp, with the occasional flicker of dust and debris. The sound was pretty good too, considering that all shows back then were in mono. All in all, this set is a great selection for all you Brady fans out there!

I cant beleive I have been watching The Brady Bunch since 1969.
This dvd is the best that Paramount has put out. The color is crystal sharp that you can see the folds in the fake lawn, the sound is awsome to. Plus they are all uncut, which you will never find on cable at all. The commentarys with the Brady kids are great! I only wish they did more commentarys,but thats ok.
I cant wait for season 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Pilot episode of The Brady Bunch aptly sets up the way of the show with an ending that's almost totally out of reality.

The unrealness continues with, for instance, shows where the whole family comes to a halt to search for Cindy's missing doll.

Unrealness, is not a bad word, by the way. On the contrary, I think today's TV's obsession with "reality" only makes for a more pessimistic unreality as now they strive to make every TV family more dysfunctional than most will ever be.

For example, In retribution for the wise, selfless and caring dads of the sitcoms of old we now have a pack of moronic, weak and selfish dads who are constantly inferior to the kids and/or the wife.

While this sort of thing is funny when the show is done right (like The Simpsons and occasionally Malcolm In The Middle) it grows tired real quick and one starts preferring the other side of unreality.

That's where The Brady Bunch comes in.

The Brady Bunch was never a great show, but it was a sweet and enjoyable one. Where the writing of the show was weak, at least you had good chemistry between the kids and kids and the adults.

For a show that seems firmly a part of the 1970's, this first season certainly looks more like the sitcoms of the late 60's to be sure. The look of color shows back then were made to take advantage of color TV that while it was not exactly new, was finally starting to go mainstream.

That means most color shows were really IN COLOR, bright primary colors. Almost any color show of that time was a feast for those who loved color.

The plots for the first season are pretty much standard issue sitcom plots. I mean, every show back then had the "One member of the family might be allergic to a pet or another family member" episode.

Being the first season both Greg and Marcia are freakishly young. It would take at least a couple years for Marcia to start to blossom into the leggy proto babish high school dream date people remember her for.

In this season the one most fun to watch is Cindy, I crack up when she makes an angry face at someone. The lisp is always a great touch too.

Season one standouts:

The Honeymoon: or the pilot. Like I said, this pilot aptly set the tone for the rest of the series, especially at the end where a guilty Mike and Carol decide to invite the children to the Honeymoon (They felt guilty for yelling at the kids after their pets got loose and ruined the wedding reception! Can you imagine that?). It's punctuated by a couple of sweet moments like when Mike tells Bobby that it's okay to remember his original mother. It's too bad that Fluffy the cat didn't get carried over to the series proper. It would've made for some Tiger/Fluffy rival episodes and cute animal antics are always the icing on the cake for shows like this.

Katchoo: It's the Brady's version of this eternal sitcom plot. Jan seems to develop a mysterious allergy to Tiger. In the hopes of not having to get rid of Tiger, the girls, the boys, Carol and Alice and then Mike all secretly put poor Tiger through one bath after the other truly making the dog water phobic. Those bath scenes really make this episode a funny watch.

Kitty Karry-All is Missing: Cindy's Kitty Karry-All disappears right after Bobby was in the room. This episode's a bit sneaky, slipping in a little education on civics for the kiddies (innocent until proven guilty, circumstantial evidence). A great scene for memorabilia collectors is to look at the toy store scene. You can see a Remco Star Trek "flying rocket plane" toy (try finding one of those on Ebay!). You can also see a Lost In Space robot toy and several other vintage toys.

Father of the Year: While trying to keep her essay entry for a contest on "Father Of The Year" secret, Marcia does a few things that cause harsher and harsher punishments from her hopeful "Father Of The Year". Of course, a simple explanation would clear things up and prevent punishment but also disqualify her from the contest. Marcia doesn't flinch and continues to see through the hurt of the punishments to the greatness of her new father. As corny as it is, I dare you not to feel for Marcia and not to get misty when the end you know is coming finally comes.

