A Very Brady Christmas

Last updated
A Very Brady Christmas
A Very Brady Christmas VideoCover.jpg
Genre Comedy drama
Written by Sherwood Schwartz
Lloyd J. Schwartz
Directed by Peter Baldwin
Starring
Theme music composer Frank De Vol (main title)
Composer Laurence Juber
Country of originUnited States
Production
Executive producer Sherwood Schwartz
Producers Lloyd J. Schwartz
Barry Berg
Production locations15434 Sutton Street, Sherman Oaks, California
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Cinematography Isidore Mankofsky
EditorSteve Shultz
Running time100 minutes
Production companiesThe Sherwood Schwartz Company
Paramount Television
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseDecember 18, 1988 (1988-12-18)
Related

A Very Brady Christmas is a 1988 American made-for-television Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Peter Baldwin and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, and Jennifer Runyon. It reunited the original cast members of the 1969–1974 sitcom The Brady Bunch , with the exception of Susan Olsen. Ron Kuhlman and Jerry Houser both reprised their characters from the short-lived 1981 sitcom The Brady Brides .

Contents

A Very Brady Christmas premiered on CBS on December 18, 1988, and was the second highest-rated television film of 1988.

Plot

Mike and Carol Brady have a savings account, which both spouses planned to use to bankroll a vacation for the other; Carol wanted to take Mike to Greece, while Mike wanted to treat Carol to a trip to Japan. When they realize their ideas collide, they use the money to try to reunite the entire family for Christmas by paying for airline tickets for their children, grandchildren and their in-laws.

However, all of the Brady kids are facing personal obstacles that might keep them from enjoying the festivities: Greg's wife Nora is spending Christmas with her family; Peter is romantically involved with his boss Valerie and his inferior position and salary is affecting his self-confidence; Bobby has dropped out of graduate school to become a race car driver but has not revealed this to his parents; Marcia's husband Wally was fired from his job at a toy company; Jan is separating from her husband Philip and Cindy is fighting for her independence since she is the youngest and still gets treated like the baby of the family. Cindy is currently a college undergraduate and in an issue similar to Bobby's, Cindy lies to her parents about overwhelming college student issues, when in actuality she plans to go skiing in Aspen with her roommates.

Even their former housekeeper Alice is dealing with a serious issue: her husband Sam has recently left her for another woman. Through each child deciding to spend the holiday and eventually opening up about their issues, Mike and Carol are able to help them out. Jan got back together with Philip, Bobby told his family about that NASCAR racing circuit, and Wally got a new job at Mike's friend's toy company. Mike knew that Wally was fired and helped them out. Nora arrives to surprise Greg, but the family's Christmas dinner is disrupted when Mike learns that a ruthless businessman he designed a building for has cut corners, resulting in the building collapsing and trapping two security guards inside. Mike manages to free the trapped employees, but an aftershock results in Mike getting trapped in rubble himself.

In the end, Mike gets out of the debris after Carol and the entire family sings "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (a nod to Carol singing it in the original series' episode "The Voice of Christmas"). After returning home, the family's dinner is again interrupted, this time by a man at the door dressed as Santa Claus. The kids ask where his bag of presents is, but he tells them that he only has one present, for Alice; it turns out to be Sam, in disguise, who has seen the error of his ways and pleads for Alice's forgiveness. After she takes Sam back, the family invites him to stay for dinner, and everyone ends the film singing a chorus of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

Cast

Impact

When A Very Brady Christmas first aired, it was the highest rated television film of the season with a 25.1 rating and a 39 share but ultimately finished as the second highest rated television film of the season. [1] [2] Thanks in large part to the film's success, [3] [4] CBS and Sherwood Schwartz created a new television series in 1990, The Bradys , continuing the story of the Brady family and its now-adult children. Only six episodes were produced. [2] Critics nicknamed the new series "Brady-something", after the adult-oriented TV drama Thirtysomething , highlighting the fact that this new Brady series had a more serious tone and more dramatic storylines as compared to the original series. [5]

After the network canceled The Bradys, two theatrical films were made later in the 1990s: The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995, and A Very Brady Sequel in 1996. A second sequel, The Brady Bunch in the White House , aired as a made-for-television film on Fox in 2002. All three featured a new, younger cast filling the roles of the Bradys. [6]

Home media

In November 1992, Paramount Home Video released A Very Brady Christmas on VHS, but it has long been out of print.

In April 2007, the film was included as a bonus feature on The Brady Bunch: The Complete Series 21-disc DVD set by CBS/Paramount. [7]

CBS/Paramount released A Very Brady Christmas as a stand-alone DVD on October 10, 2017. [8]

The film was re-released on DVD by CBS/Paramount in June 2019 as a part of The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original series. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Brady Bunch</i> American sitcom

The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three girls. After its cancellation in 1974, the series debuted in syndication in September 1975. Though it was never a ratings hit or a critical success during its original run, the program has since become a popular syndicated staple, especially among children and teenage viewers.

<i>Day by Day</i> (American TV series) American sitcom of the 1980s

Day by Day is an American sitcom television series created by Andy Borowitz and Gary David Goldberg, which aired on NBC from February 29, 1988 to June 4, 1989. It stars Douglas Sheehan, Linda Kelsey, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Thora Birch in her television debut role.

<i>The Brady Kids</i> American TV series or program

The Brady Kids is an American animated television series and a spin-off based on the ABC live-action sitcom The Brady Bunch, produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television. It aired on ABC from September 9, 1972, to October 6, 1973, and also spun off another Filmation series, Mission: Magic!, starring Rick Springfield.

