 "Uncut & no commercials" | 2008-04-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2G2VYBWSLVHM0 |
| How great it was to see all of the Brady's again without a commercial every 5 minutes. That was the first time in years that I saw the whole complete Christmas episode. On TV they cut half of it out. I highly reccomend this video for all of you Brady enthusiastic fans. If only we could return to the time period of wholesom families again. |
| |
| "Uncut no commercials" | 2008-04-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2G2VYBWSLVHM0 |
| How great it was to see all of the Brady's again without a commercial every 5 minutes. That was the first time in years that I saw the whole complete Christmas episode. On TV they cut half of it out. I highly reccomend this video for all of you Brady enthusiastic fans. If only we could return to the time period of wholesom families again. |
| |
 "Sappy, schmultzy, silly but still endearing" | 2007-10-22 |
| - Reviewed By marktheshark1957 |
Ahhh, the Bradys. How can we ever forget that lovable textbook sitcom family that made us laugh, cry and throw-up! They were the last of the fairy-tale families from Cleaverville and Nelsontown before Norman threw the Bunkers in our faces.
Created by Sherwood Schwartz, he came up with the idea in the mid-sixties but decided to sit on it. Then the success of Lucille Ball's film Yours, Mine & Ours (based on real life family of 20 kids the Beardsleys) came, and Schwartz went full steam ahead.
The pilot starts off with the wedding of two single parents which is never explained whether they're divorced or widowed. I can imagine they're of course widowed being how divorce was still a touchy subject especially for a sugar dripping show like this.
Florence Henderson's Carol (soon-to-be-Brady) Martin didn't exactly have the sex appeal of previous TV moms like Laura Petrie or Samantha Stevens, her face looks like it was squashed in a vice, but with the mini-skirts in style then, she sure had a great set of legs and fine caboose to boot. Then there's closet gay Robert Reed's all wise, all knowing and all even-tempered architect Mike Brady to round out the parental duties. The kids? Well, they're just a bunch of unknowns fresh off of commercials, modeling or whatever that can't act worth a mosquito's butt. Aside from the lack of acne, masturbation, drugs and drinking, they were pretty typical kids. And finally we have comic relief from veteran funny lady Ann B. Davis as the goofy but sincere maid Alice.
For five years the show went through the typical family thoroughfare of raising six kids without any political or social commentary. Sex didn't exist, drugs didn't exist, rock 'n roll barely existed and bathrooms without toilets DID exist! But it was this syrupy phoniness that made the show so endearing that it would make you laugh at it and not with it.
Today, the show has become a cult phenomenon and been revisited in many ways from reunion specials (including a terrible short-lived variety hour in the seventies), spinoffs, parodies and threatrical remakes. The surviving cast members have been doing nothing but living off poking fun at it and a good job doing it too.
So, get some milk and cookies and pop in a disc and get ready to laugh, cry or throw-up. Don't expect to see Reed in the final episode, he was in such a riff with Schwartz that he refused to particapate. I think it was that episode when one of the kids gets in trouble, I don't know. |
| |
| "Great family show!" | 2007-10-11 |
| - Reviewed By psjmllc |
I watched the BB growing up when i was 8-12ish. I love it then and love it now.
My 3 and 6 yr old girls love it. I am going to get season 2 for Christmas 07.
There is simply nothing "of quality" on t.v. anymore and this is perfect for them... (and me too!) haha! |
| |
| "Classy not corny" | 2007-09-23 |
| - Reviewed By mza1092 |
| Do you have little kids, were you born somewhere between 1962 and 1972 and think that today's children's television programs are tacky at best? Then here's a possible solution - something we've been doing for the past year. Buy the entire Gilligan's Island and Brady Bunch series and play one episode before the kiddie's bed time. Mr. Schwartz got it right with both series - a combination of comedy, morals, ethics and team work that is frequently labled as corny by today's standards but I think will strike a chord with the offspring of the between Boomer and X generation, like myself. |
| |
 "Discovering the Brady bunch" | 2007-09-16 |
| - Reviewed By docteurlembert |
Being french , this series has never been on french Tv, I am glad to discover it on DVD
It' s fun, very fresh, no violence no sex for a change, very much like the 60' s series
The material is good, the image seems to have been restored, remastered!
