First, let me establish that I am a Bradyphile. After a few child-specific shows (Sesame Street, The Electric Company, The Magic Garden), The Brady Bunch was my first great TV love. And it proved to be an enduring love.

If you weren’t around for TV in the '70s and early '80s, I don’t believe you can appreciate how frequently The Brady Bunch aired in syndication. One could watch it daily. And I did.

Over time, I developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the show. When my family moved to California in the '80s, I had a moment of truly pathetic excitement when I was watching one of the “Grand Canyon” episodes and realized that it was a different edit than my old station had aired — I was seeing a scene I had never seen before! I’ve watched the show in every incarnation and have seen stage versions, and every time I’ve gone to Hawaii, I’ve sent my brother a postcard of Diamond Head with the message, “That’s Diamond Head, dumbhead.”

So, when my brother sent me an article about an upcoming Brady Bunch musical, I read it warily. And then I quickly concluded it sounded like a very bad idea. Here’s the ill-advised plot:

"Through a misunderstanding, the Brady kids overhear a loud argument between their usually perfectly-in-love parents. The kids think their parents might be heading for a divorce and dig in to raise money to obtain marriage counseling for their woe-stricken parents. Greg operates a car service; Marcia dates for money; Peter and Jan put on magic shows; and Bobby and Cindy look for money in couches. Did you ever imagine what the Bradys might look like in a holding cell at the local police station? Somehow even Alice gets in some legal trouble for fraud. All the while Mike and Carol are desperately trying to have sex, something they have never done since they’ve always had six kids in the house and have never had any alone time."

The plot sounds pretty stupid to me, but that’s not really the problem. (I’ve waxed rhapsodic about Grease 2 a few too many times to make a compelling case that I’m above stupid plots.) The problem is that not only is it just tired to rehash and revisit The Brady Bunch, but there’s also just something inherently disrespectful and cheap — base, really — in this particular idea. And I’m a little surprised by how much it bugs me. … continue reading