Morals and Themes

The Bradys were a simple family with simple beliefs that shine through every episode. While Mike and Carol were not the perfect parents they sometimes seemed to be, they did manage to try to teach a lesson to the kids whenever they could. You will find that all "The Brady Bunch" episodes (except for the pilot) have either a moral or a simplistic Brady theme, and sometimes both.

The following are the main themes of "The Brady Bunch".

Boy vs. Girl or Male vs. Female: The battle of the sexes in the 1970's was also a battle in Brady-land.

Old vs. Young: Kids against parents, young kids against older kids, there are many versions of this theme and it is often very subtle.

Big Head Syndrome: When one character gets an inflated ego and thus drives the family crazy until a big ego crash brings them back to Earth.

Mistaken Idea: This is the theme made famous by the "Three's Company" television show. It involves one or more characters getting the wrong idea about something and their reactions cause hijinks to ensue until the real truth is discovered.

Vacation: When the Bradys go on vacation you never know what will happen, but in the end it always turns out to be the ideal of what a family vacation should be. There is no arguing on where or when to go, Mike just surprises everyone with tickets. There is no fighting over expenses, they either camp-out or Mike's company pays the bills. Everyone's dream vacation is a Brady Bunch vacation.

 

 

Brady Definitions:

Included with each episode's trivia are some important notes on that episode. Here is a guide to their definitions and how they were selected.

Neat-O Moments: An event that is unique to that episode or happens rarely.

Best Line: A line or lines of dialog that stick out among the others as memorable or just representative of that show. example

Funniest Line: The line or lines of dialog that were either the actual funniest lines or were meant to be but turned out corny. example

Worst Line: Any line that was so bad it just begged for mention.

Most Wholesome Moment: A moment in that episode that is so wholesome you either say "ahhh" or "no one in my family ever did anything that nice".

Unwholesome Moment: An event in the episode that is very unbrady-like.

Most Sexist Line: The line or lines of dialog that today most women would slap a guy for saying. example

Cindy Cuteness Factor: This is a number given only to episodes where the storyline has a main focus on Cindy. It signifies how cute she is in that episode. The scale is from +10 (the cutest) to -10 (annoying). Anything above 0 is cute, below 0 is annoying

Tearjerker Moments: Any moment that is so touching it could drive someone to tears or at least to 'mist-up'.

Heartwarming Moment: Watching one of these just makes you feel good all over.

Brady Commentary: Additional comments on the episode or the characters and their actions or mental state. Sometimes contains hypothetical trivia questions.

Kid's Meetings: Contain all or some Brady kids, but no parents.

Family Meetings: Must be officially called, not a lecture, or just a random gathering of Bradys.

Mike Lectures: Only considered a lecture if he goes to them and is usually just a supportive talk if they go to him.

Carol Lectures: Much harder to detect than a Mike lecture do to their briefness and subtlety. Her lectures and supportive talks are much harder to distinguish.

Mike and Carol Lectures: A gang lecture, deadly. example

All trivia and commentary is copyrighted 1997 "Brady Bunch 101" and may not be used without permission of the copyright holder.

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