MovieChat Forums > The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) Discussion > This movie would have worked better in 1...

This movie would have worked better in 1975

posted 13 years ago by henrimaine
10 replies | jump to latest

Overall, I think it's a great movie. A bit too mean, maybe, but the general idea of showing how weird and unrealistic the original Brady Bunch was, is interesting.

However, some commentators here have said that the main idea of the movie was contrasting the "sunny seventies" with the "grim nineties". I don't think that's true. The original Brady series ran in 1969-1974. I think the kind of parody of Brady Bunch would have worked already in 1975. Already in the 1970s, the Brady family was out of place and not quite realistic. Actually the movie would have worked better if it had come out in 1975 because then people would have had fresh memories of the TV show; even the original actors could have been used.

Or does anybody think that this movie was not possible in the 1970s?

[–] jaylovenyc 13 years ago

I just saw this again on cable the other day. I don't think this film would have worked better back in '75. Believe it or not The Brady Bunch wasn't all that popular during it's original run on ABC. They just got by in the ratings. It wasn't until the '90's where a nostalgia for all things '70s came about. Remember VH1 shows like "8 Track Flashback" and reruns of "American Bandstand" from the 70s?

As you said, the Brady family was "out of place and not quite realistic" back in the 70's. So it was looked upon as being corny back in the day. But as the years went by people seemed to warm to it. Perhaps due to our changing world, people looked for a time where things were "simpler" I guess. Sort of like "Leave It To Beaver"

But getting back to the topic at hand, no I don't think this would have worked in '75 because it was still the 70s so the premise of a family being "stuck in another time" wouldn't have worked really. The style of humor in the 70s and 90s were different as well. If they had made a film at the time my theory is that it would have probably been something like what you saw on the Brady Bunch Variety Hour. Something with continuity. I don't think they would have started from scratch because it was too early and too fresh in peoples mind. Far as a parody goes, I don't think Schwartz would have been open to it at the time either.

[–] hifijohn 10 years ago

actually many shows like gilligans island and star trek were not popular in first run they only became popular in reruns.

[–] fentress 12 years ago

However, some commentators here have said that the main idea of the movie was contrasting the "sunny seventies" with the "grim nineties". I don't think that's true. ... Already in the 1970s, the Brady family was out of place and not quite realistic.

Technically that's correct. But you have to consider that people would accept things on TV that they wouldn't in real life. As you say, even in the 70's the Brady's were unrealistic in comparison to real life in that time. However, in the 70's people would still accept kitchy, innocent, unreal scenarios as part of the TV universe. People made the adjustment in their minds. I think back then people would watch something like the Brady Bunch and say, "Yeah, I know it's pretty unreal, but it's only TV." Nowadays people expect TV to be more gritty and mirror reality more.

[–] cool_dudez11 11 years ago

How was the Brady Bunch unrealistic/out of place in the 70s, during their original run? I didn't get that vibe. They seemed very well-liked by friends and weren't looked at weirdly in public/at school. Marcia, Jan, and Greg were popular in high school, and Bobby/Peter/Cindy seemed relatively well-liked as well.

So, how were the original Brady Bunch so out of place/unrealistic? The show seemed to portray the 70s well.

Andrew

[–] fentress 11 years ago

What you're saying is that the characters weren't out of place within the fictional world of the show. And you're right. What the OP means is that the TV program did not accurately reflect the real world (i.e. the world you and I actually live in) in its day.

[–] jeffnova 11 years ago

I remember the Brady Bunch from reruns in the late 70s / early 80s and I wished life was really like that. I tried to get my mom to keep our milk in a pitcher and wondered why we didn't have a live-in housekeeper or receive allowances. I even tried to get my mom to buy generic products since they never used name brands in the Brady household.

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[–] henrimaine 10 years ago

In the 70's people would still accept kitchy, innocent, unreal scenarios as part of the TV universe ... Nowadays people expect TV to be more gritty and mirror reality more.

That's an interesting point. So the Brady's were unrealistic for the real world of the '70s but not for the TV world of the '70s. That point could make for an interesting literary study. But if you are correct, then a movie like The Brady Bunch Movie would have been especially effective in 1975. That would have been a real shock for the viewers of that time. This movie would have given the viewers an overdose of reality for which they were apparently not used to in the '70s.

[–] 10 years ago

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