Any Reviews of The Brady Bunch: Season 4? (1 Viewer)

[ScottR]

Thanks for saying you're going to contact them too John....keep me posted!

 

[Josh_HI]

Got my set at walmart for $29.96. Haven't started it yet because I'm still watching Alias. I can't believe Best Buy had it for $34.99. There prices just keep getting higher and higher....Thank God for Walmart!

 

[Jack Platt]

Yea Ethan,

I remember the movie sequence. The only thing is, I remember Nick at Nite showing the "Hawaii" package as a 90-minute movie in the late 80's or early 90's. (We didn't even have cable until 1985.) I can not recall the movie package earlier than that. But what you are saying makes sense.

I wonder if they could have done the Grand Canyon episodes this way as well at some point in time. This could explain the missing squares on both.

The edits certainly wouldn't prevent me from buying the set.

Jack

 

[Rob P S]

So does this mean the Bobby-and-Cindy nude sunbathing scene in "Goodbye Alice Hello" has been restored? I haven't seen that scene since the 80's.

 

[Ethan Riley]

No, but the Tiger/Fluffy inter-species romance sequence has been restored to "The Subject Was Noses."

 

[JohnMor]

Yes, Rob, it is there and complete.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Did Christopher Knight get a black eye during the Hawaii episodes?? Peter looks like he has a shiner in some scenes. Look for when he's sitting on the bed in the second part.

 

[Jack Platt]

Could we have another missing squares issue in Season 4?

A poster at Amazon.com is reporting that we have missing fill-in squares on the "Love and the Older Man" episode:

Check here: (than scroll down to the first review)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...s=dvd&v=glance

Jack

 

[ScottR]

Ok, this is starting to get worrisome. I'm getting concerned that they are releasing this too quickly.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Missing squares now and again don't bother me; missing scenes and dialogue do. I hope the Bradys will be released again in a few years, in the new format (blu-ray or whatever), and be a little better. I was just watching the Hawaii ep...it looks REALLY good, until they get to certain re-inserted scenes. Then the quality goes boom. It makes for some mighty uneven viewing. A prime example in this season is the first ep, when Bobby is talking to Don Ho...when Don Ho leaves the scene, suddenly the image grain, color and lighting are about 1/10th as good as they were before (when Bobby smashes the ukelele). Of course, these reinsertions occur frequently (VERY frequently) throughout ALL the Brady eps. I have yet to see ONE that didn't look like that.

In the future, as restoration technology improves, hopefully they'll have another look at BB and make some upgrades.

Another thing...why, oh why is there no audio commentary on these sets?? The first season had THREE commentaries; so far, there've been NONE since then. I thought the Barry Williams/Susan Olsen/Christopher Knight commentaries were lively and entertaining and was looking forward to many more. However, EL ZIPPO for the remaining seasons. I hate dvds with no extras. I have a funny feeling that BB is looked at as a cheapie; and that someday I'll have to go and buy the whole dang thing over again in a better edition .

 

[Jack Platt]

Scott,

I agree. Do you think that this is an unprecedented release rate for a series going to DVD ?

At any rate, it looks like you may have another item for your Paramount list!

Jack

 

[JohnMor]

Just discovered today: There's no tag scene on "Greg Gets Grounded." It goes from the cast squares right to the end credits. It has been years since I've seen that episode, but I recall a tag scene involving Peter, Bobby & the frogs.

And, yes, it's true that the cast boxes are missing on "Marcia and the Older Man."

 

[Jack Platt]

I can help on this episode, (Lines may not be verbatum, but very close.)

The final lines with Greg, Rachel, and the frogs at the drive-in are:

Greg: "I don't think we'll be eating this tonight. And he was in 34th place too." (TV Land fills in the cast squares before Greg says his second line.) We also miss Rachel laugh and then the fade out.

In the tag sequence. (If this is missing on the DVD, we're in trouble.) there is a fade in with Greg talking to Mike and Carol in their bedroom which goes something like this:

Carol (laughing) : "Hahahahahaha, you may have invented a whole new dish, pepperoni frog pizza!"

Greg: "Well the evening would have been a complete wipe-out if Rachel hadn't been such a good sport."

Mike: "Yea, and none of it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for your exact words."

Greg: "You suppose we could forget about that?"

Mike: "That's a deal."

(Greg leaves)

Mike: "I have to get some sleep" (He turns out the light.)

Carol: "Aren't you going to kiss me good night?"

Mike: "Did I say that?"

Carol: "No you just said you had to get some sleep, those were your exact words."

Mike: "My exact words." (He kisses her goodnight, followed by the end credits.)

Jack

 

[JohnMor]

Thanks, Jack. I think this might be a case of re-editing. What you transcribe is all there on the DVD, but it dissolves from the drive in (after Greg's last line & Rachel's laugh to the shot of Carol in the bedroom laughing, and at the end of that scene come the cast boxes, then the final credits. I remember it exactly as I just described, but with a tag scene in the back yard with Peter & Bobby & their frogs. I guess in syndication it could have been re-edited to make the last scene of Act 2 the tag scene, and just chopped off the rather "extraneous" tag that really only had to do with the secondary plot. Because of the dissolve from Rachel & Greg to Carol, that could explain why TV Land would have to add the cast boxes even before Greg says his second line.