Very good moments with this family made for the small screen, even 38 years later. |
| |
| "The Brady Bunch Lives Forever" | 2007-05-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3CWPEOANMKD4J |
| I've just ordered the First Season of The Brady Bunch..for my granddaughter. She watched the two-parter Hawaii vacation episode with me a few weeks ago and was hooked (she's [...]). She made me promise to get her more episodes to watch, so I guess it's true, it IS a nice little show that will never die. I have to admit, I'll be watching the episodes with her. |
| |
| "How It All Began For Television's Much Loved "Blended", Family" | 2007-03-11 |
| - Reviewed By novarro |
Wow what to say about the Brady's! I literally grew up with this family every afternoon after school and now all these years later they still hold a wonderfully warm place in my heart which I hope never dies. Premiering in September 1969 this series was the brain child of Sherwood Schwartz who of course also created the classic "Gilligan's Island" another of my all time favourites. The series for the time was really quite unique in the respect that it began with two families being run by widowed parents coming together to form one family, the Brady's. Second marriages until then were extremely rare on televison and that gave the series, especially in its early days many great opportunities to show the troubles, adjustments, and joys of two different families coming together as one. Even though I love all five seasons of the show my favourite without a doubt is this first season where the children obviously because of their age were at their cutest, and episodes did make an attempt to show the adjustments the two families went through when they joined together. Season One for me is also special because it had more of a 1960's look to it still before it took off on its super groovy course once it moved into the 1970's.
One of the really strong points of "The Brady Bunch", was the excellent group of performers in the cast who were all first rate in my belief. Robert Reed and Florence Henderson as Mike and Carol Brady made really likeable and warm parents and had a terrific chemistry together that made them seem like a husband and wife coping with six children. Henderson in particular has a number of very touching moments in various Season One episodes as she takes on the mothering of the three Brady boys who had lost their own mother. And who could forget the totally wonderful Anne B. Davis? This veteran television comedy performer has always been my favourite Brady, (well her surname on the show was Nelson but to me she was always a member of the family) and as the wisecracking, ever bubbly housekeeper Alice she was always a total joy in each episode and she often got the funniest lines. I also have great affection for all six actors playing the Brady children on the show and it was great how as the series progressed and the children grew older each slowly developed their own distinct personality much the same as real life children naturally do. Long crucified by the critics "The Brady Bunch", has proven all the skeptics wrong by never leaving the airwaves or viewers affections and it is now hopefully charming new generations of viewers via the season by season release of the show onto DVD.
"The Brady Bunch - The Complete First Season", DVD contains all twenty four first season episodes plus the original pilot "The Honeymoon". What a joy these nostalgic TV time capsules are for weary 21st Century television viewers like myself! Accused of being corny, and unrealistic, I feel that is an unfair dismissal of this show which I've always believed presented positive role models where family members were cared for and always encouraged to talk about their problems. I have many favourite episodes among this season but some of the standouts for me are;
"The Honeymoon" (Pilot), where we see Mike and Carol's wedding and some unexpected mayhem involving a run away fluffy and Tiger and a doomed wedding cake that has an unfortunate close encounter with Mike !
"Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", where Alice, after encouraging the boys to start taking their troubles to their new mother, begins to feel unneeded and decides to leave only to be stopped from leaving by all the Bradys who together devise a plan to show her how much she is really valued.
"Every Boy Does It Once", where Bobby has a nightmare that Carol will turn out to be a bad Stepmother like in the movie "Cinderella", and decides to run away from home only to be stopped by Carol who shows her real love for her new son by telling him that the only "steps", in the Brady house are those on the stairs.
"A Camping We Will Go", where we see the first of the famous Brady holidays. Later memorable holidays would take the Bradys to the Grand Canyon and Hawaii in later seasons. This filmed on location episode puts the boys against the girls when they dont want any "females", along on their annual "male only", fishing trip.