Lost Locket, Found Locket: Jan receives a locket from a secret Admirer. Soon after she gets it, it disappears prompting a whole family reenactment of the time it disappeared. The episode ends with a really nice scene between Alice and Jan.

Most of the shows on season one are a good watch.

The quality of the shows on this DVD is much better than you will ever see on cable. Print quality is clean but sharpness is variable. Even in the same episode some scenes are sharper than others. It's not too much of a big deal but kind of curious anyway. You can expect scenes with effects (in the case of the Brady Bunch, superimposed titles, dissolves or the popping up of the boxed heads at the end of act 2) to be less sharp but scenes beyond those have a sharpness shift.

Color is saturated throughout, which is great. To get the full effect of these shows (and to mimic the broadcasting done back then to accentuate the color) you want them the color to pop like a technicolor musical.

Audio is perfectly fine and clean, so much so that in the episode "A-Camping We Will Go" you can hear that the "hoot hoot" of an owl was cut in from a scratchy soundtrack of perhaps an old movie.

Kudos to Paramount for not ignoring the opening "Brady Bunch In color" slide and not supplanting the vintage Paramount logo for the new one (I'm always bugged by studios cutting in their most recent logos to films and TV shows of the past. Paramount is as bad an offender of that as any. I'm glad they decided not to do it for these shows).

Most importantly, the shows are uncut. You know, even on channels that purport to be a place where old shows are revered, the shows themselves are put through all manor of indignities. They are time compressed (which makes for that somewhat noticeable Jerky movement and "hiccups" in the sound), the channel logo is ever-present on the bottom of the screen. They superimpose text and even images and sound for shows coming up next (or soon) and they can't wait to squeeze out the closing credits in order to do more promotion. Finally, 2-4 minutes get cut from half hour shows. Cutting stuff out of syndicated reruns is nothing new but more is cut now than most stations ever did. Back then, some stations cut, some didn't and the amount of time cut varied from station to station. Now channels get pre edited video masters from the studios and sometimes the channel even cuts more.

TV on DVD is the only way to escape these atrocities so I'm glad it's catching on.

The extras are kind of sparse but fun. Sherwood Shwartz is always fun to listen to talking about his shows. You get to hear him do commentary for the pilot and on the roundabout 1/2 hour featurette.

What's more fun is to hear the grown up Brady Kids (3 of them) do commentary on a couple shows. They have fun, make fun of each other and themselves and give a little bit of info about the making of the show. All great fun.

Most children of the 60's and 70's will find themselves watching the shows here with a tranced out goofy grin. The Brady Bunch will weave it's peculiar magic over you once again.

Recommended.

The Brady Bunch is a show that has certainly held up over the years. Although some aspects of the show are dated, it is a show that you would definately have no problem letting your kids watch. A bit unrealistic at times (Mike and Carol not having any arguements, one bathroom for nine people and no toilet in that bathroom, etc.), but a refreshing change of pace from a lot of today's shows. When this show orginally aired on ABC on Friday nights, it was immediately followed by the Partridge Family, another show that defined the 70s. The Partridge Family and the Brady Bunch were two shows that seemed to go hand in hand. However, the Partridge Family has not been seen in syndication as much as the Brady Bunch has, and is even more dated than the Brady Bunch. The Partridge Family should be released on DVD soon, so keep an eye out for that. Also, another reviewer here stated that the Brady Bunch spin-off movie "The Brady Girls Get Married" aired on ABC in 1981. That is incorrect. It aired on NBC in 1981, followed by a short lived series called "The Brady Brides". And in 1988, CBS aired "A Very Brady Christmas" and followed that with another short lived series called "The Bradys", a drama about the grown up Brady kids. These were the only times (except for "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" program aired in 1976-1977 by ABC) that the Bradys reunited to play their charcters in reunion shows.

I've been watching The Brady Bunch for as long as I can remember (30 something years), I've seen all the reunions, spin-offs and specials...But I have NEVER seen the Bunch look and sound this good. The transfers are crystal clear. The commentaries are fantastic. I'm so glad that these are the original, UNCUT episodes. I was not disappointed by this collection in any way. It really feels like I'm watching them for the very first time, they look that good...thank you Paramount...bring on the rest of the series!

