Brady Movies

December 27th, 2017 by

After the Brady Bunch had moved to syndication glory, and failed to relaunch in various incarnations, Lloyd Schwartz agreed to sign on to do a movie, as long as it was a parody of the show, and not a period piece or updating of the show. In order for it to be a parody, it meant making the Brady Bunch anachronistic. The bunch would be a family stuck in the early 70s time period, but in a modern time of the movies, twenty years later. The characters would be more cartoony than the original characters as well, even more extreme in their personal foibles to some extent.

The Brady Bunch Movie did somewhat well, but it did not do well with casual fans, whom were expecting essentially a period piece or remake. The actors playing the children were not dead ringers, but almost too cartoony to make them seem fake. The movie had central plot stolen from the spinoff show Brady’s, and was twisted. A county commissioner knew of a highway project that was going through the Brady neighborhood. The Brady House would be very lucrative if someone could by it cheap, then turn it over for full value when the highway came through. Since the Brady’s were humble and honest people not hip with the modern world, the crooked commissioner could use legal methods and foreclose the house, put it up for auction, and get the house for cheap.

Throughout the movie, certain events lifted from the Brady Bunch show were played out. Jan went from neurotic to almost psychotic in her pathological hatred for Marcia. Greg seemed to be as girl crazy and attractive as ever, but a dunce when it came to the more modern sexual moors of young women. Marcia was similar in her naivety. Peter seemed like he was gullible. Bobby and Cindy seemed bratty. In the movie, Marcia promised to get Davy Jones to play at the dance, and delivered. Though it was humorous to see him performing, and only the teachers apparently enjoying his music. Then the Brady’s discover they had been cheated, manage to get the back taxes to pay for their house, and race across town to get to the auction, with the help of a car thief. The Brady’s succeed, and keep their house. Ann B. Davis makes an appearance as a truck driver who picks up a runaway Jan. The Alice and Sam in the Movie were two oversexed middle aged people whom made a lot of jokes revolving around meat.

After the first movie, a possible sequel was debated. Eventually settling on the Brady Bunch Hawaii movie. This was more cleaver, and interesting. The premise was a background horse statute was actually a very rare antique worth millions. A collector wanting to get the statue for cheap, at first tries to buy the statue at a charity auction, which Carol donated the statue to. Somehow the statue ends up back at the Brady residence. So, the collector decides to turn to thievery. Posing as Carol’s long lost husband, whom was assumed dead, because he was the Professor on Gilligan’s Island, Carol is torn between Mike and her ex-husband. She is spirited away to Hawaii where the thief hopes to get the statue signed over to him in exchange for divorce papers. The Brady Bunch travel to Hawaii to rescue their mother.

While in Hawaii, Jan meets a boy, George Glass. It reverses the whole imaginary boyfriend routine. The boy is real, Jan sees him, is smitten, he is very wealthy, and everyone thinks Jan is making the boy up.

Eventually the ruse is discovered, and the thief is arrested. Carol sells the statue to an honest collector. The Brady’s donate the money to charity.

The third movie involving the Brady Bunch is the least interesting. In some ways it borrows Mike’s political career from the Brady’s sequel. The current president is running for reelection, is viewed as corrupt, and needs someone considered clean and honest as a running mate. Mike is an obscure city council man who is considered the ideal candidate. Mike becomes VP. Before the President is sworn in, he has to resign due to corruption. Mike is sworn in, and after petitioning congress, Carol is allowed to be his VP.

During their stay in the White House, Marcia throws a slumber party, the boys do their dirty work and attempt to even haunt the White House only to be haunted by the ghost of Lincoln. The true corrupt officials do not like the fact that Mike is actually popular, so arrange to have the family sealed in a bunker beneath the White House due to a nuclear war. Eventually the family realizes they have been tricked. Mike and his family escape the bunker, and reveal that there was an attempted coup.

Mike & Carol Brady became popular President and Vice President. The movie was not only a parody of the Brady Bunch, but in some ways a poke at the political system.

The Brady Movies involved an entire cast that looked somewhat like the children, but to some extent looked almost cartoony compared to the actual Brady Bunch. Alice looked nothing like Alice, and Mike & Carol seemed almost too exaggerated. Only Marcia seemed dead on, but different. Though the movies were intended to be parodies, the casting could have been more exact.

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