The Good

The Bad

The hair is longer, the clothes are uglier so we must be really into the 1970s on The Brady Bunch - The Complete Third Season. This is a show that seems pretty novel for it’s time, in that it dealt with two separate families who come together to form one. Also, a lot of the problems they deal with aren’t easy to solve and certainly won’t go away in the 20+ minutes that each episode lasts. Still, I find that there are many moments of “realness” in the show, and when thinking about my youth I feel very lucky to have been able to have these shows to grow up with.

I remember seeing the Brady Kids on a camping trip in the Grand Canyon, and then a few years later when I started going camping I wondered if my trips would be like theirs. I remember feeling too young to be able to do “grown up” things, and like Bobby and Cindy in “The Teeter-Totter” Caper I too wanted to try and break records and be noticed. I loved the “Big Bet” episode simply because so many times my life I felt like Bobby, and it was always a great feeling when I could beat the big kids at their own games. I have had traffic school two times in my life (believe me, that was enough) and when I have gone I always think of Mr. Brady throwing his briefcase at the end of “The Fender Benders” episode.

The Brady Bunch - The Complete Third Season continues the fun that the other two seasons have given us. I cannot wait until 11/1/2005 when The Brady Bunch - The Complete Fourth Season comes to DVD!

Features

No extras came with this DVD set and that really saddens me. I would have loved some behind the scenes stuff, or maybe some more commentary tracks from the Brady Kids or even show creator Sherwood Schwartz. I know that eventually these DVDs are all going to come out in some boffo-socko, groovy box set but for right now I guess I will just have to settle with what the nice folks at Paramount give me.

Video

Full Screen. At times the colors don’t remain as sharp as they are throughout each episode, but honestly I am such a fan of these shows that this little inconsistency isn’t something that I really notice. I usually think that the compression of the DVDs helps the transfer, but we must remember that we are dealing with shows that were shot over 30 years ago. There is going to be some wear and tear on the prints, and furthermore colors will inevitably fade. While I was a little taken aback at how shaggy all the characters have become from the first and second seasons, what would this show be if it didn’t reflect the hairstyles and clothing looks of the time?

Audio

Dolby Digital - English Mono. While certainly not doing anything that “groundbreaking” in the sound department, I didn’t notice any moments where the sound “dropped out” or didn’t sound right. As I am sure you have guessed by now, this show would have to have some pretty bad flaws for me to really get on it for anything. I am even a fan of the music that it used to underscore the emotional moments, so what does that say about me? I even watch the theme song for every episode when I could easily “fast forward” my way through it. I know...

Package

Green is the main color surrounding the vinyl, cardboard cover of this box set. There is another picture from the opening of the show with all the characters in their boxes. After doing a quick comparison it appears that the same cover picture has been used for both this and the second season. How they have switched things up is that the characters are looking in different directions. The back features the cast of the show, a description of the episodes that make up this Season, an episode list and some minor technical specs. The DVDs themselves are housed in two slim cases, and on the backs of the cases are descriptions of each episode. I am a very big fan of the economical packaging that they have utilized for all the Seasons of The Brady Bunch thus far.

Final Word

I think the character that I have the most identification with is Bobby. It might be because he is the oldest. It might be because I just liked the shows about him more when I was kid. I can’t really pinpoint the reason, I can just say that there is something about his character that I really feel a close connection with. In fact, so well done are these shows that I think I relate to every character in one way or another. Very few shows have the effect on me that The Brady Bunch does. There is something so simple about it. Sure there are some episodes that are a tad cheesy here and there, but on the whole I really think that this show is well done and captures the essence of the American family. At least, the American family as I know it.

Another reason why I think this show works is because the people creating it went out of their way to make it real. As the kids got older, their problems got bigger. Even though they all still lived at home there was weight added to each character season after season. It was done in a very subtle way but it’s more noticeable watching the shows on DVD, because we don’t have to wait 5 years to put everything together.

The Brady Bunch - The Complete Third Season is an institution for TV on DVD and I look forward to the final two seasons with much anticipation. Now, if only they would throw a few extras on those upcoming discs...

The Brady Bunch was released .