Wow what to say about the Brady's! I literally grew up with this family every afternoon after school and now all these years later they still hold a wonderfully warm place in my heart which I hope never dies. Premiering in September 1969 this series was the brain child of Sherwood Schwartz who of course also created the classic "Gilligan's Island" another of my all time favourites. The series for the time was really quite unique in the respect that it began with two families being run by widowed parents coming together to form one family, the Brady's. Second marriages until then were extremely rare on televison and that gave the series, especially in its early days many great opportunities to show the troubles, adjustments, and joys of two different families coming together as one. Even though I love all five seasons of the show my favourite without a doubt is this first season where the children obviously because of their age were at their cutest, and episodes did make an attempt to show the adjustments the two families went through when they joined together. Season One for me is also special because it had more of a 1960's look to it still before it took off on its super groovy course once it moved into the 1970's.

One of the really strong points of "The Brady Bunch", was the excellent group of performers in the cast who were all first rate in my belief. Robert Reed and Florence Henderson as Mike and Carol Brady made really likeable and warm parents and had a terrific chemistry together that made them seem like a husband and wife coping with six children. Henderson in particular has a number of very touching moments in various Season One episodes as she takes on the mothering of the three Brady boys who had lost their own mother. And who could forget the totally wonderful Anne B. Davis? This veteran television comedy performer has always been my favourite Brady, (well her surname on the show was Nelson but to me she was always a member of the family) and as the wisecracking, ever bubbly housekeeper Alice she was always a total joy in each episode and she often got the funniest lines. I also have great affection for all six actors playing the Brady children on the show and it was great how as the series progressed and the children grew older each slowly developed their own distinct personality much the same as real life children naturally do. Long crucified by the critics "The Brady Bunch", has proven all the skeptics wrong by never leaving the airwaves or viewers affections and it is now hopefully charming new generations of viewers via the season by season release of the show onto DVD.

"The Brady Bunch - The Complete First Season", DVD contains all twenty four first season episodes plus the original pilot "The Honeymoon". What a joy these nostalgic TV time capsules are for weary 21st Century television viewers like myself! Accused of being corny, and unrealistic, I feel that is an unfair dismissal of this show which I've always believed presented positive role models where family members were cared for and always encouraged to talk about their problems. I have many favourite episodes among this season but some of the standouts for me are;

"The Honeymoon" (Pilot), where we see Mike and Carol's wedding and some unexpected mayhem involving a run away fluffy and Tiger and a doomed wedding cake that has an unfortunate close encounter with Mike !

"Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", where Alice, after encouraging the boys to start taking their troubles to their new mother, begins to feel unneeded and decides to leave only to be stopped from leaving by all the Bradys who together devise a plan to show her how much she is really valued.

"Every Boy Does It Once", where Bobby has a nightmare that Carol will turn out to be a bad Stepmother like in the movie "Cinderella", and decides to run away from home only to be stopped by Carol who shows her real love for her new son by telling him that the only "steps", in the Brady house are those on the stairs.

"A Camping We Will Go", where we see the first of the famous Brady holidays. Later memorable holidays would take the Bradys to the Grand Canyon and Hawaii in later seasons. This filmed on location episode puts the boys against the girls when they dont want any "females", along on their annual "male only", fishing trip.

"The Voice of Christmas", (my favourite) where Carol loses her voice in the lead up to the family's first Christmas together when she will be singing at Church on Christmas morning and its finally up to Cindy's strong belief in the true meaning of Christmas to save the day.

"The Brady Bunch", can certainly be viewed as the last gasp of television innocence from a simpler time however its likeable characters, familiar and yes perhaps sentimental view of life (nothing wrong with that!) still appeals to audiences 33 years after the show left the airwaves in prime time. As Florence Henderson once said in a interview discussing the eternal life of the Brady's, "Nothing seems to be able to keep this little show down". So true! And now we can enjoy the adventures of television's first truly blended family in these beautifully presented DVD box sets. What more could Brady buffs like myself ask for! Enjoy!

