The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch

Potts, Kimberly. The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch: How the Canceled Sitcom Became the Beloved Pop Culture Icon We Are Still Talking About Today. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2019.

Author Kimberly Potts provides insight into one of television's most beloved programs of all time. The Brady Bunch never garnered top ratings during its five seasons, but it remains popular 50 years after the first show aired in syndication. Several other programs featuring the Brady Bunch cast appeared throughout the years, sometimes with a "fake Jan" or "fake Marcia." We learn about the show's casting, about Robert Reed's hatred for the program, and more in the pages. Comparisons to other shows of the time and influence upon shows that appeared later are covered. The show's fans will want to own or read a copy of this book. The book provided a trip down memory lane as the author mentioned things I read on the pages of popular teen magazines of the 70s such as Tiger Beat. The book covers the recent HGTV renovation of the home used for exterior house shots. I received an electronic advance review copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The publisher classified this book under "Art & Photography" at NetGalley so I expected a little text with a lot of photos. Instead I got a lot of text and no photos. In spite of the disappointment, I still enjoyed the book.

Remembering Farrah

I've always loved detective shows, and when the first episode of Charlie's Angels aired in 1976, I became an instant fan of the show. There was the mysterious Charlie whose face we never saw, but we all knew that actor John Forsythe provided the voice. I think we all had the intro to the show memorized:

Once upon a time, there were three little girls who went to the police academy. And they were each assigned very hazardous duties but I took them all away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Charlie.

One of those three little girls was Jill Monroe, who was portrayed by Farrah Fawcett-Majors, as she was then known. After her break up with the 6 Million Dollar Man (Lee Majors), she dropped the Majors and went by Farrah Fawcett. I honestly don't know which of the three angels I liked best, but I do know that I had my hair "feathered" like Fawcett's at some point. I was very upset by Fawcett's early departure from the show, but I came to like her character's sister Kris Monroe (played by Cheryl Ladd) within a very short time. I enjoyed Fawcett's forced guest appearances the season after she left.

I remember seeing one or two movies with Farrah Fawcett after her departure from Charlie's Angels, but they did not capture me as did her role as a private investigator.

I miss the days of good television, and I'd love to watch a few episodes of the first couple of seasons of Charlie's Angels to watch Jill, Kelly, Sabrina, and Bosley do a little investigating.

Kathy Garver in Morristown

Do you all recognize the name Kathy Garver? At first I didn't either when I noticed the poster at church advertising "The Glass Menagerie" at Walters State Community College later this month. Then I noticed it said "Family Affair." My mind immediately went back to the old television show that I watched as a child in the 1960s. I knew Buffy had died, and Jody was a boy, so I knew that it had to be Cissy. I studied the picture more closely. I remembered Cissy with much darker hair than the picture, but I could see that this person coming to Morristown was really Cissy. She will be playing Amanda in the play.

The End of an Era

Analog TV and rabbit-ears are to be a thing of the past in less than 14 months. I invite everyone to share their favorite "rabbit-ear" memory here or share the link if you blog it!

Some Thoughts on the Cancellation of Emeril Live

I was upset when Food Network moved Emeril Live from the 8 p.m. Eastern time slot to the 7 p.m. Eastern time slot which is 6 p.m. Central and conflicts with the local news there. My mother was an avid Emeril fan. It's one of the few shows on television that she truly enjoyed; however, there was no way Dad would give up the local news to watch it even though he usually watched Emeril with her. Now we hear that Emeril Live will only live in re-runs. This is truly disappointing. I've been very disappointed with the direction that the Food Network seems to be going with all the cook-offs, reality shows, etc. I couldn't believe they cancelled Molto Mario earlier this year. His show is much better than Giada's. I think Food Network is forgetting the people that made it a network. Pretty soon there will be no reason to watch Food Network because it will all be reality shows with no true personalities that keep people coming back.

I've not really seen a good reason for the cancellation. If they say it was ratings-related, they brought about the poor ratings themselves by moving it to a poor time-slot so they could air the junk I've seen all fall in their prime time slots -- most of which I've ended up turning off because it doesn't interest me. I used to be able to know that there was decent programming at night on Food Network. This fall, I've sat with the TV turned off a lot because I can't find anything decent to watch.