Here's a story: A Very Brady Blog

Four years, writing about television, and I'm just now getting to the Brady Bunch?  What?  How did this happen?  As I write this, my head will be lowered in shame.

Anyways, in case you didn't know...

Here's the story of a lovely lady 
Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. 
All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, 
The youngest one in curls. 

Here's the story, of a man named Brady, 
Who was busy with three boys of his own, 
They were four men, living all together, 
Yet they were all alone. 

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow 
And they knew it was much more than a hunch, 
That this group must somehow form a family. 
That's the way we all became the Brady Bunch. 

The Brady Bunch, 
The Brady Bunch, 
That's the way we became the Brady Bunch. 

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thebradybunchlyrics.html




1945--Per Season 2 of Wonder Woman, Diana returns home after the war.  The first episode of season 2 seems to imply Diana stayed in Paradise Island from 1945 to 1977.  Some have offered me the theory that there have been several women assigned to be Wonder Woman, which is a fine theory and would work.  But I prefer that Diana be the constant as that's the writer's intent.  Thus, my presumption is that perhaps she gave up her Diana Prince identity and moved back to Paradise island, but still continued to come to Man's World to work with the JSA's successor, the Justice League.  This might also explain why in 1973, when she met the Brady Kids, she was a math teacher.  She was simply assuming another new identity. 

1952 - 1958--ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (TELEVISION SERIES)--Clark Kent moves to Los Angles (a great Metropolis) and becomes Superman.  NOTES:  THERE ARE A LOT OF HINTS LEADING THAT THIS SERIES IS IN CHICAGO, BUT AS TOBY O'BRIEN POINTED OUT, THEY HAVE TO BE NEAR THE DESERT, BECAUSE WHENEVER THEY LEAVE THE CITY, THEY SEEM TO BE IN THE DESERT.  SO I'M THINKING L.A.  IT'S GOOD TO HAVE THE TWO SUPERMEN LIVING FAR FROM EACH OTHER, TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY DIDN'T INTERACT MORE OFTEN.  THIS SERIES WILL CROSS WITH I LOVE LUCY, WHICH IS WHY SUPERMAN EXISTS IN THE TVCU.  Apparently whoever designed the architecture of Mayberry had also worked up in the Metropolis area.  Perhaps, like Mike Brady, he just keeps putting out the same designs over and over.  Note that because of the Wizard, the world had forgotten that Superman existed, so when this Clark makes his debut, the world knows him as the first and only Superman.  This Superman is very public, and the world knows of his existence.  He inspires a second age of super-heroes (and in fact, another age a thousand years in the future!)

1958 to 1959--THE INVISIBLE MAN--From Toby O'Brien: For the Toobworld Dynamic, I have the first TV Invisible Man, Peter Brady as an uncle to the Brady Bunch after whom young Peter Brady was named.....



1961 to 1963--DENNIS THE MENACE--Charles "Jack" Brady is a recurring character.  He may be a cousin to the architect Mike Brady, according to Toby O'Brien.

October 1963--THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW--"The Woman behind the Jokes"--Buddy Sorrell, comedy writer for the the Alan Brady Show (as seen on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW) moonlights writing jokes for comic Danny Williams.

1969 to 1974--THE BRADY BUNCH--From Matt Hickman: Some Station Crossovers I found 1. In Wayne's World 2 the Local Rock Station in Aurora, Illinois is WPIG 95.7 on WKRP in Cincinnati WPIG was the Cross town rival to WKRP. Now they are in 2 Different towns But Maybe Between 82 and 93 WPIG became a Network with Affiliates all over the U. S. 2. From the Wiki page List of fictional television stations KBEX-TV (in film):Dawn of the Dead (as Milwaukee TV station)[1],Moving Violation,Runaway,Scream KBEX-TV (in television):,BarnabyJones[2],Brady Bunch[3],Charlie's Angels[4],Columbo (Season 2, Episode 6),Crazy Like a Fox (Channel 6, San Francisco),Dante's Peak (Channel 5),Emergency!,MacGyver (as TV and radio),Mannix,Mission: Impossible,Starsky & Hutch,$weepstake$ (Channel 6, Hollywood)[5],Walker, Texas Ranger[6],What's Happening!![7] Could Prehaps also be a Network or at Least a Cable Channel much like WGN 3.WNDY - Short-lived TV series "WIOU" about the news department of a fictional television station whose actual callsign was WNDY, but which was nicknamed WIOU by its staff because of the station's financial struggles. WNDY Is also the Fake Radio Station you listen when Waiting in line For the TwisterTwister...Ride it Out at Universal Studios Florida It's Set in Wakita Oklahoma Druing the Film so they Might Be Sister Stations or owned By the Same Company

