June 6, 2013

BRADY WEEK!-Five Brady Life or Death Moments


For a light and fluffy show like The Brady Bunch was, there was an awful lot of life or death moments! Seriously, there are several episodes where the drama is the fact that a character or characters may not live through the experience. Here are five examples of what I am talking about.




#5.A falling ladder just misses killing Peter


In the beginning of this episode, Peter just barely misses being killed when a ladder falls. Bobby pushes Peter out of the way just in time. The rest of the episode is about Peter expressing his gratitude, until Bobby gets carried away and takes advantage. Bobby ends up locked in the closet and rescued by Peter. While not the same, it's enough to make the boys even. This isn't the first time Peter had trouble like this, in an earlier episode he saves a girl from being crushed under a bookcase. He is called a hero, and it goes right to his head.





#4.Bobby and Cindy lost in The Grand Canyon!


Yeah there was actually two choices for this one. In the first part of the episode the family is stranded in a ghost town with no food or water. This is the result of a lonely prospector who mistakenly thinks the family is after his fortune. He listens to Bobby of all people!  But the real drama comes in the second half. Bobby and Cindy go wandering off while the family is camping in the center oif the Grand Canyon. The two get lost, and the episode ends with family trying to search for the missing kids. They are found and eventually befriend a Native American boy.




#3.Greg and Bobby almost freeze to death in Sam's freezer


The plot of this episode involves Bobby feeling insecure about being short. Toward the end we find Greg working at Sam's butcher shop when Bobby arrives to pick up some meat. Bobby foolishly shuts the door, and since Sam couldn't be bothered to repair the meat freezer the door is locked, trapping them inside!  The two are lucky they don't freeze before Bobby is able to crawl out a window and call for help. And Sam is lucky Mike Brady didn't sue him.





#2.Mike almost dies in building cave in at the end of "A Very Brady Christmas"


Yeah this wasn't an episode but how could I not count this? The special is going along just fine until Mike gets a call. He needs to go check on a building that collapsed because two gaurds are stuck inside. Yes I leaving some details out but suffice to say that Mike ends up trapped inside! It looks like all hope is lost, until the family begins to sing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" which gives Mike the strength to escape.I never, ever understood why they needed that drama in that otherwise great little movie.




#1.Greg nearly drowns in Hawaii


Yeah you had to see this coming. This one was tough to watch as a kid. To be honest it isn't so easy as an adult. While in Hawaii the kids get a cursed tiki which brings bad luck to everyone who holds it. The worst happens to Greg, who wipes out during a surfing competition right into some coral! The end of the episode has the Brady's watching in horror as Greg is nowehere in sight! Thankfully the second episode quickly establishes he is ok, just a little banged up. By the way according to Barry Williams Greg's wipeout was a little to close for comfort, he actually got injured in the stunt. The Hawaii episode also includes a close call for Bobby and Peter, not to mention being trapped in a cave by Vincent Price. It was kind of a strange episode.




Honorable Mention, this was a dream sequence so I decided not to count it but how could I not talk about the Jesse James episode. Bobby has a dream where Jesse James shoots and murders his entire family, right in front of his eyes! And I didn't even mention Alice spraining her ankle, all the kids having the Measles, or the episode where Bobby thinks he has the mumps. Man, this show could be dark! Oh and the worst of them all...the time Greg was caught smoking!!!!!!!


Brady Week concludes tomorrow with a look at the reunions and movies.

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