What is it? The Brady Bunch, Complete Series, 117 episodes on 20 discs from Paramount Home Video
How much? $79.99
When? Now
What's the story? It's the story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls ...
Surely you know the rest. For those who have been living under a rock for the last 40 years, the series begins with the wedding of Mike and Carol Brady (Robert Reed and Florence Henderson) -- a marriage that also involves the blending of two sets of kids: his Greg, Peter and Bobby (Barry Williams, Christopher Knight and Mike Lookinland) and her Marcia, Jan and Cindy (Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb and Susan Olsen).
It's a setup for a lot of us-vs.-them situations, as well as lots of family bonding and your average growing pains. Of course, that's just in the beginning. As the series goes on, everyone seems to forget that this is a (fairly recent) blended family.
Throw in the wisecracking family housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis) and you've got a house full of shenanigans, growing pains and groovy family fun.
The Brady Bunch is a classic. Is it a good classic? Well, it's not exactly the kind of show that's going to challenge one's views or stimulate the brain.
It's also not striving for realism. After all, a blended family with that setup of kids would probably have a few more problems than a battle over a backyard playhouse or a stash of redemption stamps. And the strict gender lines were at times downright silly in their simplicity (the boys love camping, fishing and sports; the girls are all about sewing, cooking and baby dolls).
But considering the fact that it has been in syndication uninterrupted since it went off the air in 1974, spawned a cartoon, a variety show, TV movies, two spinoff series, two big-screen hits and continues to be a pop culture phenomenon, it obviously did something right.
It's inoffensive, occasionally funny, nostalgic. Basically, it's TV comfort food, particularly for the multiple generations of kids who grew up watching it either in its original run or in the decades since.
It's refreshing to watch a show where the parents are smart and have a healthy relationship and the kids have occasional problems but aren't obnoxious brats.
The series has been released before, but this set puts all the seasons together in more compact packaging. Yes, it still comes on TV all the time, but it's nice to have uncut, commercial-free episodes ready to go. Especially if you need an early Brady fix and TV Land is airing the later years when all the men had perms.
Are there extras? Just a couple of early episode commentaries and a short featurette with show creator Sherwood Schwartz, Williams, Knight, Lookinland and Olsen.
New this week: Adventure Time, Season 5; Batman, Season 2 part 2; Cedar Cove, Season 2; Little House on the Prairie, Season 6; The Magic School Bus, Season 3; Powers, Season 1; WKRP in Cincinnati, Season 3.
Next week: Looking, Season 2; Robot Chicken, Season 7.
Style on 07/12/2015