sddavis63 Like pretty much every kid of my generation I grew up watching The Brady Bunch. I can't say that it was ever my absolute favourite TV show. I always preferred "Gilligan's Island" and "Hogan's Heroes" - but this was certainly part of my after school fare (it was the early 70's and they were all in syndication by then.) I've heard a lot of the stories about the show - Barry Williams (Greg) and Maureen McCormick (Marcia) hooking up, Robert Reed (dad Mike) being gay and being very uncomfortable showing any affection for Florence Henderson (mom Carol) and also rebelling against what he saw as a silly sitcom that would ruin his career as a dramatic actor, Barry's actual "date" with Florence - but I've never actually read Williams' book. And as a big fan of The Big Bang Theory, I decided I wanted to watch this when I found out that Kaley Cuoco actually played Maureen McCormick in this and was delighted to find out that it was available on You Tube. And it turned out to be a fun and nostalgic made for TV movie.The cast I thought was superb. With the exception perhaps of Suanne Spoke (who played Ann B. Davis, who played Alice - these kinds of movies can get confusing) all of the cast members looked their parts and played them pretty well. It's interesting watching these child actors work with their parts, struggle with keeping real life separate from their TV lives, and seeing apparently all the kids struggle a bit with hormones - challenging as the attractions were to their TV brothers and sisters, making for some difficulty with some scenes (humourously portrayed as we watch Barry and Maureen try to shoot a scene together without getting carried away!) It is a lot of fun, and it did give a good "behind the scenes" feel. The film (according to its closing credits) was in memory of Robert Reed (who had died in 1992) but it didn't pull any punches in its portrayal of him. He was, as I've heard, fiercely devoted to and protective of his "TV kids" but he also hated the show he co-starred with them in, believing it would destroy his career as a serious actor, and he was a challenge to deal with on the set, demanding continual rewrites and refusing to play certain scenes. Reed's attitude (along with the kids coming to be represented by a sleazeball agent who was more interested in making money off their hoped for singing career than the TV show) ended up being the death of the series after five seasons on the air.The biggest weakness of the movie (and this is perhaps because it's based on Barry Williams book) is that it probably concentrated a little bit too much on the Williams-McCormick relationship. I can understand the challenge involved. Maureen McCormick was a very pretty girl. I had a crush on her too! If I were Barry Williams I'd have had some of the same problems he had (including one hilarious scene when he had invited Maureen to his parents home for dinner and his parents "interrupted" them, calling them down for dessert and poor Barry had to walk downstairs and to the couch bent over - for obvious and completely understandable reasons.This is a fun, nostalgic movie. It wouldn't be of interest to anyone other than fans of The Brady Bunch, but if you are a fan of the show and you've never seen this, it will be enjoyable to watch. (8/10)

velcrohead I picked this title up at the local Big Lots. I've heard about the book, was curious to read it, but figured I'd pick up the DVD for the "cliff's notes" version of it. Well, I'm happy to say that what I intended for cheap entertainment actually turned out to be one of the more engaging movies I've seen in quite a while.I was a Brady Bunch fan as a kid. Of course the show was canceled a couple of years before I was born, but it was (and still is) hard to miss reruns of Sherwood Schwartz shows like "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch." Like Barry, I was hot for Maureen McCormick (even though Cindy would've probably been more age-appropriate for me at the time.) I enjoyed each episode, even though some small part of my juvenile mind still knew that each plot was overly simplistic and...well...cheesy.Adam Brody does a decent job of playing Barry Williams here. He's extremely likable, though I suppose there wasn't much chance of seeing his bad side, since Barry wrote the novel on which this film is based. It's incredibly easy to empathize with him, and what red-blooded American male can't identify with the stars in Barry's eyes when he first lays eyes on gorgeous Maureen (played brilliantly by Kaley Cuoco)? It's important to remember that the story is told from Barry's perspective. People who are curious about the point of view of, say, Florence Henderson aren't going to get very much out of the film. Still, there's a great deal of peripheral information about the show that I learned from this movie that I didn't realize before, such as Bob Reed's distaste for the show in general, Eve and Chris's hook-up, and Barry's date with Florence. I appreciated that they explained the disappearance of Tiger, though I have heard different versions of the event. Watching the Brady boys running wild around the Paramount lot with the blessing of Sherwood Schwartz was priceless. (I hope they saved those Star Trek props!) It was also interesting to see the Brady set completely rebuilt to perfection (even including the horse statue at the foot of the stairs.) It was equally spooky to see the empty sound stage at the end of the movie where Barry meets "fake Maureen." (I've seen this mistake here more than once. Though she looks like Maureen, it's not really her, as you can tell by looking at the credits. Shame, that. It would've been refreshing to see the real one.) The best thing about the whole movie is the love story between two teenagers who were never destined to be together. The unrequited love between them is so palpable that it almost hurts to watch. One really has to marvel at the fact that so few people are able to distinguish actor from character and fact from fiction, such that Barry and Maureen--who are not actually brother and sister--couldn't publicly carry on a relationship without it making the tabloids. (Though, curiously, nobody seemed to care much when he took his mom--Florence--out to a swanky Hollywood watering hole.) Barry and Maureen are both cute and sweet together, but their maddening inability to "seal the deal" keeps the romantic tension at a fever pitch. And that final moment after season 5 when Maureen backs out of sleeping with Barry left me aching just as much as Barry. I found myself hearkening back to my own personal days of heartbreak while watching Barry's sorrow-filled pity party, even while he clumsily tried to score a pity-screw from Florence.After watching this movie, I was moved to learn more about each of the Bradys. It's inspiring to look around the internet and know that every one of these actors hold nothing but fond memories of the show and maintain close relationships with their co-stars. And while I know it hasn't happened yet--and isn't likely to, as both of them have married others--but I truly hope that someday, even if it's in an old-folks home, Barry and Maureen will still come full circle on their romance.Till then, I'll just have to wait. And we'll just have to see what Maureen's side of the story is when her tell-all is published later on this year.

sajeeva sinniah 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.

Ed in St. Louis This was a well-done special. I'm always a sucker for these kind of shows....I love to see the process behind what makes something work. Naturally these guys weren't creating Shakespeare at the Paramount Studios--much to the consternation of Robert Reed--but the Brady Bunch series they put out was sweet and lighthearted, and made us forget our problems for a half-hour or so. One thing I didn't understand....why did the real Barry meet the real Maureen McCormick at the Paramount Studios at the end, only to deny that she was who she was? Did Maureen insist that she get no credit for appearing on this show? But otherwise, a very good way to remember a very happy series.