Another festive TV special that drew the ire of devoted fans is 1988's A Very Brady Christmas. My knowledge of America’s favourite family going into this is pretty limited, save from a few viewings of spoofy The Brady Bunch Movie. Still, I'm aware that the show was mega cheese on toast and followed that classic ‘60s sitcom formula where any problem is easily solved as long as you've got a whole load of zesty get-up-and-go and a family that cares.
By the time this festive reunion special aired there had already been multiple attempts to bring America's favourite family back. This one's a bit odd because the actress that played youngest daughter Cindy decided not to take part, so Jennifer Runyon, instantly recognisable from her cameo in Ghostbusters takes over. Not that it affects my enjoyment of the film but this must have been jarring for fans of the show to see a beloved character replaced, while bearing witness to the rest of the Brady kids all grown up, sporting big hair and bushy moustaches and such.
It is weird to watch this without the traditional laugh track that normally accompanies sitcoms and it really makes the naffness of most of the gags stand out more. The writing is pretty lazy too, straining to find a reason to have loveable housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis) show up for Christmas 14 years after the show ended.
All the Brady brood have problems that are, of course, magically solved just hours after arriving home. Marcia (Maureen McCormack)'s husband has been laid off from his toy company, yet she seems not too bothered, obviously aware that the magic of a Brady Christmas can fix anything.
Peter (Christopher Knight)'s hesitant to marry his hot missus because he's her boss but, again, the family help him come to his senses leading to the obligatory Christmas Dinner proposal.
Much more interestingly, Bobby (Mike Lookinland) has been fibbing to everyone about going to college when he’s really been training to be a racecar driver. Mum and dad disapprove but they’re proud anyway and everything’s cool. Simple. Notably, in spin-off show The Bradys, Bobby ended up paralysed following a car crash. Maybe mum and dad should have been harder on him.
Insanely, the last 15 minutes are taken up by a wholly improbable but gripping section where, on Christmas morning, a building collapses and dad Mike, the architect, rolls up his sleeves to go in and help. It’s unclear why the architect has to go on a one-man rescue mission but I’m sure glad he does as it really livens up the movie. He then gets trapped and most brilliantly, wife Carol (Florence Henderson) saves the day by leading the onlookers in a sing-song of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ that somehow causes him to be freed (SPOILER!!!). It’s saccharine, it’s dumb, it’s the goddamn Brady Bunch. What were you expecting?
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