Very Brady Christmas, a

Most people are by now very familiar with the Brady's so there is no need to outline here who they are but the movie brought back the characters 14 years after the original series had ended so naturally there had been alot of changes with some of the original characters. The story of "A Very Brady Christmas", begins with Mike and Carol (Robert Reed and Florence Henderson), each planning to surprise the other with a trip overseas at Christmas now that all the children are away from home. When both discover the others identical plans they decide instead that the best gift of all for the coming holidays would be to instead use the money to bring all their children and their families home for an old fashioned Christmas. In the middle of their plans they suddenly find Alice (the much loved Anne B. Davis) on their doorstep announcing that Sam has left her for a younger woman. Alice quickly becomes one of the family again as the arrangements get under way to get all the children back home. Each child however is confronting their own difficulties that are complicating their plans to Christmas. Marcia's husband Wally has just lost his job at the Toy Store, Greg is having difficulties with his wife Nora who wants to spend Christmas with a special aunt, Peter is having a relationship with his female boss, Jan's marriage to Phillip has collapsed , Bobby has dropped out of College to become a race car driver and Cindy is reluctant to come home where she feels she is still treated like a child. In all these uncertainties Christmas begins and we are treated to some very familiar dilemmas like "where will everyone sleep" etc. Anyone who has experienced a big family Christmas will identify totally with the goings on in the Brady House during these scenes. One by one the problems are ironed out, at least for the holidays, as the Brady's finally sit down to a traditional Christmas dinner. Mike however is then thrown into crisis as one of the buildings he designed, but which was built against his recommendations without certain safety requirements collapses and traps a number of men. In true Brady tradition however all is resolved by the final reel with not only Mike emerging safely from the rubble but Sam appearing at the Brady house asking Alice to forgive him.

Corny? Perhaps but the film has the wonderful warm feel about it that won viewers over to the original series. Values like family togetherness, love for each other and talking openly about your problems are all explored in this movie and is that necessarily so bad? Robert Reed and Florence Henderson as Mike and Carol Brady always did a wonderful job as the parents and their easy rapport with each other always made it seem like they actually were a married couple. Robert Reed's fine speech at the Christmas Dinner table about the couples enduring love for each other after 20 years of marriage is a wonderfully warm message so appropriate for the Christmas season. Certainly there are simplistic solutions to some of the Brady children's problems most notably in the scene where Jan (Eve Plumb), and husband Phillip patch up their shattered marriage in a short chat, when it would have been more realistic for them to say, "It's going to take time, it wont be easy, but lets make an effort over this coming year to see if it will work". Anyway it's television and one shouldn't analize things like this too much. Performers like Robert Reed, Florence Henderson and my favourite the talented Anne B. Davis really make this movie an enjoyable viewing experience. Reality was never the show's strong point but these actors really succeed in making you care what happens. When "A Very Brady Christmas", was first aired it was like visiting old friends for lots of fans around the world and thats the best tribute that can be given to this enduring television show that is still winning fans almost 30 years later.

I always enjoy this trip down memory lane each Christmas with the Brady's. It's interesting to see the children now all grown up with their own lives. The one disappointment was that sadly Susan Olsen who played the original Cindy was unavailable to return to her role so another young actress filled the place in this movie. For TV buffs the movie also has the added bonus of showing some clips from two episodes from the shows first season back in 1969, the Christmas episode "The Voice of Christmas", and the family camping trip in "A Camping We Will Go". Enjoy television's favourite family celerate Christmas the Brady way in "A Very Brady Christmas".

• Genres > Television

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