Growing Up Brady (2000)

Knowing facts about what 'actually' happened behind the scenes, is the most interesting- especially when it comes to the Brady Bunch, where all characters shine on TV, earning them the 'happiest family' tagline.After watching this, one could easily say.. 'well they were not so happy after all'. Though this movie was through Barry Williams' perspective, it gave all the characters, an equal part. I guess all questions can finally be answered – in this movie, the question on everyone's mind seem to be – did Barry Williams have a fling with Maureen MaCormack? Well the answer to that is all explained in the movie. Another thing which is quite obvious is that no series is complete with a black sheep- and in this movie, we find out who the black sheep of the series was, and all the other flings which happened duringAll in all it was a great movie, and a great recommendation to any fan of the TV series.

Anyone old enough to remember the series has heard the stories. We know about "the date" and we know of Robert Reed's "secret" and of Barry's first love. To be effective, Growing Up Brady had to stick to what we know but not make it a weak, years-later rerun. And the creators succeeded. The first half-hour was terrific -- good lines, quick cuts, the use of Brady Bunch-like look and sound, a lot of innocent comedy and good fun but packed with nostalgia. The cut-ups by the boys on the sound stage, the one-on-ones between cast members. I concur with those who praise Michael Tucker and Daniel Hugh Kelly: A-1 acting jobs and in very tough roles. The kids were more wooden and Florence Henderson's role seemed to be for photographic but not plot purposes; we got no feel for her as a person. This movie could have been a real bomb job, either a weak bio or a rip of the show or the personalties; somehow, both were avoided. The creative forces here did their homework and turned out a winner, though I would add that the Greg-Marcia romance got a bit old.

Not as hard-hitting and dramatically potent as the original series. However, they did an amazing job of matching the general cheesiness and overall production values. They must have saved a fortune making this, since they were able to film most of it on a totally undisguised Paramount backlot.Hey - I'm a Brady Bunch fan from the original network days, and I own the book, but I just found this rather embarrassing to all concerned.

I should start by saying that I usually don't have a very strong opinion of these type of "made-for-tv biopics". However, I found that I not only enjoyed this film, but was even somewhat touched by it's depiction of such innocence.What made this film work? Perhaps it was the fact that Barry Williams himself told the story from an honest and sincere point of view. We got to see what it was really like from the eyes of a child coping with stardom in the 70's. An honest portrayal of such an experience proved to be interesting and enjoyable.We get to see first hand how greed and misplaced anger ended a successful show far too early. I am a firm believer that people create their own problems. This film solidifies that notion with Sherwood Schwartz trying desperately to keep everyone happy and eventually drowning in a pool of despair. Robert Reed wanted more meaningful scripts, the kids wanted a list of impractical demands, and the network wanted the exact same stories repeated each season. Lack of interest didn't kill the Bradys, the Bradys killed the Bradys! Tragic.In conclusion, I urge anyone with an interest in The Brady Bunch to see this film. It seems like all I hear these days is that the Brady Bunch wasn't real life. I can attest to that, and I thought maybe that's what made the show so interesting, but after seeing the backstage goings on, I realized that no matter what the Brady's were doing on or off screen, it was always entertaining to watch. This biopic will definitely back that statement up!