The Middle Boy

June 25th, 2017 by Proprietor

Lack of personality kid. Peter Brady was often overlooked, but did not take on neurosis like Jan. Living in the shadow of Johnny Bravo does tend to make one feel a bit timid. Peter’s biggest problem was his enthusiasm got in the way of his ability.

From the start, Peter threw his heart and soul into something only to be crushed. Peter was not in competition like his younger brother Bobby, he was not trying to prove himself, he was trying to be successful. Peter could not sing like Greg, his athletic skills were lacking, he was hard working, only if things interested him, but lacked competency. Sometimes he took advantage of opportunity to a point of laziness. Because he was the middle child, not much was expected of him, but he wanted to succeed to a point where he was taken advantage of by his brothers. Even joining the Sunflower Girls to prove no point except it was a dumb idea for a boy to join a girls club.

Peter never had the gender conflict with Jan that Greg and Bobby had with Marcia and Cindy. Peter was even supportive of Jan in her endeavors to step out of the shadows of her older sibling, to a point where his own reputation might be tarnished. When Jan ran for the most popular girl in school, did not think that was an elected office, but in the Brady world it had to be official, Peter ran her campaign. Then Jan took full advantage, and Peter looked bad.

When it came to work ethic, no one had more than Peter, except he did not really have competence and once he figured he no longer had to prove himself, laziness kicked in. Three times he tried to get a job, and managed to do so. Why he did not just go to Sam for a delivery boy job like Greg did, and eventually Bobby, who knows, maybe Sam saw through him. First Peter worked as a bicycle repair man, which failed, due to incompetence. Then Peter got a job as an ice cream server, which he lost due to his taking advantage of Marcia’s generosity. Peter figured he did not have to work, because Marcia would protect him, he was wrong. Eventually he ended up becoming a pizza delivery boy.

Peter liked girls. His first major trauma involved girls. Eventually he proved to be a real ladies man to a point where he had to draft his identical twin to handle two dates made on the same night. This bit of creative editing had been done before when Alice had her identical cousin Sergeant Emma take over for a week. Christopher Knight played both Peter and Arthur. Arthur falls in love with Jan immediately. Guy has good tastes.

Peter’s friendship with his brothers vacillated between Greg and Bobby constantly. Eventually because Greg operated himself from the rest of the Brady clan to live in the attic, Peter bonded with Bobby. Though Peter went over board after Bobby saved his life. As always, Peter was taken advantage of when Bobby pushed things too far. His closeness with his sisters was somewhat limited to the empathy he had with Jan. Peter rarely interacted with Cindy or Marcia.

The show ended, Peter went on to join the air force, and have women issues. The woman he loved used him to get a promotion. Finally Peter dumped his more successful fiancé for family. His loyalties came through when Bobby was in a race car accident, and lost the use of his legs. Then the sequels ended.

Christopher Knight would revive his fame somewhat by participating in a Celebrity Reality show on VH1, the Surreal Life. There he proved that the ladies man attitude was his. Dating and marrying a very hot model, Adrianne Curry, and spawning a spin off show, My Fair Brady. But, like Peter, success was limited, and the marriage ended.

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