In his book Growing Up Brady, Barry Williams reflected extensively on the short life of Tiger the dog. It didn't all focus on the grisly death of the loveable pooch of TV's best-known blended family, but also on scripts that featured the shaggy-haired mixed breed who was older than 7-year-old Bobby.
One day, according to Williams, several months after Tiger's unexpected death, producer and series' creator Sherwood Schwartz found a draft of a script revolving around Tiger running off and the kids not being able to track him down. Even though the script had focused on the mutt, he didn't appear that often on camera – only in the opening, climatic and tag scenes. The rest of the episode had Bobby rally his siblings and scour the neighborhood, calling ... "Tiger, Tiger."
Bobby's attachment to his beloved Tiger is never more evident than in the open scene, where he's playing fetch and running around the yard with the dog. Alice calls in Bobby to come get his bowl and feed him. When Bobby goes inside, Tiger takes advantage of the distraction to run off, unannounced. Bobby goes outside and cannot find the dog at all, calling him in vain.
The other siblings scour the neighborhood and have no luck finding Tiger. Just hours after he's missing, Mike agrees to place a "lost dog" ad in the Daily Chronicle newspaper; the kids chip in a reward in the unusual amount of $42.76. Bobby grows worried about Tiger never coming back home and is lonesome for his best friend.
Meanwhile, Alice and Carol remind Mike that there have been a number of burglaries in the area. Alice comes up with the kooky suggestion that the burglars are part of some organized group and – scouting and targeting the Brady house – realize that the way to break into and rob the Bradys blind is to get rid of the dog by dog-napping him! Mike, of course, dismisses that notion; however, when he sees that Bobby is sleeping outside the doghouse, the young tyke hoping to be there if Tiger comes home overnight, Mike tells Bobby to come back in.
Meanwhile, Greg and Peter had earlier overheard the conversation between Mike, Carol and Alice about the recent rash of burglaries and realize they have to act. Once everyone's asleep, the two boys string together a bunch of cans and place it above the doors, hoping to snare any burglars who break in. (They don't realize that Mike had already secured all doors.) Meanwhile, Alice hears noises in the family room, goes to investigate, and gets caught in the boys' trap. Mike and the boys also hear noises and sees Alice all tied up.
Anyhow, after a few possible leads on Tiger being found fail to pan out, Greg gets a call from a friend saying he saw Tiger. Rallying the troops, Mike and the kids – with the help of several payphones and a map; you gotta love the pre-GPS/navigation system and cell phone era, after all(!) – eventually find Tiger at a house on the other side of the neighborhood! And then we get an explanation from the homeowner as to why Tiger was a guest: It seems that he had sired a litter of puppies! The mother dog – and keep in mind this is well before the "have your pets spayed or neutered" mantra – had mated with Tiger and become pregnant, and Bobby is proud of his best friend.
Tropes associated with this episode (YMMV goes here):
- Calling the Old Man Out: One of the very few occasions where Mike ends up on the receiving end of a lecture-from his youngest son no less-when he attempts to go play golf instead of help look for Tiger. Bobby manages to talk him out of it by asking if Mike would do the same if he were the one missing, and then sternly reminds him that Tiger is just as much part of the family as any human Brady, and has been part of the family since before Bobby himself was even born.
- Tropey, Come Home: Tiger runs off, and it's not known where he has gone.