"The Voice of Christmas", (my favourite) where Carol loses her voice in the lead up to the family's first Christmas together when she will be singing at Church on Christmas morning and its finally up to Cindy's strong belief in the true meaning of Christmas to save the day.
"The Brady Bunch", can certainly be viewed as the last gasp of television innocence from a simpler time however its likeable characters, familiar and yes perhaps sentimental view of life (nothing wrong with that!) still appeals to audiences 33 years after the show left the airwaves in prime time. As Florence Henderson once said in a interview discussing the eternal life of the Brady's, "Nothing seems to be able to keep this little show down". So true! And now we can enjoy the adventures of television's first truly blended family in these beautifully presented DVD box sets. What more could Brady buffs like myself ask for! Enjoy! |
| |
| "Kids love it!" | 2006-11-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A22736DBI1MYSE |
| While I purchased this for my husband, our kids absolutely love it. My husband and I both grew up watching the show and love reliving the episodes. We plan to eventually buy the entire series -- a great gift for hard-to-shop for people. |
| |
| "Here's the story of a lovely DVD set" | 2006-09-18 |
| - Reviewed By winter_bunny |
There are very few television shows that have any staying power like the Brady Bunch. A television show that centered on the complicated lives of two parents getting married bringing with them each three kids from previous marriages. The hilarity ensues as the Brady household is quickly filled with six kids, a housekeeper, and a dog. The series avoided the common mistake of using current references and issues and stuck to the ageless problems encountered by growing kids. This formula gave the Brady Bunch a timeless quality that holds up today and makes for very wholesome family entertainment. The Brady Bunch may have only aired for five seasons, but it became the subject of countless spin-offs, parodies and look-a-likes. Many adults have fond memories of growing up with the Brady Bunch, and it is referenced continually in pop culture, giving it a special place in television history.
Paramount Television Collection continues their catalog releases with the popular Brady Bunch, but this time they have included a welcome change with the addition of a couple of extras. A featurette, as well as three episodes containing commentaries, are bonus features found on this set. All 25 first season episodes are included in this set and clock in at about 10 hours and 52 minutes according to the box. A common inclusion to all the Paramount Television releases recently, are multiple promos for various other sets. The promos are for Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy and MacGyver. Each promo has a chapter index at the beginning to facilitate jumping to the main menu. The main menu itself is a static screen with a very colorful style common to the late '60s. The selection icon tends to get lost in the background on the main menu until you begin to navigate.
Packaging:
The set comes in a box with the 9-panel opening of the show recreated with a lenticular cover on the front. The lenticular cover is a neat touch that works quite well in good light. Inside the box are two slim cases each containing two single sided discs. The episode descriptions and original airdates for both discs are found on the back of each slim case. The artwork is full of screen captures and wonderful moments from the series, and the disc silk screens are very colorful and feature two of each characters' from the show.
Commentary Tracks
Creator/Producer Sherwood Schwartz provides commentary on the first episode entitled "The Wedding." His commentary lacks in any extensive detail with regards to this episode, and he tends to repeat things mentioned in the featurette. Sherwood Schwartz sticks to what he knows and talks about producing a series.
The commentary tracks on episode 8 "a-Camping We Will Go" and episode 21 "The Hero" are provided by Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter) and Susan Olsen (Cindy). These commentary tracks make up for the first one with the enthusiasm and energy of the three actors. The actors reminisce about everything from the costumes and props, to inside details about certain scenes and neat little tidbits of information about the episodes. These commentaries are well worth listening to for an inside perspective on the creation of the show and its impact on the actors.
The Brady Bunch - Coming Together Under One Roof (17:29)
This is a 17 1/2 minute featurette that gives a broad perspective of the show and its creation. It provides a good intro to the series and is a welcome addition to this set for younger viewers and new viewers to the series. I look forward to seeing whether there was more material shot during the interviews that we will see on the next season sets.
|
| |
Expedited Available