Oh well. I'm not nearly as certain of this epsiode as I am about the cuts on the vacation episodes, but I'm *relatively* sure there was the tag scene I remember.

Thanks again for the transcription. That helped me to place it in perspective.

 

[michaelLinn]

I have the Season 4 DVD, and I do know from memory that there is a bit of dialogue missing from the "Pass the Tabu" Hawaii episode on the DVD:

After Greg, Peter, and Bobby learn from the old Hawaiian gentleman (Mr. Honolay) that Bobby's Tiki statue is bad luck and carries a curse to all who touch it, they tell their parents about it at the motel. Mike and Carol think it's just silly superstition. Carol says to the boys, "That's just a story from a superstitious old gentleman. That little statue only has the power that you imagine it to have." Then Mike says, "Yeah, take it home and show it your friends. They'll get a big kick out of it." Then Mike and Carol leave the room while giving Peter a playful pat on the head. That's all on the DVD, but this next piece of dialogue is edited out (I'm typing these lines from memory, so they may not be exact):

Edited Part:

Greg says: "You know, what Mom and Dad said makes sense. I mean, all those things *could* have happened *without* a Tabu....You guys don't really believe in the Tabu, do you?" Peter and Bobby both say that they do. Then Greg says, "Yeah, I kinda do, too."

The next line--included on the DVD--has Bobby saying, "What are we going to do about it?" So the DVD goes from Mike and Carol leaving the room to Bobby asking, "What are we going to do about it?" The dialogue about whether the boys actually believe in the Tabu or not is edited out. Then Greg explains that they'll need to go to the old burial ground as Mr. Honolay told them to remove the curse.

 

[michaelLinn]

I'm not sure if there WAS a tag scene at the end of this episode. I think that's why TV Land had ended this ep at the drive-in with the Brady squares filling up the screen at that point. TV Land's "tag scene" has Greg returning home and laughing about the incident with his parents in their bedroom - which is how the DVD ended the episode with the squares filling in at that point, followed by the closing credits.

 

[ScottR]

Could it be that when the three episodes were edited into a movie, that they needed extra footage to fill in the cut intros, and added in the footage not on the dvd? Maybe this footage was the source for syndication.

 

[Jack Platt]

Here is my Missing Squares Theory:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...=155318&page=2

(Scroll down in this thread and read my last post.)

Jack

 

[Jack Platt]

Guys,

Should you choose to contact Paramount regarding the small edit in the Brady Bunch disks, you might find the following information below helpful:

Elizabeth Moran's 1992 Edition of Bradymania! list the following address for Paramount's Home Video Department

Paramount Television
Home Video Department
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Note that years ago I wrote to them about getting the Brady Bunch on home video, but do not recall receiving a response. The address may have changed. If you choose to write, you should include your e-mail address.

However, it would be better IMHO to actually talk to the actual person or persons who did the transfer process for the DVD's. Where did they take their prints from? I myself might consider a replacement Season 4 disk with the corrections but only if it is not a big deal. I am just more interested in some answers such as:

1. Can Paramount confirm that the missing squares from the vacation episodes were a result of transfering the prints from the "Movie Mini Series" when these selected episodes of The Brady Bunch were packaged as such to syndicated markets around the 80's-90's? Is this why 15-20 seconds is missing from "Pass The Tabu", which shows up on TV Land/syndicated prints with the cut lines in question intact? If yes, why weren't 16mm back up prints used to restore these episodes to their full uncut lengths?

2.) Why are the fill-in squares missing from "Love and the Older Man?" This is a terrible oversight. If Paramount can restore a scene from "The Show Must Go On?" (with Peter and the geeky girl) that no one remembers from the earliest days of the show, showing such care and dilligence to restore missing footage, why couldn't the fill in squares be inserted for this episode?

3.) Why is "The Teeter Totter Caper" 30 seconds shorter at about 24:30 when almost all of the other episodes come in between 25-26 minutes. (A second noted exception is "Pass The Tabu", which comes in at about 24:50. But this is due to that 15-20 second cut line.)

These are the questions to be asked. Let us know when we get answers.

Jack

 

[Brian Himes]

Well, I finished watching season 4 this weekend. I have to say that I'm very much impressed again with these releases. Sure, there are a minor errors, but for the most part so much care has been done to restore these to their original broadcast versions that I can't complain.

Over all, the re-inserted footage looks much, much better this time around. It was almost hard to tell what was restored footage and what was stuff that had been seen in syndication for years.

I loved the Boddy & Cindy skinny dipping scene. That was too funny. I don't recall having ever seen that scene. I'm sure that I did back in 72 but I wouldn't bet on it. Since season 3-5 were the seasons that I remember watching when they first came out, then I'm sure that I did see that scene. However, that was over 30 years ago and I was only 7 at the time.

The missing squares at the end of 'Love and the Older Man' was a little dissapointing and so was the missing tag scene from 'Greg Gets Grounded' but I can live with these DVDs. As for the missing dialoge from 'Pass the Tabu' I don't recall that anything is missing, but again I haven't seen these episodes this complete in over 30 years so my memory is rather choppy.

I'm ready for season 5 in '06.