<i>The Brady Bunch Movie</i> 1995 film by Betty Thomas

The Brady Bunch Movie is a 1995 American comedy film that parodies the 1969–1974 television series The Brady Bunch. The film was directed by Betty Thomas, with a screenplay by Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, and stars Shelley Long, Gary Cole, and Michael McKean. It also features cameos from Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, RuPaul, and some of the original cast of The Brady Bunch in new roles.

<i>A Very Brady Sequel</i> 1996 film by Arlene Sanford

A Very Brady Sequel is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Arlene Sanford, with a screenplay by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, James Berg and Stan Zimmerman, and starring Shelley Long, Gary Cole and Tim Matheson. It also features cameos from RuPaul, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Eden, David Spade, and Richard Belzer.

<i>The Bradys</i> 1990 television series

The Bradys is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from February 9 to March 9, 1990. The series is a sequel and continuation of the original 1969–1974 sitcom The Brady Bunch, focusing on its main characters as adults, and was the second such continuation after the 1981 sitcom The Brady Brides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eve Plumb</span> American actress, singer and painter

Eve Aline Plumb is an American actress, singer and painter. She is best known for portraying the middle daughter Jan Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Olsen</span> American actress

Susan Marie Olsen is an American actress and former radio host. Olsen is known for her role as Cindy Brady, the youngest Brady child in the sitcom The Brady Bunch for the full run of the show, from 1969 to 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Williams (actor)</span> American actor (born 1954)

Barry William Blenkhorn, better known by his stage name Barry Williams, is an American actor. He is known for his role as the eldest of the Brady sons, Greg Brady, on the ABC television series The Brady Bunch (1969–1974), a role he reprised in several sequels and spin-offs including the animated series The Brady Kids (1972), the variety series The Brady Bunch Hour (1976-1977) and the television films The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) and A Very Brady Christmas (1988) and the reality television series A Very Brady Renovation (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Lookinland</span> American former actor (born 1960)

Michael Paul Lookinland is an American actor and cameraman. He is best known for his role as the youngest brother, Bobby Brady, on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974, and all of its sequels and spinoffs.

<i>The Brady Bunch Hour</i> American television series

The Brady Bunch Hour is an American variety show featuring skits and songs produced by Sid & Marty Krofft Productions in association with Paramount Television. It ran on ABC from November 28, 1976, to May 25, 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Houser</span> American television, film and voice actor

Jerry Houser is an American former actor. He is best known for his role as Oscar "Oscy" Seltzer in Summer of '42 and its sequel, Class of '44, as Dave "Killer" Carlson in Slap Shot, and the role of Wally Logan in various Brady Bunch spinoffs throughout the 1980s and '90s.

<i>The Brady Bunch in the White House</i> 2002 TV series or program

The Brady Bunch in the White House is a 2002 American comedy television film and the second sequel to The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), following A Very Brady Sequel (1996). It was directed by Neal Israel and written by Lloyd J. Schwartz and Hope Juber, based upon characters originally developed by Sherwood Schwartz for the television sitcom The Brady Bunch (1969–1974). Although Shelley Long and Gary Cole reprise their roles from the previous films, the children and Alice were all recast in this film.

<i>Growing Up Brady</i>

Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg is a 1992 autobiography written by actor Barry Williams with Chris Kreski and a foreword by Robert Reed.

Growing Up Brady is a 2000 American made-for-television biographical film based on the 1992 autobiography Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg written by actor Barry Williams with Chris Kreski. Directed by Richard A. Colla, it starred Williams, Adam Brody, Kaley Cuoco, Daniel Hugh Kelly and Michael Tucker, and was originally broadcast May 21, 2000 on NBC.

"Time to Change" is a 1972 bubblegum pop song from the television sitcom The Brady Bunch performed by The Brady Bunch Kids. The song and another Brady Bunch Kids song, "We Can Make the World a Whole Lot Brighter", were featured in The Brady Bunch episode "Dough Re Mi" which aired on January 14, 1972.

A Very Brady Renovation is an American reality television miniseries airing on HGTV. It showcases the renovation of the Studio City, California house that was used for many of the exterior shots in the 1969–1974 American sitcom The Brady Bunch. The house was purchased by HGTV in 2018 for $3.5 million. The renovation was completed in May 2019 and the miniseries premiered on September 9, with the surviving Brady Bunch cast appearing in the program.

Dragging the Classics: The Brady Bunch is a television special that was released on the streaming service Paramount+ on June 30, 2021. The special sees drag queens from RuPaul's Drag Race and original cast members from The Brady Bunch recreating the season two episode "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?".

References

  1. ↑ "Brady reunion a ratings gift for CBS". Toronto Star . December 21, 1988. p. C3. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  2. 1 2 Burlingame, Jon (December 22, 1989). "'Brady' movie rerun promotes new series". Times-News . Hendersonville. p. C3. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  3. ↑ Zuckerman, Faye (February 9, 1990). "Feel-good family returns". Wilmington Morning Star . p. 5D. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  4. ↑ Storm, Jonathan (February 9, 1990). "'Bradys' Are Back with a Bigger Bunch". The Philadelphia Inquirer . p. D01. Subscription required, Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  5. ↑ "A Very Brady Bunch 'Bradysomething'" . Deseret News . Salt Lake City. February 9, 1990. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  6. ↑ Wertheimer, Ron (November 29, 2002). "Television in Review; 'The Brady Bunch in the White House'". The New York Times .
  7. ↑ "The Brady Bunch – The Complete Series (Seasons 1–5 + Shag Carpet Cover) (1969)". Amazon.com . 3 April 2007. Retrieved Feb 16, 2010.
  8. ↑ "The Brady Bunch - Ho! Ho! Ho! It's 'A Very Brady Christmas' on DVD!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  9. ↑ Latchem, John (May 30, 2019). "'Brady Bunch' Celebrates 50 Years With Comprehensive DVD Collection June 4". Media Play News.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.