brady bunch

New TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• The Brady Bunch - Complete Series
• Entourage - Season 3, Vol. 1
• Law and Order - Season 5
• The Lost Room - Complete Mini-Series
• Mind of Mencia - Season 2 (Uncensored)
• The Pink Panther Show - Vol. 5: The Ant & The Aardvark
• Roseanne - Season 7
• She-Ra - Season 1, Vol. 2
• Tom Goes To The Mayor - Complete Series
• Twin Peaks - Season 2

If you're a fan of Sherwood Schwartz's classic sitcom The Brady Bunch, you'll be pleased to know that the complete series will be available on DVD on March 27, according to TVShowsOnDVD. There's no details on the set just yet, though apparently the DVDs come wrapped in a brick of pot. Okay, maybe it's not pot, but whatever it is, you'll probably get really messed up if you smoke it.

The Brady Bunch, which aired from 1969 to 1974, was the story of an aesthetically-pleasing woman who raised a trio of three girls who were also pretty. Their hair was gold, not unlike that of their mother. The youngest daughter's hair, in contrast to those of her siblings, was in curls.

Meanwhile, there was a man named Brady, the patriarch of a family consisting of himself and three boys. Together they equaled four men who lived in a house together. Despite this, they were all very much alone.

One day, however, the aforementioned man and woman met each other. Knowing almost preternaturally that it was more than a hunch, they decided to combine the two families into one. That's how they became the Brady Bunch.

And Ann B. Davis as Alice.

Yeah, that headline doesn't sound quite right does it? To quote George Constanza, "Worlds are colliding!"

Gilligan's Island: The Musical is a stage play that brings the TV classic to the theater. They'll be performing the show at the Coral Springs Center For The Arts in Coral Springs, FL, February 2-11. The role of millionaire Thurston Howell III will be played by Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch, another Sherwood Schwartz show. And to make matters even more confusing, Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island, will not reprise her role. Instead, she'll play Mrs. Howell!

This just isn't right. What if they mix up the theme songs? "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...here's the story! Of a man named Skipper!"

They should have other classic TV stars play the other roles. How about Ann B. Davis as Ginger?

[via TV Tattle]

Searching through my mental Rolodex, I think I remember Adam doing a post about the five best fictional bands on TV. And now IGN has weighed in on the matter, picking their Top 10 TV Bands.

Some of the usual suspects are here, such as Charlie's band DriveSHAFT from Lost and The Silver Platters from The Brady Bunch. But there are some funky choices, like Creation from Freaks and Geeks and Cold Slither from G.I. Joe (??). But what bands are missing here? How about the Monkees and The Partridge Family? IGN explains they were purposely left out because they were the main focus of the show, which I don't really think is fair, but whatever. This site might have some of the bands we can't think of.

I wonder how old this writer is though. I mean, how can you list The Blowholes from The Adventures of Pete & Pete and not mention that Marshall Crenshaw was in the band? He's the guy on the left in the photo. You can't just call him "a local meter man"! (Side note: wow, two Adventures of Pete & Pete mentions in one day!)

• Andromeda - Season 5 and The Slipstream Collection
• The Andy Griffith Show - Season 1, Disc 1
• The Brady Bunch - Season 1, Disc 1
• CSI - Season 1, Disc 1
• Forever Knight - Trilogy Part 3
• Frasier - Season 1, Disc 1
• Gimme A Break - Season 2 (Canada)
• The Greatest American Hero - Collector's Tin
• Medium - Season 2
• Penn & Teller's Bullshit - Season 3 Uncensored
• Return to the Planet of the Apes - Complete Series
• South Park - The Hits, Vol. 1
• Stargate SG-1 - Season 9 Slimset
• Three's Company - Season 8
• Tom and Jerry Tales - Vol. 1
• The Twilight Zone - The Complete Definitive Collection

The Brady Bunch (and The Partridge Family) were weekly rituals in my house when I was a kid. My sister and I would get a huge bag of candy down at the corner store and come home and watch both shows on Friday night.

So it was interesting to see what Cousin Oliver, aka Robbie Rist, is up to these days. As fans of The Brady Bunch know, he was brought on to the show later in its run to add something to the show. I don't know, maybe a cute factor or just shake things up a bit. But all he did was annoy fans, and many people see this as a big "Jump the Shark" moment. Even Rist himself says he has that web site to thank for renewed interest in his career.

Check out what Rist looks like now. Quite a change.

[via TV Tattle]

Some activities aren't hindered too much by a little pot smoking, such as performing dental surgery or piloting commercial aircraft. Trying to act on a popular sitcom when you're stoned, however? Well, that's just plain dangerous. Barry Williams, in his autobiography I Was a Teenage Greg, recalls a scene he did for the Brady Bunch during which he was extremely high. It's subtle, and if I didn't actually know he was high I don't know if I would have noticed anything that odd about his performance, but Destiny-land has some excerpts from Williams' book where he writes about making up dialogue, doing some of his own improvisations, and developing some kind of Zen connection with his bicycle. He does seem a little out of it, and watch how he trips over his bike pump as he walks over to the car. The video is after the jump:

[via Boing Boing]

• At 6, TCM has The Maltese Falcon.
• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a new Big Brother All-Stars.
• NBC has a new Tom Brokaw Reports at 7, followed by a new Dateline and the 2006 Miss Universe Pageant (starts at 7 on CMTV).
• AMC has The Last Samurai at 8.
• At 9, USA has new episodes of The 4400 and The Dead Zone.
• HBO has all new eps of Deadwood, Entourage, Lucky Louie, and Dane Cook's Tourgasm, starting at 9.
• At 10, Showtime has a new episode of Brotherhood.
• TV Land is showing a Brady Bunch marathon all weekend, and at 10 they repeat the reunion special Still Brady After All These Years, hosted by Jenny McCarthy for some reason.

• Andromeda - Vol 5.4
• Baby Looney Tunes - Volume 1: Playday Pals; Volume 2: Let's Play Pretend
• The Brady Bunch - The Complete 5th Season
• The Cosby Show - Season 2
• The Electric Company - The Best of The Best of The Electric Company
• The Flintstones - Season 5
• Hogan's Heroes - The Complete 3rd Season
• Lily the Witch - Volume 1; Volume 2
• Multiple Shows - Star Trek: The Borg Fan Collective
• Police Woman - The Complete 1st Season
• The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour - The Complete Series
• Three's Company - Season 6
• Underdog - The Best of Go-Go Gophers; The Best of Tennessee Tuxedo
• Walking Tall - The Complete Series
• Wild 'N Out - Season 1

Let me start with a confession: I was a huge fan of The Partride Family when I was a kid. I had a Partridge Family lunchbox, I had a massive crush on David Cassidy (and quite a few posters), and Shirley Jones, as the hip family matriarch, along with the ever-sunny Florence Henderson as Carol Brady, were my visions of maternal  perfection.

I can't really blame Shirley Jones alone for destroying my happy childhood memories. No, I think a good deal of the blame has to rest on the shoulders of Nicholaus Goosen, the director of the film Grandma's Boy, and the producers behind the film, including Adam Sandler, who ought to know better: first, for making a film with two of my least favorite actors - Rob Schneider and David Spade (in ONE film? Are you people insane?!?), and worse, for including in said film a scene with Shirley Jones having a sex romp with a 24-year-old. Do we really need to see that? I think not.