As an inexplicable flood of Brady Bunch episodes seemed to be washing over all of television this weekend, I found myself wondering: why the onslaught?
The answer, I eventually discovered: It's 40 years old.
That's right: the premiere episode, in which Mike and Carol's wedding is interrupted by the dog, the cat, and Mike falling into the cake, aired 40 years ago today: September 26, 1969.
The show's run was relatively short by today's family-sitcom standards: at five seasons, it comes in three seasons short of Home Improvement and four seasons short of Everybody Loves Raymond. Of course, if you count the movies (honestly, if you have never seen A Very Brady Christmas, I assure you it is a masterpiece of camp), the hour-long comedy-drama (Marcia is an alcoholic!), the variety show (HA HA HA!), and everything else, its influence becomes easier to understand.
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