History YMMV / TheBradyBunch

* ValuesDissonance: While the show has stood the test of time for the most past, a handful of episodes have ''not'':

* ValuesDissonance:

** Another example involving Robert Reed's death: A 1990 guide to the series ''The Brady Bunch Book'', quotes Reed as saying that any classically trained actor like himself "would rather have ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' on his tombstone than ''The Brady Bunch''; but the books' authors conclude "Hamlet on his tombstone? No, Robert Reed will remain the Brady patriarch forever." Reed died just two years later, and as it turned out, his tombstone makes no reference to ''The Brady Bunch'' and ''does'' say "Goodnight, Sweet Prince."

** The oldest daughter's name is spelled "Marcia” not "Marsha". Although "Marsh-uh" is not the correct pronunciation of this Spanish name - it's "Mar-see-uh" – it is the common American pronunciation among non-Spanish-speakers.

** Jan's "Marcia Marcia Marcia!" quote. She only uses it ''once'' but it's often mistaken for her {{catchphrase}}.

** George Glass actually comes from the original series. Many assume it was a joke made for the film.

* StockParodyJokes: Marcia and Greg being FlirtyStepsiblings is one of the most common.

* The concept of a revival of the series that satirizes the original owes a lot to ''The Real Live Brady Bunch'', a stage show debuting in 1991 that simply re-enacted episodes of the series, but with heavy doses of {{Irony}} and AffectionateParody. The connection is very direct because Christine Taylor and Jennifer Elise Cox played Marcia and Jan, respectively, in regional productions of ''The Real Live Brady Bunch'' before they were cast as those roles in the films.[[note]]The original Chicago production of ''The Real Live Brady Bunch'' had [[Series/TheOfficeUS Kate Flannery]] as Carol, with Creator/JaneLynch as her understudy, and [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Melanie Hutsell]] as Jan. When it moved to New York for an off-Broadway run, Flannery and the original Mike dropped out, so Lynch took over as Carol and Creator/AndyRichter was brought on as Mike[[/note]]

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The show screams "early [[TheSeventies '70s]]" harder than just about any other product of its era. The show even captured a picture of how mainstream American society was moving at that time; from the early episodes where Carol had a bouffant, the girls wore skirts and dresses, the boys and Mike all had short hair to the later episodes where Carol relaxed on the haircare product, Mike and the boys let their hair grow out to their temples or shoulders, and the girls were seen in more slacks and jeans. This was a series that also depicted a married couple sleeping together (and with no additional children being conceived, likely a reference to the increased availability of birth control) and of a blended family where both parents have been married before. [[note]]''The Goldbergs'' in 1954 depicted Molly and Jake in bed in an episode, but it wasn't a OncePerEpisode aspect like ''The Brady Bunch''.[[/note]]

* NeverLiveItDown:
** "Marcia, ''Marcia'', ''MARCIA!''"
** "Porkchopsh, and appleshaush."
** "OW, MY NOSE!"
** "She always says, 'don't play ball in the house.'" A Nick at Nite/TV Land [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLFkxA0P7Q8 promo]] actually referenced that Carol never said this, and even crudely stitched together sound bites of her saying each individual word to give some idea of what it might sound like.

* RemadeAndImproved: ''A Very Brady Sequel'' gives the George Glass storyline a more heartwarming ending than the TV show did. [[spoiler:In the original episode, boys only returned Jan's affections after she conformed to their expectations of feminine beauty, in the movie neither Jan nor George needs a makeover to win the other's heart.]]

* OlderThanTheyThink: George Glass actually comes from the original series. Many assume it was a joke made for the film.

** Another Season 4 episode "Bobby's Hero" is set off when Bobby, pretending to be UsefulNotes/JesseJames, brings a cap-gun to school and pretends to hold all the other students hostage during recess. Mike and Carol are called up to the school and everyone becomes more concerned with Bobby's idolization of a villain than anything and Bobby gets off with little more than a stern talking to about Jesse James later on. Post-Columbine, Bobby would likely be expelled.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The episodes of the first season originally ended with the Creator/{{Paramount}} Television "Closet Killer" logo - which during 1969-70 had a [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UXpdsJmHwU4 jingle]] that is considered one of the scariest logo themes in history. Not what you'd expect to see after such a light-hearted show. This is even preserved on the DVD release.

