MovieChat Forums > The Brady Bunch (1969) Discussion > Slight Goof in "Father of the Year"

Slight Goof in "Father of the Year"


Sorry if this has already been pointed out. I haven't checked all 402 (now 403) threads in this forum. In "Father of the Year," Marcia crumples up her essay, then pulls it out of the wastebasket, adds a few words, folds it unevenly in four, and shoves it into an envelope to mail. When the judges review it, they are holding a flat paper evenly folded in three. It admittedly took me multiple viewings to spot this.

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Multiple viewings? How often do you watch the brady bunch?

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I watched from day one and saw reruns, but recently it occurred to me I might not have seen every episode so I started watching on Pluto. A lot of episodes were missing from Pluto (which also lists them out of order) so I watched on DVD only those which were missing on Pluto. When I got to the Pilgrim episode on Pluto, I realized some dialogue was missing. I Googled it and found a site listing all the dialogue in that episode and quite a bit was missing from Pluto. After that I watched only the DVD versions, but I am rewatching all those I saw on Pluto to catch what I missed. It was on this repeat viewing that I noticed the paper folding detail. So now you know, Pluto both scrambles and butchers episodes.

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wait a minute, you watched them on DVD? So you have the brady bunch on DVD too?

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I have them on DVD too, you want to make something of it? It's a refreshing flashback to my childhood! They have sold 1000s of copies. Are you a troll, or just always this grumpy and contentions in life? You must not have many friends.

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How often do you watch it?

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Never anymore after the initial binge 15 years ago.

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Now, see that wasn't so difficult. I watched the show when I was a kid, it was ok. I had no idea it was so popular that it was on DVD.

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Yes, I am fascinated that a grown man purchased the DVD set. Do you also have the Keeping up with the Kardashians DVD set as well?

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I wasn't involved in the initial DVD discussion but I am a "grown man", and our family owns the DVD set that we bought to both binge for reminiscing purposes, and also got our kids interested. Our kids would binge on long road-trips in the van. [Yes I cringe that we actually owned a van (with DVD player) for five years].

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Ok, sounds good to me

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Just let him enjoy the show and quit being so toxic.

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You're a true fan. It's my favorite family show and I started watching when it originally aired on ABC every Friday night.

I just watched that episode and thought it was odd that she placed a crumpled letter in the envelope instead of starting a new one. I forgot to check if it was still crumpled when the judge was holding it, but you solved the mystery.

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I will never watch that episode again.

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Isn't that a bit drastic? It's a lovely episode even though another question isn't answered. Marcia sneaks out after dark, so probably at least 9:00 at night, to mail a letter, undoubtedly in a drop box. Was someone really going to empty that drop box and postmark the letter before midnight?

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I'm pretty crushed about it.

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I had to research that one. USPS website:

"If a mailpiece is dropped off at a 24-hour postal location before the last pickup time listed at that location, it would be postmarked with the date it was dropped off. Similarly, if a mailpiece is deposited in a Collection Box receptacle before the last pickup time, it will be collected and postmarked that same day."

I'll assume that her area had a late night cut-off time for mail.

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I thank you for that. It makes my mind rest easier.

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This episode also gave them the perfect opportunity to explain what happened to Marcia, Jan, and Cindy's "real" father, but of course, they avoid that subject entirely. (SPOILER for those who haven't seen all the episodes: Mike Brady is married to their mother, but not their biological parent!!!!)

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I always thought Sam the butcher was the girls biological father

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Apparently not, despite several double entendres about his handling of meat.

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Sherwood Schwartz made it very clear that Carol was supposed to be divorced. However, the censors at the time would not allow them to put that on the air. So, he made the decision NEVER to mention the girl's father at all.

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(SPOILER for those who haven't seen all the episodes: Mike Brady is married to their mother, but not their biological parent!!!!)


Ugh, why'd you have to spoil this for me?! I haven't gotten to the 3rd verse of the opening theme yet!

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ha ha, funny!

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In a recent interview, Barry stated Carol was a divorcee. I thought she was a widow. I know the first Mrs. Brady passed away. I often wondered if Alice or his brothers told Bobby to put his mom's picture away on the wedding day to not upset Carol. It was sitting on his dresser, and Mike reassured him Carol would not be upset if the picture was visible.

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Just throwing this out there:
Maybe what the judges were holding was a transcription of Marsha's letter. They were taking pictures and didn't want a crumpled paper to appear in the paper.

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Thats nonsense. They simply did not think anything of it while filming the scene

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I guess someone could have typed it up but that's a little far-fetched.

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