December 1969--BRADY BUNCH--"The Voice of Christmas"--Santa briefly appears in this story where Carol loses her voice before she's supposed to sing in a Christmas show.  This is one of the few episodes to specifically be referenced with a flashback in the later Brady Bunch reunion movies.

February 1970--BRADY BUNCH--"The Possible Dream"--Hank Thackery, a character from PETTICOAT JUNCTION, appears.

C. January 2, 1972--THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW--"Baby Sit-Com"--There is a show called The Clancy Clan that is meant to be the Brady Bunch. This faux show within a show could be one of the possible zonk 'splainings for the Brady Bunch.

1972--PICKET FENCES--Sheriff Jimmy Brock and Dr. Jill Langston are wed by the Reverend Henry Novotny.  He has previously officiated the wedding of Mike and Carol Brady and before that been an Army Chaplain at  Camp Crowder, Missouri and married Rob Petrie and Laura Meehan.




c. September 9, 1972--THE ABC SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE--"The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island"--Pilot for the animated series.

1972--THE BRADY KIDS--"It's All Greek To Me"--TVCU Trivia of the Day: What two super-heroes have met the Brady kids?  Wonder Woman & Superman (and they also met the Lone Ranger).  The Brady Kids meet Diana Prince (a.k.a. Wonder Woman) a University Mathematician where Jan and Marcia are in the age old debate of Brains over Brawn and Marlon's magic accidentally transports them all back in time to ancient Greece where they arrive right in time not only for the Olympic games but to meet the famous mathematician Euclid.



c. September 30, 1972--THE BRADY KIDS--"Long Gone Silver"--Bobby is a fan of the Lone Ranger and orders a pin from his fan club. Marlon uses his magic to try to transform it into real silver but bring the Long Ranger's horse "Silver" to the tree house.

c. November 11, 1972--THE BRADY KIDS--"That Was No Worthy Opponent, That Was My Sister"--Superman and Wonder Woman, at one point, once crossed over with the animated incarnations of the kids from The Brady Bunch. (The Brady Kids episode "That Was No Worthy Opponent, That Was My Sister")

c. February 9, 1973--SNICKERS--"The Brady Bunch"--In this special episode, we find out what happens to Marcia and Jan when they’re hungry. Let’s just say it’s not pretty.




July 29, 1973--The World of Sid & Marty Krofft at the Hollywood Bowl--The special consists of a series of performances and skits based around the shows of Sid and Marty Krofft. Johnny Whitaker hosts the show and performs "Friends," the theme song from Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Jack Wild appears as Jimmy, who searches high and low for his friend H.R. Pufnstuf (Van Snowden). H.R. Pufnstuf 's resident villain, Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (Louise DuArt, substituting for Billie Hayes) and Lidsville 's wacky magician Horatio J. Hoodoo (Paul Gale, substituting for Charles Nelson Reilly) each showcase their unique magic talents. The Brady Bunch Kids perform a medley of songs, though they would not appear in a Sid and Marty Krofft TV production until The Brady Bunch Hour in 1976.