* WhatAnIdiot: Robert Reed, in his scathing critiques of various episodes, often suggested that the characters were not written as reasonably intelligent adults (or children/teenagers in the case of the kids) but as complete idiots. Some of those examples follow below, and were published in Barry Williams' book "Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenaged Greg":
** "The Practical Joker," with particular emphasis on the tag scene, wherein Alice is fooled into thinking a legitimate ink stain on one of her uniforms is a gag stain placed there by Jan; as Alice is pulling what she thinks is the gag stain off, she tears the uniform. Reed suggests that Alice, as reasonably intelligent, should have been able to tell whether the stain was real and that perhaps a pen (with its cap left off) would have been noticed before placing the uniform in the washing machine.
** "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor": Various aspects, including:
*** The scene where two competing laundry detergents are tested – to decide whether the Bradys will agree to accept the TV commercial offer – which ends with Alice forgetting to write down on a sheet of paper which pile corresponds with which soap (in the sealed envelope). Reed was also irritated by the parents allowing the kids to splash each other with paint, motor oil and so forth, to make their clothes dirty.
*** Mike's inability to make sense of the contract with Skip Farnum Enterprises. Although one could argue that the idea of the line was, "consult your attorney" (to make sure everything is legal), Reed called Mike's comment "nonsense," as "he is an adult in business and therefore capable of understanding contracts."
*** Carol's "We'll have to wait until Mr. Brady gets home" comment after a delivery truck brings dozens of crates of laundry detergent, the thank you gift for starring in the commercial (Reed suggests she could have called a number printed on the delivery receipt).
** In "The Not-So-Rose-Colored Glasses", Jan decides against wearing her glasses when she rides her bicycle to the library. She escapes serious injury when she crashes into the garage.
** Reed refers to several late Season 5 episodes in his infamous critique of "The Hair-Brained Scheme," including "Two Petes in a Pod." Here, Peter meets Arthur (Christopher Knight in a dual role) at school, and decide to see if they can fool their parents. Reed was irked that even Mike and Carol are fooled by the "faux Peter" due to his exact resemblance, suggesting that even with Peter and Arthur being so identical his parents surely would be able to tell who's who. Not mentioned in the critique, but noticeable to fans: Arthur cozies up very closely to Jan when helping her with her homework at the kitchen table, and nobody – neither Jan nor Mike or Carol – even bats an eye about "Peter" showing unusual affection for his stepsister. Also, only Alice comes remotely close to sensing something is amiss when she notices Arthur's shirt ("Did you change your shirt at school today, Peter?").

* WhatAnIdiot:
** For both movies, generally, the Bradys being completely clueless that they are being perceived not as an all-American family but outdated idiots who don't fit in to the 1990s culture. For instance, a driver FlippingTheBird at Jan, who mistakes it for a friendly hello.
** In ''The Brady Bunch Movie'', Mike being unable to differentiate Cindy's tattling on her siblings with her reporting Larry Dettemeyer was stealing and ''opening'' the Bradys' mail – a federal offense – that could potentially cause the family to lose their home (since Mr. Dettemeyer had stolen the Bradys' past-due tax notices). In the original series, Mike would have immediately reported it to the police and then explained to Cindy the difference between mild tattling and reporting criminal wrongdoing.
** In ''A Very Brady Sequel'', con man Trevor Thomas is easily able to maneuver his way into the Brady household by the Bradys' unquestioningly accepting his claim that he is indeed Roy Martin, Carol's first husband. For instance, Mike would know who Carol's first husband was and know about what he looked like, but is too addle-brained and preoccupied with his family's minor problems to recognize a genuine threat to his family. Carol would also be able to recognize that "Roy" is an imposter, as even with careful research there are personality quirks, mannerisms, etc., that Thomas would not be able to replicate (even with any reasonable explanation). Carol's daughters also would be able to tell quickly whether "Roy" was who he claimed to be, but yet they all accept him as their biological father. Of course, Thomas easily being able to fool the Bradys provides much of the humor during the first part of the movie. (Incidentally, the only one who does seem to come close to sensing that "Roy" is a con artist is Alice.)