I was between 5 and 10 years old when this show aired, so of course I loved it. It was a Friday night ritual to watch this and the Partridge Family. It is about time this is being released on DVD, I will look forward to other seasons being released in the future. My favorite seasons are probably 3 and 4, especially the Hawaii trip. By season 5 you could tell they were running out of ideas, but the redeeming feature about the last season was watching Marcia and Jan turn into such hot babes. As far as season one goes, in all the episodes until "The Voice of Christmas", make note of the awful wig Florence is wearing. She had a role before the show that required very short hair, and the show's producers decided that Mrs. Brady couldn't have such short hair. The solution: Put an absolutely awful looking wig on her until it grows out. Also of note, the first six episodes were all shot at once, mostly out of sequence, which helps explain the puzzling order in which they were aired. To those of you who have given one star reviews, phooey on you! If you don't like it, DON'T WATCH IT!!! If you really want to use your brain, turn off all of the other 128 channels and read a book!!! This is not Shakespeare, it is just 22 minutes per episode of harmless good natured fluff. You will not convince me that 99% of the crap that passes for a sitcom these days is any more entertaining or intelligent, so get off your high horse. And a few points for John Q. - 1. Learn to spell. 2. The actors did work again and did not have major drug, alcohol, or pregnancy problems. They may not have been huge stars but they did continue to work. 3. It is not Hollywood's (whoever that may be) job to raise kids, it is their parent's job. Acting on television is a business, and just like any other business, people come and go. 4. All in the Family and MASH were great shows, but it was Sanford and Son that eventually knocked the Bradys off the air.

Great to see Brady Bunch released on DVD! The picture and audio quality of this set is excellant, add a new dimension to the show! Highly recommended!!!

I watched Brady Bunch when it was part of ABC's classic Friday night line-up and over the years in syndication. It's great to see the "In Color" slide before the opening theme, just like the network run and early syndication, and the original Paramount closing logo from that era.

Also, the commmentary tracks and featurette are very interesting and fun!

The Brady Bunch has been dismissed as kitsch...etc by too many tv critics. The plots are relatively simplistic, but the real charm of this 1969-1974 show is how it comforted my (and subsequent) generations. Remarriage (for whatever reason) was not the worst thing in the world.

The first season (1969-1970) has 24 episodes.

The pilot 'the wedding' is really nice. The wedding day shennanigans of Fluffy (the girls cat) and Tiger (the boys dog) do not prevent the ceremony from going on. Carol wears a then-traditional 'second marriage' non-white dress during the ceremony. Immediately after the pets crash the wedding ceremony, we see Mike (Robert Reed) and Carol (Florence Henderson) relating to all of the kids and dealing with all of the kids as being their own. This means that both parents loved all the Brady Bunch kids.

Even when Cindy's (Susan Olsen) Kitty Karyall later went missing (and Cindy drove everybody in the family nuts during the search process) this family sticks with each other.

Alice (Ann B. Davis) had lived with the Brady men, but also moves into the family. In "Alice doesn't live here anymore" she learns that she is an indispensable source of advice. With six active kids in this house, she is an indispensable source of wisdom and an extra eyes/ears/hands.

The Bradys face a mini-measles epidemic when all of the kids come down with this illness. The female doctor Carol calls is Marion Ross (who would later become famous as "Mrs. C" in the 1970's megahit "Happy Days"). Mike also calls his own doctor (a man). Because I am among the generation of Americans who has never had measles, this episode was very interesting.

I really like how a running theme throughout this season is the family having to adjust itself to 'new faces' and their 'new habits'. Cindy has to decide which parent to invite to her school play in "Eeenie, meenie, mommy, daddy" and the Brady Kids negotiate their living space in "A clubhouse is not a home"

All is worked out though because the kids eventually decide they like living together.

In "To move or not to move" the Brady kids pool their collective talents together to create 'ghosts' which scare prospective buyers away from their one-bathroom for six kids home. In future episodes/seasons we do not hear anything else about the attempt to move into a bigger home or the kids desire for more bathroom space.

More hijinks would follow in subsequent seasons.