September to December 1973--MISSION: MAGIC--From Hugh H. Davis: Rick Springfield was the star of _Mission: Magic_, the Filmation cartoon being promoted in this special. In it, he led a group of crazy kids on adventures with the help of Miss Tickle (say it together and quickly), a sorceress. They tried to boost the show by crossing it over with the _Brady Kids_ animated show. When they packaged _Mission: Magic_ and some other short-lived shows in the 1980s, they'd lost Springfield's permission, so instead of re-upping their deal with him, they just edited out any mention of his last name and claimed he was now just "Rik" (since he had an R on his belt buckle and they didn't want to edit the actual animation).

c. January 4, 1974--THE BRADY BUNCH--"Kelly's Kids"--A final-season Brady Bunch episode, "Kelly's Kids", was intended as a pilot for a prospective spinoff series of the same name. Ken Berry starred as Ken Kelly, a friend and neighbor of the Bradys', who with his wife Kathy (Brooke Bundy) adopted three orphaned boys of different racial backgrounds. One of the adopted sons was played by Todd Lookinland, the younger brother of Mike Lookinland. While Kelly's Kids was not subsequently picked up as a full series, producer Sherwood Schwartz would rework the basic premise for the short-lived 1980s sitcom Together We Stand starring Elliott Gould and Dee Wallace.

1975–1976--SNL WEEKEND UPDATE--SNL Weekend Update is in.  Here is a list of all the Weekeend Update recurring characters.   

• Of those listed, note that Father Guido Sarducci is in the TVCU through appearances on other shows and movies.  One example is Casper, which also featured Ray Stanz of the Ghostbusters.  His connection to Weekend Update brings Weekend Update into the TVCU, and all the other characters.  
• Note some of Update's characters would also appear during the monologue or other parts of the show that are meant to be real, thus all the bits of the "real" parts of the show are in the TVCU and any sketches these Update characters may show up in.  
• Nathan Thurm is another example.  Thurm has been on SCTV (which brings that whole show in, since the concept of that show is that the sketches are all interconnected), and the Earth Day Special.  (See my Bugs Bunny blog for more on that.)  Some of these characters also end up having their own sketches, and those bits should also be part of the TVCU.  
• Note that Jan Brady is one of these recurring characters.  This should be considered the present day incarnation of the original Jan Brady.
• Note the Gay Hitler who appears may be an imposter.

April 25, 1977--THE BRADY BUNCH VARIETY HOUR--The Brady kids invite the kids from "What's Happening'" to appear on their variety show. Rick Dees also stops by to sing.  Incidentally, I agree with Toby O'Brien's reasoning that Brady Bunch "zonks" come from people in the TVCU having seen the Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

c. January 10, 1981--FANTASY ISLAND--"High Off the Hog/Reprisal"--From Gordon Long: Another excellent blog. Thanks for putting in the FI episode! Another FI /Arthur/Merlin story: In High Off the Hog/Reprisal, Reprisal features Maureen (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia...Brady) McCormick as someone who uses Merlin's Mirror to see herself as others see her, although her fantasy was to make things happen (instead of having them happen to her, which was often the case). Very interesting that the mirror had a related effect...

1981--SHAKE N BAKE--Alice appears in this commercial.

1981--THE BRADY GIRLS GET MARRIED--A TV movie



Early 1981--THE BRADY BRIDES--6 episodes

c.  February 27, 1987--THE LOVE BOAT--"Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?"--Robert Reed and Florence Henderson reprise their roles as Mike and Carol Brady.

1988--REMOTE CONTROL--"Salute to Cindy Brady"--Cindy herself appears (played by John Ten Eyck!)

December 1988--A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS--Santa appears, and there is also a flashback to the first Brady Bunch Christmas episode mentioned earlier in this blog.