* HamAndCheese: Creator/ShelleyLong and especially Creator/GaryCole both take the cheesy, hyper-earnest characterizations of Carol and Mike from the show UpToEleven, and are clearly having a blast doing it. Since Cole hadn't done much comedy up to that point, his performance was a pleasant surprise.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The episodes of the first season originally ended with the Creator/{{Paramount}} Television "Closet Killer" logo - which during 1969-70 had a jingle that is considered one of the scariest logo themes in history. Not what you'd expect to see after such a light-hearted show. This is even preserved on the DVD release.

** To the film ''Film/YoursMineAndOurs'', although Creator/SherwoodSchwartz conceived the idea for ''The Brady Bunch'' first.

** The first film shows the family [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rKeqPEGMvM going to a Sears department store and singing "Sunshine Day"]]. At the time of the film's release (1995), Sears could be reasonably said to be one of the biggest department store chains in North America. Two decades later, the company went bankrupt in the face of mounting online pressure and competition from other retail chains. While the joke at the time was that the Bradys getting all excited about going to a large lower-end department store is a prime example of IncrediblyLameFun (though at least a bit more modern than their obsession with TheSeventies), these days, with Sears itself as a relic of the past, it just makes them look more dated, and unintentionally makes the joke funnier.

** Cousin Oliver is often unfairly thought of as a horribly annoying character who directly led to the show's cancellation. In fact, he was really just a symptom of the overall decline the show was already in, with the writers clearly having no interest in actually doing anything with him once he was introduced.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: George Glass, Jan's imaginary boyfriend. He was so popular, that he not only in a "two"-person Funko Pop with Jan, but he was referenced in the second movie. He first appeared as a dummy Jan brought on a double date that Marcia and Greg were having [[spoiler:and then she met and fell in love with the ''real'' George Glass, a teenage boy she encountered in Hawaii.]]

** During Oliver's official introduction, his clumsiness causes so many accidents around the house that he's convinced he's a [[TheJinx jinx]]. It was played for comic relief and mild angst, but it's not so funny when you remember the series was cancelled shortly after the addition of the character ([[Series/SanfordAndSon although not necessarily and solely because of the addition of Oliver]]).
** In Season 4's "Greg Gets Grounded," Greg is prohibited from driving after his distracted driving nearly causes an accident on the freeway. Nearly a year after that episode aired, Barry Williams was involved in an accident caused by distracted driving (although it was the other driver who was to blame).

* TakeThatScrappy: In ''A Very Brady Sequel'', [[spoiler:after Bobby unsuccessfuly stops CousinOliver from running out into the street after Tiger, he and Cindy hear a car screech. Instead of checking for an accident, Bobby and Cindy just shrug their shoulders and continue eating.]] For those who aren't kosher with the idea of a PG-13 comedy movie [[spoiler:offing a dog and a child for laughs, take heart that if the producers really wanted to drive that joke home (no pun intended), you would've heard a screech AND a thump.]]

** For both movies, generally, the Bradys being completely clueless that they are being perceived not as an all-American family but outdated idiots who don't fit in to the 1990s culture. For instance, a classmate FlippingTheBird at Greg, who takes it as a friendly hello.
** In ''The Brady Bunch Movie'', Mike being unable to differentiate Cindy's tattling on her siblings with her reporting Larry Dettemeyer was stealing the family's mail – a federal offense – that could potentially cause the family to lose their home (since Mr. Dettemeyer had stolen the Bradys' past-due tax notices). In the original series, Mike would have immediately reported it to the police and then explained to Cindy the difference between tattling and reporting wrongdoing.

** To ''Series/FamilyAffair'', another [[SweetnessAversion sometimes saccharine]] 1960s DomCom about an unconventional yet loving family (in that series three orphans raised by their bachelor uncle and his valet), with a teenage sister to provide romance and high school plots, and younger kids to provide cuteness, including a little blonde girl with GirlishPigtails consisting of twin blonde sausage curls. (Cindy's hairstyle was directly inspired by Buffy's.)

* UncannyValley: The Bradys' wholesome seventies sitcom stylings are deliberately played up to make them seem rather strange and even slightly unsettling when compared to the world around them. In particular, Mike, Carol, and the older Brady children all speak in calm, measured tones of voice that no actual person ever would at all times.