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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Where it all Begins


It all starts with the Brady Bunch. For those of us who grew up anywhere in the mid-70's - early 80's, the Bradys were our extended family. Back in elementary school, my brother and I would get off the bus around 4:00, grab some pretzels, and sit on our olive green carpet in the living room, watching WNEW-TV in New York.

The first hour of after-school viewing always featured back to back Brady episodes. Given that we followed this routine for at least 5 years (X 180 school days per year), that would be 1800 Brady viewings during my time at White Rock Elementary School. So, let's face it - we saw more than our share of repeats. But somehow that didn't matter. In fact, that was part of the fun. My brother, Dave, and I would try to see how many seconds it took for us to identify each episode from the little opening sequence.

All of this nonsense actually became valuable during my freshman year away at Rutgers. I was surprised (and pleased) to discover that the peculiarities of my childhood weren't so peculiar at all - the place was crawling with Brady fans. And, because I knew that Billy Garst was the "most popular boy" to Jan's "most popular girl" and that Johnny Dimsdale's father owned the recording studio where the Brady 6 cut the puberty record, I became the official Brady Trivia King of Clothier Hall, floor 2.

5 Classic Brady Moments:

1) Ooh, my nose. When we finally got a VCR, my brother and I had a field day showing rewinding this scene again and again. The ball missed her by at least a foot!

2) Buddy Hinton. I'm sure you wanted to knock his tooth out, too!

3) Thurston Howell pays off his pool debts in chewing gum when Bobby destroys him in a tournament.

4) Joe Namath completes a "bomb" to Bobby in the 10X10 backyard.

5) Greg and Marcia get scolded for calling Bobby a "Stinker" - Carol: "Now kids, you know I don't like that word"!

What are your favorites?

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