c. February 5, 1989--DAY BY DAY--"A Very Brady Episode"--From Toby O'B:  The only reason to count a dream sequence (as far as the Toobworld concept goes) is because the dreamer is aware of the reality of the dream's subject matter. (I was about to type "occupants". LOL) So when Alf dreamed about 'Gilligan's Island', he was aware of the news story when the seven stranded castaways were rescued. When the oldest kid in 'Day By Day' dreamt of 'The Brady Bunch', he was familiar with the reality show based on them. (And each example used the original actors from the respective shows.) So at least in Skitlandia - since Wayne doesn't exist in Earth Prime-Time - people know about the threat of Terminators, even if Skynet's reign hasn't begun.  My response is:  Wayne didn't dream about the Terminator. He actually encountered him on his way to the Alice Cooper concert. As for his dream of Melrose Place, he was dreaming about a fictional TV show. That was made clear. But there are also lots of other counterparts of 90210/Melrose Place in Skitlandia that I chose not to mention. I haven't found any connections to bring Alf into the TVCU, so I place him in the Marvel Universe, where he does have a connection. Weirdly, there is no solid connection for Gilligan's island in the TVCU, but there is for the Looniverse. Likewise, the Brady Bunch is in the TVCU, but Day by Day is in the Family Ties universe, with not connections to TVCU. But I do follow your same logic for dreams when both shows exist in the same reality. Just as I handle zonks by assuming the show referred to is either a reality show (like the Office), or somebody wrote a show about people they know (Seinfeld written by Jerry and Larry, Friends written by Gunther, Cheers written by Diane). I will always find a way to explain away why one show seems to be fictional in a world where it should be real. But when the two shows are clearly in alternate realities with no connections to each other, then there's not reason to explain things. That Terminator in Milwaukee is one of the many alternate reality version of the Terminator. In this one, Jon Connor must have been in Milwaukee instead of Los Angeles.



February to March 1990--THE BRADYS--4 episodes



1991 to 1998--STEP BY STEP--In a modern Brady Bunch kind of way, a single mom marries a single dad, and the kids don't get along.  This show and Family Matters would actually change to CBS in 1996, where they would be part of the short lived Saturday version of TGIF.  STEP BY STEP has also been zonked on other shows.  Likely the title is not a reference to this specific family as it is a pretty generic name.  Shows that it has been referenced on include:  SOUTH PARK, WILL & GRACE, and PSYCH.  Toby adds from the Toobworld site:  The youngest Lambert boy on the show, Brendan, saw his role reduced during the last few years of the show (especially after the birth of Lilly) until he was completely dropped from the show during the last season without explanation.

1991 to 1992--HI HONEY, I'M HOME--This series involves a family moving to a new town where only a child neighbor realizes this family was featured on an old TV show.  In fact (from the TVCU point of view), this family had been the focus of an early reality show, and were now trying to live a quiet life.  June Clever and Eddie Haskell have made appearance on this show.  Other former reality show stars appear on this series, including Alice and Trixie of THE HONEYMOONERS, Granpa of THE MUNSTERS, Alice the maid from THE BRADY BUNCH, Sally Rogers of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, Mr. Mooney of THE LUCY SHOW, and GOMER PYLE of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (and his own series.)



1992--SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE--Melanie Hutsell played Jan Brady once in a crossover spoof featuring the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family, which also featured Susan Dey reprising her role.  Hutsell then reprised the Jan Brady role for a Weekend Update segment, which places her portrayal within the TVCU.

c. May 19, 1993--BRADYMANIA:A VERY BRADY SPECIAL--Marcia Martin Brady appears.

c. February 17, 1995--THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE--The Partridge Family van is seen.  According to an episode of BOY MEETS WORLD, the family's former manager is still driving the van.



c. May 2, 1995--WINGS--"A House To Die For"--The reboot film versions of the Bradys appear.

1996--A VERY BRADY SEQUEL--Detective John Munch is in Los Angeles assisting on a case, and takes time to help out someone calling himself Mike Brady.  This causes some complications, as normally I wouldn't want to include this type of remake/spoof film in the TVCU.  In a very Brady blog, I will reconcile the movies with the original series.  But it's likely that this Mike Brady is the nephew of the Mike Brady from the series.  This film also creates a tie to GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, only it doesn't quite match up with the original series either, so this is some other Gilligan, Professor, and Minnow being referenced.  JEANNIE also appears, and this does seem to be the original Jeannie.  I'll cover these difficult appearances and references in later blogs. I've been thinking of Detective Munch's appearances in Arrested Development and A Very Brady Sequel. Both take place while Munch is working on SVU and in both of these he's working in Los Angeles. In AD, he's billed as Detective Munch and he's working with the CIA to find proof of treason amongst the Bluths. In AVBS, he's only credited as LAPD Detective, and he's working at the city desk. It doesn't make sense that this is the Detective Munch from SVU in these two crossovers, but it would make sense that this is Munch's twin brother, who works as a cop in LA.



