I was reading a lament about modern sitcoms and the author mentioned The Brady Bunch, that iconic family sitcom of the 70s. It reminded me of a conversation I had a few days ago with some friends.

We grew up with The Brady Bunch, a blended family that managed to blend within only two episodes, and rarely if ever, had the usual problems of blended families. In fact, the natural mother of the boys and the natural father of the girls (we assumed deceased) were never mentioned except for one brief scene in the first episode. The only rivalries were between the genders, and were soon resolved - always in under 30 minutes. Of course, there was always the sibling rivalry between Jan and Marcia as Jan struggled against her perceived invisibility in the shadow of her older sister, leading to the well-known cry: “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia”.

The show was hokey, unrealistic and didn’t really try very hard to be otherwise as we watched the boys play football on the astroturf back lawn. So why is it so addictive?

The brilliance of 1995’s The Brady Bunch Movie was in placing this square 70s family in the 90s without changing a thing about them. The cast was brilliant in their portrayals of the characters and those of us who watched the original series were those who laughed the most.

It is easy now as adults to disdain the simplistic plots and innocent fun but have you ever accidentally come across the show while channel surfing? Have you noticed that you can’t seem to go any further? It’s like an obsession. For some reason you are transfixed and must watch the entire episode. I was remarking on this phenomenon to some friends, aged 50 and 55 and they both related having the same experience.

I wonder if it is a universal experience for those of our generation? We never seem to get over The Bradys. What about you?

For those who never get enough Brady Bunch, here’s a few links:

The Brady Bunch Theme Song

The Bradys sing on Amateur Night

The Brady Bunch Episode Guide