A Very Brady Sequel

A Very Brady Sequel
August 23, 1996
Paramount
Comedy, Musical
DVD
B+

Yes, the sequel is better than its predecessor.  It's funnier, more focused, more musical, and yes, more Brady.  (Bradier?)  Even the youngest kids seem to have more to do here, although again the Marcia-Jan rivalry is the highlight, with Jan going to great lengths to convince her popular older sister of the existence of George Glass.  This seems to have struck a chord in recent months, with even "Sure, Jan" having gone viral.

The main plot though is about a conman who pretends to be Mrs. Brady's not actually dead husband.  He's played by Tim Matheson who had done his share of '60s TV and movies, notably as the college-age dad in How to Commit Marriage (then spelling his last name Matthieson).  This makes his horror at the Bradys, particularly their tendency to burst into bright, cheerful songs and choreography, all the better, with the Brady Kids mushroom trip a high comedically and otherwise.  His "return" also means that Greg and Marcia realize they're not actually related (even by marriage), which leads to some borderline incestuous lust that you're either going to find disgusting or hilarious.  (I'm in the latter camp of course.)

There are again a lot of in-jokes for Brady fans, and this time a pay-off that involves Gilligan's Island.  Also, we get a cameo from Barbara Eden, who seems hardly to have aged in the almost 40 years since she was Miss Carstairs in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? However, neither she nor Groucho now holds the longevity record, because Art Patron Sue Casey turns up 43 years after she was Tall Girl at Arcade in Band Wagon.  (And I know her best as the MILFy Anne Duval in Catalina Caper, but the MST3K version will be discussed on my TV blog someday.)  Steven Gilford and RuPaul reprise their roles as respectively Mr. Philips and Ms. Cummings.

Two of the four writers, Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, would also co-write Josie and the Pussycats, which they would co-direct as well.  In a different way than Bonnie & Terry Turner, they've got a love for garish but bubbly pop-culture kitsch.