I call this show garbage not because I hate vintage TV programming; indeed, I adore such baby-boomer shows as "Batman" and "Gilligan's Island." No, the reason why I detest this show is because it's, well, simply put, stupid.
The atmosphere of the show doesn't make sense, considering the era in which it was made and the sociopolitical climate in which it flourished. Thanks to this program, people today seem to think that the 1970s was a time when lots of happy, loving people wore colorful clothes and smiled at each other all day long. In reality, however, it was nothing like that. At the time this show aired, the United States of America was coming apart. There were violent antiwar demonstrations, race riots, outrageous sex and violence in the movies, etc. "The Brady Bunch" blithely ignored all this, coming off instead as a sort of throwback to Fifties shows like "Father Knows Best." I realize the need for the pop culture to provide a little escapist entertainment during that time of turmoil, but "Bunch" overdid it a tad. If Sherwood Schwartz intended the show to be a parody of bland Fifties sitcoms, I think he worked a little too hard at it and ended up making it - ironically - into exactly that which it was trying to spoof.
Whenever I think of "The Brady Bunch," the far superior "All in the Family" always comes to mind. Norman Lear's cutting-edge dramedy tackled all the burning issues of the day: rape, bigotry, losing one's job, hate crimes, etc.; "The Brady Bunch" addressed none of these themes. For this very reason, "All in the Family" is a much better sitcom than this one and thus deserves to be lionized and held up as a prime example of masterful Seventies programming, rather than this tripe. I hope the Bradys eventually fade into oblivion, freeing up some room in the cultural topography for Archie Bunker and his beloved chair.
The atmosphere of the show doesn't make sense, considering the era in which it was made and the sociopolitical climate in which it flourished. Thanks to this program, people today seem to think that the 1970s was a time when lots of happy, loving people wore colorful clothes and smiled at each other all day long. In reality, however, it was nothing like that. At the time this show aired, the United States of America was coming apart. There were violent antiwar demonstrations, race riots, outrageous sex and violence in the movies, etc. "The Brady Bunch" blithely ignored all this, coming off instead as a sort of throwback to Fifties shows like "Father Knows Best." I realize the need for the pop culture to provide a little escapist entertainment during that time of turmoil, but "Bunch" overdid it a tad. If Sherwood Schwartz intended the show to be a parody of bland Fifties sitcoms, I think he worked a little too hard at it and ended up making it - ironically - into exactly that which it was trying to spoof.
Whenever I think of "The Brady Bunch," the far superior "All in the Family" always comes to mind. Norman Lear's cutting-edge dramedy tackled all the burning issues of the day: rape, bigotry, losing one's job, hate crimes, etc.; "The Brady Bunch" addressed none of these themes. For this very reason, "All in the Family" is a much better sitcom than this one and thus deserves to be lionized and held up as a prime example of masterful Seventies programming, rather than this tripe. I hope the Bradys eventually fade into oblivion, freeing up some room in the cultural topography for Archie Bunker and his beloved chair.