The classic show The Brady Bunch is known worldwide and is received with mixed reviews. Some feel intense nostalgia and react positively to the show they grew up with. Others find the show to be a little cheesy and over-exaggerated. At the end of the day, The Brady Bunch is a crucial part of pop culture, and it has some great moments.
Even characters that people love are capable of making mistakes. This is good in the sense that real people aren't perfect, either. Both kids and adults have learning experiences, and the Bradys have plenty of them. The children like to get revenge on one another, and the parents don't always handle it in the best way. Here are the worst things that each character in the Brady house does throughout the series. Look for them on Hulu, although not every episode is there.
Carol: Tell it Like it Is
Carol Brady is burning the midnight oil towards the end of the second season. She is busy writing a piece about the Brady family in hopes that the Today's Woman magazine will publish it. The editor, Mr. Delafield, is partially to blame for Mrs. Brady's mistake in this episode. He wants to keep the magazine positive and thinks the original piece is too realistic. Mrs. Brady decides to do a re-write and accentuate the positive aspects of the family's life together. When Mr. Delafield gathers his staff to visit the Brady home, the staff shows up an hour early and is greeted by Mrs. Brady in her lounge-wear.
The kids are shouting and everything is chaotic. The staff agrees that the family before their eyes does not match the one in the revisions. Carol shouldn't have painted a false picture of her family, but perhaps that's the only way she gets published: Mr. Delafield listens to his staff and decides to print Mrs. Brady's original story.
Cindy: The Tattle-Tale
Cindy Brady has a bad track record for meddling. In this season two episode, she gets into trouble when she starts tattling on everybody. This may seem innocent, but it's Cindy's worst offense.
It becomes more than child's play when Cindy misinterprets a situation and causes a misunderstanding between Alice and her long-time boyfriend, Sam the butcher.
Jan: The Impractical Joker
Jan can be an obnoxious one. In season two, Greg brings home a mouse to use for his science project, and Jan tries to have a little fun with it. She puts the mouse in the hamper as a joke, but she forgets that mice have teeth and can chew through things.
Her joke goes haywire when the mouse escapes. She's had other mistakes, but messing around with a mouse is just gross, and messing with someone's science project is not cool.
Peter: The Private Ear
In the ninth episode of season three, Peter is the meddlesome one. He uses his dad's tape recorder to record conversations between his siblings. This causes strife among the Brady kids, and Mike and Carol handle it. However, Marcia and Greg think they need to parent their brother a little more, so they make sure Peter will hear them discuss a surprise party in his honor (which they don't plan to throw). The Brady parents save the day, and they school Greg and Marcia by throwing Peter that surprise party after all.
This is not the first time Marcia tries to play this kind of trick on someone for revenge--she does the same thing to Cindy in a late season five episode called "The Snooperstar" by creating fake diary entries to fool Cindy, who frequently reads Marcia's diary. What Greg and Marcia do is rotten, but Peter still shouldn't have been eavesdropping.
Mike: A Fistful of Reasons
This is a tricky one. Mike Brady is a good father. He is known for being sensitive, fair, and reasonable. He still has flaws, though. In the second season, Cindy is having trouble with a bully who makes fun of her lisp. Peter gets a black eye from the bully, Buddy Hinton, for sticking up for Cindy.
When reason doesn't work for Buddy or his parents, Mike helps Peter get ready to fight the bully. This should not have been the last resort, even if it was a different time. Mike and Carol should have gotten school authorities more involved rather than put their son in a position to physically fight back.
Bobby: Mail Order Hero
This season five episode is a moment of shame for Bobby Brady. He and his friends are excited that the New York Jets will be playing in their town. Riding on this excitement, Bobby brags to his friends that he knows the Jets' quarterback, Joe Namath. The friends want proof, so Cindy decides to help Bobby. She writes to Joe Namath, and in efforts to secure a personal visit from the football player, Cindy fabricates a complete lie that Bobby has a fatal illness.
This storyline is horrible. Even if people do this in real life, a television show should never plant the sickening idea in anyone's head. Bobby never should have gone along with this to try to meet his football hero.
Alice: Goodbye, Alice Hello
This could really be a double whammy for Carol Brady and the kids, but Alice's worst decision in this episode is letting them all talk to her the way they do. Alice is put in a position to be honest with Mrs. Brady about some errors the kids have made. Then, she won't let Cindy and Bobby go skinny dipping.
The kids are little brats about their own mistakes, so Alice is right to consider leaving the Brady family. One of Alice's housekeeper friends tells her that her mistake is "getting too emotionally involved with the family...Getting too attached can break your heart." Alice is a stand-up gal, and there are many times when the Brady family is undeserving of Alice.
Greg: Adios, Johnny Bravo
Greg loses his good sense when he becomes Johnny Bravo. The Brady kids are no strangers to music and spotlight, but Greg totally lets it go to his head when he has the chance to be a major solo artist.
He talks about postponing his college plans, he upsets his siblings, and he embarrasses himself. The talent scout who found Greg was never interested in his voice, just his body that "fit the suit."
Marcia: The Subject Was Noses
Marcia thinks Doug Simpson is "far out." He asks her out to the Saturday night dance. Wide-eyed, Marcia says, "Yeah, love to." Marcia then remembers that she already made a date with Charley for Saturday. She doesn't know what to do, and she ultimately makes a poor decision. Marcia plans to break her date with Charley so that she can go out with popular Doug. Greg gives her bad advice to tell Charley, "Something suddenly came up." Charley is so sweet and is sorry not to go on the date he has been planning.
Later in the episode, Peter and Bobby are playing football in the yard. Peter accidentally throws the ball right at Marcia's nose. This season four episode has gone down in history for Marcia's line, "Oh! My nose!" She is devastated at her swelling nose and says, "There goes my date with Doug." She's right; Doug cancels on her because of her new look. Some might call it karma. Whatever you think, remember that when you're feeling bad for Marcia, you should really be feeling badly for Charley.