August 12, 1998--WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAYS?--Drew Carey reveals that Wayne Brady is the illegitimate child of Mike and Carol.



c. October 20, 1998--MOESHA--"Hello, What's This?"--Jan Brady appears, played by Jennifer Elise Cox, who played Jan in the reboot movies.

2000--THE 2000 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS--Greg Brady appears.

July 2000--FAMILY GUY--"E. Peterbus Unum"--When Joe, Cleveland, and Quagmire discuss tax refunds, Charlie Brown in a ghost costume claims he only “got a rock.” This parodies a scene from the Peanuts Halloween television special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in which the characters trick-or-treat and Charlie Brown consistently receives rocks.  Anti-litter mascot Woodsy Owl appears during the song in reaction to Peter’s littering.  The political roundtable talk show in which the guests are separated by four squares ends with Alice from The Brady Bunch appearing in the center square as she did in the show’s theme song.  The Brady Bunch has also been featured in the following episodes:     
    - Excellence in Broadcasting (2010)
    - Spies Reminiscent of Us (2009) 
    - PTV (2005) 
    - Emission Impossible (2001) 
    - Death Has a Shadow (1999) 

c. May 12, 2002--THE X-FILES--"Sunshine Days"--Reyes and Doggett investigate two murders revolving around a house that is, at some points in time, identical to the Brady Bunch house.



Winter 2004--SWIFFER COMMERCIAL--Florence Johnston (maid for THE JEFFERSONS), Alice (maid for the BRADY BUNCH), BENSON (former Lieutenant Governor of New York), Rosario (maid from WILL & GRACE), and Geoffrey (butler of THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR) attend a domestic servant convention in a tropical location.

2006—Arrested Development—“Exit Strategy”

Detective Munch leads a scrapbooking club in hopes of getting a confession of treason out of Tobias Funke.

Robert Wronski doesn’t believe this is the same Detective Munch who appeared in just about every television series known to man. According to Rob, “I've been thinking of Detective Munch's appearances in Arrested Development and A Very Brady Sequel. Both take place while Munch is working in the SVU but in both of these he's working in Los Angeles. In Arrested Development, he's billed as Detective Munch and he's working with the CIA to find proof of treason amongst the Bluths. In A Very Brady Sequel, he's only credited as LAPD Detective, and he's working at the city desk. It doesn't make sense that this is the Detective Munch from SVU in these two crossovers, but it would make sense that this is Munch's twin brother, who works as a cop in LA.”

April 2009--SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS--"SpongeBob SquarePants Vs. the Big One"--Davy Jones appears.  Yes, the ghostly see legend Davy Jones appears often, but in this instance, it's an appearance of Davy Jones, formerly of the Monkees.  Davy Jones has appeared as a regular character on the Monkees playing a fictional version of himself, so like Seinfeld, all appearances of Davy Jones count as a MONKEES crossover.  Davy Jones has appeared as a fictional version of himself in HEAD, THE MONKEES, GOLDBERG P.I., THE DREAMSTERS:  WELCOME TO THE DREAMERY, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, HEY ARNOLD!, The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Award Show Program Special... Live!... in Stereo, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, THE SINGLE GUY, THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, HERMAN'S HEAD, THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES, THE BRADY BUNCH, MAKE ROOM FOR GRANDDADDY, Z CARS and THE JOEY BISHOP SHOW.

c. May 22, 2009--DANCE FLICK--The Bradys appear.  I haven't seen this film, so I'm not sure if this film is better suited for the Not Another Spoof Movie Universe (TVCU-80).

