Brady Bunch: The Complete First Season DVD: Review By B. Alan Orange

"It's a Sunshine Day!"

Golly, I couldn't help but repeatedly sing this verse up and down the isles of Target as I rushed towards my impending purchase. Yes! After releasing the three big screen spoofs and the made-for-TV biopic Growing Up Brady, Paramount has finally decided to release the first year run of the original Brady Bunch series in all its day-glo glory.

I know what you're thinking. "Baby talk, baby talk!" That's all you hear when you listen to this rather juvenile junk-bucket of Pop viscera. The show was never quite known for its intelligence or its writing. When you think of the best sitcoms in the history of the medium, The Brady Bunch doesn't necessarily jump to the front of your mind. It's cult shtick, a novelty item that acts as a time capsule for that period in time. The early 70s. From the hair styles, to the wardrobes, to the laid back pastimes, nothing has ever captured and preserved the era quite like this thirty minute program has.

It never quite had the thick comedic grace of other shows in the same genre, but its effortless liability has thrust it into a group all its own. Since its inception in 1969, the show has never been off the air. Ever. It has always been around and accessible, which could lead the casual fan to leave it behind in Best Buy. I mean, why pay thirty bucks for something you can get for free on TvLand?

Right?

Oh, but the rabid Brady enthusiasts are going to sweep this one up in a heartbeat, leaving it to play on random in constant repeat mode. It's great having all 25 episodes together in order of their original air-dates. Syndicated schedules hardly ever follow any set order, and it's too easy to miss an episode here or there. That's why TV on DVD is so great...

But really, is there a person over the age of ten that hasn't seen every episode at least sixteen times? No, I didn't think so. And each episode contained on this set reads like a Best Hits Vol. 1. They're all chart topping singles. Just looking at the back of the sleeve right now, there's not one storyline I don't remember by heart.

The Brady's popularity has come in multiple waves of enthusiasm. Every few years or so, the show seems to be peeking at its popularity. Every day when I came home from school, it was on TV. When I was in high school, a rash of Novelty items included lunch boxes and T-shirts carrying the Brady Kids likenesses became the big thing. Then there was the popularity of the big screen movies which perfectly captured the Brady Vibe. Not to mention a rash of Brady Spin-Offs which have come at a constant rate since the Brady Bunch Variety Hour in the late 70s (which is available from Rhino). As far as I know, the Brady Bunch has never been out of my life. It's kind of like herpes (fun herpes), it'll never go away.

This first season is incredibly fun to go back through after not having seen it for a couple of years. The actors are all impeccable. They are what sell this, at times, incredibly mediocre idea. Say what you will, but there's not a rotten kid in the bunch. And, despite how much he may have loathed the show when it was originally being produced, Robert Reed is spectacular at reading such mundane lines. He kicks a certain type of life into a role that would have otherwise been wasted. So, yeah, the show's kind of dumb. Well, gosh darn it! I love it. And I'm happy to have it sitting on my shelf for ever, in all its digital magnificence.

I can't wait for season two, and its gradual, weird decline into strange fiction.

There are some fun commentaries included here. Creator Sherwood Schwartz shares his memories on the very first episode, and the stories he tells are ones we've heard a million times. But, you know what? I didn't mind hearing them again. Its kind of like ol' uncle Sherwood has come over for tales of yore and a pitcher of Kool-Aid. Same goes for the Brady Kid Commentaries. Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), and Susan Olsen (Cindy) talk over two different episodes. The first chat session comes on the show A-Camping We Will Go (don't even need to tell you what its about, do I?), and the second one comes on the super awesome episode The Hero (remember, where Peter saves the girl from the falling shelf, then throws himself a party?). Again, we've heard these three on numerous talk shows sharing their experiences, and this is just more of the same. It's a fun listen. The three of them together are having a blast, and their comments are pretty hilarious. At the very least, they're keen at being deprecating to one another in a heartwarming way.

There's one other special feature. It's a mini-featurette running almost a total of 18 minutes which goes through the entire history of the show. It is comprised mostly of talking head interviews and short clips from the show. Contributors are Sherwood, Williams, Knight, Olsen, and Mike Lookinland, who is mysteriously absent from the audio commentaries. There's not a trace of Florence, Anne B., Eve Plumb, or Maureen.

Surprisingly crisp for a sit-com from the early Seventies. I almost think this thing was shot on film. But I can't confirm that. It is presented in its original aspect ratio.

The show has been remastered in Dolby Digital. Each episode is also presented in its original mono soundtrack.

The cover work is iconic Brady imagery, repleate with an animated 3-D dipition of the nine square headshots. When you move the package, the heads seem to look around, kind of like a cheap Jesus postcard. Its awesome. Really ties the set together, and acts on the novelty of its era.

This is a cult favorite. It's also classic Americana. You already know damn well you're going to buy it. I'm not going to sway you either way. The set has some nice features, and its overall presentation is impeccable. I say, "Go for the thirty dollar purchase." Either that; or you can try to win won from Movieweb elsewhere on the site. (I had to pay for mine, darn those iffy jerks!)