Thursday, October 28, 2010

Here's a Story . . . of a Family Named Brady . . .

As kids,  my sister and I would often come home from school, plop ourselves down in front of the boob tube, and watch one of our favorite reruns, The Brady Bunch.

Picture from connect.in.com
What?

Stop laughing.

You know you watched it too.

We would watch as Jan felt shunned as the middle child, as Peter's voice changed, as the whole family got locked in an Old West jail cell, and as Greg battled a bewitched Tiki necklace on Hawaii.  Even though we had a close knit family, I know sis and I wondered what it would have been like to have brothers to antagonize and 6 kids to play with every day.  It seemed like the Brady home was one big play date where the kids sold shampoo that caused hair to turn green, and  they washed clothes with too much laundry soap creating a suds fest only a college student at a dark, smelly bar could dream about.

Seriously.

It was family life nirvana.


Looking back though . . . I have some serious problems with the Bunch.


Picture courtesy Brady Bunch Shrine.

For example,  Alice was the Brady's housekeeper and part of the family.  Why did Alice have to wear that ridiculous uniform all the time.  Was it a job requirement?  Was it a turn on for Mr. Brady?  (Scratch that!  I just remembered that Mr. Brady turned out to be gay, so I am fairly certain that Alice was not his type.)

Hmmm.

Or what about the fact that the entire Brady clan calls their housekeeper by her first name, Alice, (duh!) but Alice had to refer to mom and dad as Mr. and Mrs. Brady?

Isn't that a little snobby?






Picture from Brady Bunch Shrine
 And, what about Mrs. Brady?  As a housewife, what exactly does she do?   Alice cooks.  Alice cleans.  And Mrs. Brady does . . . anyone? Anyone?   If memory serves (and more often than not, it doesn't),  I remember her sitting at her kitchen table, sporting that mullet (YIKES!),  drinking a cup of coffee while Alice prepped dinner.

Now that I think about it,  Mrs. Brady had it pretty good. 

I wish I had an Alice.





Picture from Brady Bunch Shrine
 Finally, my thoughts wandered to the Brady kids, and now that I am a parent myself,  I wonder,  how in the world were those kids sooooooo squeaky clean?  Yes, the kids do get into trouble here and there, but never anything serious, and never any trouble that real kids get into these days.  Where was the trip to the principal's office?  Where was the sneaking out of the house?  Where was the sarcasm or backtalk of the teenage years? 

Nowhere!  That's where!

Maybe, on second thought, I should get the episodes on DVD to show to my own brood.  I think I'd much rather deal with kid that throws a football at his sister's nose than a kid that knows how to text better than I do.



And hubs, if you are reading?

My birthday is in a few days and I would really like . . . an Alice.

Just sayin'.


I am linking to Mama Kat's this week!  Hop on over and visit!! :)

17 comments:

  1. followed you over from SITs Roll Call....hilarious post. now i want an Alice too. for reals, but i won't make her wear the uniform...she should be comfortable when she is cooking and cleaning for me.

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  2. ha ha! Me too, I want an Alice to I can sit around drinking coffee while my perfectly dressed kids behave

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  3. Ha ha! Love this! Those Brady kids turned out to be a bunch of hoodlums in real life what with Marcia being a drug addict/whore and Greg sleeping with Mrs. Brady. Jan dropped off the face of the earth and Peter married that horrible girl from America's Next Top Model. Ugh.

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  4. Found your link via Cecelia Winsesap's page.

    LOVED watching the Brady Bunch - but yeah, why didn't Alice get to call the adults by their first names? Even the KIDS called her "Alice," instead of Mrs./Miss/Ms. Alice, or whatever her last name was. Maybe the uniform was a turn-on for MRS. Brady?

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  5. Goodness, I'd love an Alice too!!
    Stopped in from Mama Kat's.

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  6. LOL! I want an Alice, too! Then I'd have plenty of time to drink coffee and blog all day! :)

    Stopped by from Mama Kat's!

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  7. Yes! I think an Alice would be better than a sister wife.

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  8. I want an Alice too! Love the Brady Bunch and your post! =)

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  9. Yes, yes, yes....I want an Alice for your birthday too! My hubs and I are "almost" the Brady Bunch. I have daughters, he has two sons and we got married! But, I don't have an Alice...but with 4 kids, I need one!

    Those kids were a bit too much though, remember the matching outfits and the singing and dancing?!? Too funneeee... Thanks for bringing back the memories!

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  10. Now I want an Alice as well. That would just be wonderful.

    Wasn't there also only one bathroom? How did that work? My husband and I have issues sharing our bathroom, and there are only two of us.

    Stopping by from Mama Kat's

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  11. If I'd have had an Alice, I could have watched the show... but, I want an Alice, now!... Thanks for the memories....

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  12. Me too, I so want an Alice! If I had the money I would totally budget an Alice in. A girl can dream right? :)

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  13. Forgot to tell you:
    The Mom Chef tagged me with eight tortuous questions, that I've answered, and now I can torture you and seven other of my blogging friends with eight new questions. You'll find it all here on my other blog, Rockin' Chair Reflections,http://bit.ly/9c2n9T.

    Looking forward to your answers!

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  14. See what you started? Everyone wants an Alice, now! Including me! Until this moment, I was having trouble coming up with a Christmas list to give my husband.. and now I know what I want.. an Alice. Hilarious post!

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  15. I enjoyed your recollections of the Brady Bunch, and I, too, want an Alice.

    What? You don't like mullets?

    I came over from Mama Kat's.

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  16. Maybe the kept Alice on because Sam the butcher would give her free meat? But you are right. Ms Brady was seriously lazy. She had 6 kids. Where was all the laundry. Seriously???? Where was it because I only have five and there isn't a room in my house that doesn't either have clean or dirty laundry somewhere in it.

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