c. December 1, 2009--AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS:  THE BOOK OF LOVE--From Matt Hickman: So in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, the main characters find the book of love. It gets destroyed so they go to the original creator Noah Levenstein (Jim's Dad) and recreate it. He calls up some contributors from over the years including Dustin Diamond, C. Thomas Howell, Robert Romanus, Tim Matheson and Christopher Knight. Since they're not named I'm just going to assume they're all older versions of their characters from Saved by the Bell, Secret Admirer, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Animal House and the Brady Bunch.

c. June 20, 2012--BIGFOOT--From Toby O'Brien: From the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, about the June 30 Syfy movie "Bigfoot" (starring Danny Bonaduce and Barry Williams): "If you squint hard enough, you might be able to get some fun out of pretending this is actually a 'Brady Bunch'/'Partridge Family'/Harry And The Hendersons' crossover episode. I know I did!"

December 1, 2012--LADIES OF RAP--"TV Moms"--A ditzy girl thinks she's pregnant when suddenly 3 famous TV moms come out of the TV to rap some advice to her.  The moms are Peggy Bundy (MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN), Carol Brady (THE BRADY BUNCH), and Marge Simpson (THE SIMPSONS).

September 2014--TOSH.0--In an episode of Tosh.0 from this month, Tosh interviews a musical family in a familiar place. It's the Brady's back yard, and the family's dad/band leader says the home they are at was once owned by a famous architect who later died of AIDS.

THE POSSIBLE FUTURE...--REBOOT--On July 31, 2012, it was announced that CBS was developing a possible new The Brady Bunch series, produced by and starring Vince Vaughn. The series would act as a pseudo-sequel, in which Vaughn portrays an adult Bobby Brady, who has been divorced, but remarries to start a new family.

TVCU 52

TVCU-2-Reboots; this is also a world where vampires have been outed, the world fears mutants, and giant monsters do rise and wreak havoc. This is the setting of THE BRADY BUNCH IN THE WHITE HOUSE, where the original Mike Brady's nephew, also named Mike Brady, become President of the United States in 2001. This is not placed here because it's a reboot film. I've reconciled that the reboot films are the story of Mike's nephew named Mike. However, because of the nature of Mike becoming president, this has to take place in a divergent timeline. In the main TVCU timeline, TVCU-0 (or TVCU-Prime), George W. Bush was elected in 2000 and served from 2001 - 2008, as seen in numerous TVCU included series.

TVCU-12-DCAU. On TEEN TITANS episode "Employee of the Month", when Beast Boy is selling vacuums, the exterior shot of the Brady household is used. The interior is also the same as the Brady household.

TVCU-28-Robot Chicken. The Brady Bunch is spoofed in "Suck It".

TVCU-29-Skitlandia and non-canon commercials. The setting for the Brady Bunch spook sketch from the AMANDA SHOW episode "When Bradys Attack".

TVCU-33-Earth-prime/real universe/reality tv. This is the setting of UNAUTHORIZED BRADY BUNCH: THE FINAL DAYS, BRADY BUNCH HOME MOVIES, THE BRADY BUNCH 35TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION SPECIAL: STILL BRADY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, THE BRADY BUNCH CAST BACK IN HAWAII, THE BRADY BUNCH: COMING TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF and COME ON, GET HAPPY: THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY STORY.

TVCU-38-A world with a secret history of heroes, monsters, and other things beyond what we see outside our window. Perhaps it should be noted that elements as disparate as the Abbott and Costello films, "Gilligan's Island," "Hogan's Heroes," and Scooby Doo have been included in the "consensus" WNU via legitimate crossovers with established WNU alumni. I personally have made cases for wolding Nickelodeon shows such as "Drake and Josh," "Zoey 101," and "iCarly," as each of those shows have elements that would, IMO, fit in the "consensus" WNU schema. I have also personally brought in "The Brady Bunch," including keeping elements from their animated spin-off series, "The Brady Kids," as an important part of their WNU iteration. It should also be noted that in Win Scott Eckert's two volumes of CROSSOVERS (simply replacing the 'WNU' appellation with the Crossover Universe), his set of inclusion is cast far and wide, having no problem with including the likes of Josie and the Pussycats. --Chris N

TVCU-69--Porn universe. Setting of NOT THE BRADYS XXX