TITLE: THE BRADY BUNCH - THE COMPLETE SERIES

Info:

DVD Release Date: April 3, 2007 (CBS DVD/Paramount)
Color/1969-74
MSRP: $139.99
Number of Discs: 21
Number of Episodes: 117
Running Time: 2980 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 227 minutes (just counting bonus disc)
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English; closed-captioned
Special Features: A Very Brady Christmas (TV movie); The Brady 500 (the pilot movie for the 1990 series); Two episodes from "The Brady Kids" animated series; previous extras: Audio commentaries from season one and a featurette on season one

Introduction:

Here's the story...the COMPLETE story of The Brady Bunch now available for the first time in one complete 20-disc set with a bonus disc filled with more Brady series! That's right, this groovy & far-out collector’s edition features all 117 episodes plus the holiday classic TV-movie A Very Brady Christmas, the pilot movie for The Bradys, and two episodes from The Brady Kids cartoon! Join Mike, Carol, Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marcia, Jan, Cindy, and the housekeeper Alice for their entire story!

Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:

These episodes have all been previously released on single season sets, so we have told you already what episodes are memorable from all five seasons and which big stars have come to join the Brady’s. Therefore, we suggest you head on over to our season set reviews:

Season 1 / Season 2 / Season 3 / Season 4 / Season 5

Packaging:

Besides the bonus disc, the packaging is very different from the season sets. The packaging is one huge case that holds all 21 discs. How is that possible you may ask? Well, let’s start with the exterior. First, you have to remove the clear plastic outer box before you get to the huge case. I found that annoying, but I guess it protects the huge case. There is a small hole on the outer box so you can feel the case. Why would you want to feel it because the case is wrapped in ‘70s lime green shag carpeting! Groovy! While it is cool, maybe they should have went with the Brady turf instead as that is more Brady than the shag carpeting. Oh well. The shag carpeting could be annoying to you because sometimes it sheds if you touch it a lot or keep moving the case. On the cover in the middle is the Brady Bunch logo and The Complete Series title in a nice flower that looks cool in between the carpet. The back of the case of course has the carpeting and in the middle is the Brady grid with our family along with some info on the set in a pink box.

When we open the huge case, we are inside in the interior! On the left side we have a nice image with the Brady Bunch logo and the entire case posing in front of those famous Brady stairs. Actually, that image is a holder for the Brady Bunch booklet! The booklet has episode info for each episode by season, with nice color coordination. Season one is in yellow, season two is in purple, season three is in green, season four is in red and season five & the bonus disc is in orange. In the middle of the booklet, there is also a meet the Bradys section in pink…nice facts! Now in the between the left and right panel we can see the wooden Brady wall! Man I love that wall! On the right side, we have the discs. A plastic lid (similar to the outer plastic box) makes sure the discs don’t fall out because the discs are in plastic cardboard sleeves shaped in a flower! It looks cool, but it is not that great really. The first flower says, “Here’s the Story...” Each disc has its own cardboard sleeve and each season has a different color again, just like the episode booklet. The colors are the same as that but the bonus disc’s sleeve is in pink. You can take out the cardboard pack anytime you want, as all the cardboard sleeves are glued together. When you take out the discs, they can easily be damaged really. Fingerprints also can be on them more than usual, which I hate.

All the discs have the same exact art as they did on the regular season sets. The bonus disc has the Brady clan posing in front of those stairs again with the special features listed. The color is pink.

Menu Design and Navigation:

The menus are the exact same as the season sets. See our previous reviews once again: Season 1 / Season 2 / Season 3 / Season 4 / Season 5

The bonus disc’s menu is basic. It has the Brady grid on the left with the logo and Bonus Disc on the top in the center. On the right side, they list the actual material and you select one. The Brady flower is the pointer. More on the bonus disc in the special features section.

Video and Audio Quality:

Once again, the same material from the season sets. I don’t want to reiterate what we have said already in our previous reviews. So, for video and audio info, see our preceding reviews: Season 1 / Season 2 / Season 3 / Season 4 / Season 5

I will though mention how the video and audio are for the extras. The Brady 500 looks very good. Clear video and very good audio. I actually think this series was good; yes, I was hooked when TV Land aired reruns on weekends some years back. It is cheesy just like the original sitcom, but with actual drama. A Very Brady Christmas is a Christmas classic and it has never looked better than it has on this DVD. They should have listed that first on the menu since it came before The Brady 500, but not a big deal. The two Brady Kids episodes look good but the animation sometimes is not good, we see flashing white dots from time to time. This is totally ‘70s animation so it looks as good as it can be, I guess. The sound is decent.

Special Features:

We will only cover the extras on the bonus disc. Season one has extras, but that was covered on our season one review already. The first extra on the bonus disc is The Brady 500. It runs 88:42 and is the pilot for the 1990 drama series The Bradys. It is so cheesy but I liked it. The basic plot of the story is seeing the Brady’s in jams and Mike running for an election. Will he win? Watch and see. Maureen McCormick (Marcia) was the only original star not on board for this.

Then we have the holiday classic TV-movie A Very Brady Christmas. It really isn’t Christmas if this movie is not shown during the holidays, now we can pop this in anytime! The movie brought back the entire original cast in the late ‘80s except Susan Olsen (Cindy). The movie runs 93:49 and it has more drama than comedy, which I guess was the inspiration to The Bradys series. Let’s hope we get the rest of The Bradys episodes on DVD soon.

Finally, the first two episodes from the 1972 animated series The Brady Kids are on here. Both episodes run 21:35, which seems fishy. “Jungle Bungle, Part 1” and Jungle Bungle, Part 2” are on this set. I never liked this series so I can’t stand to tell you what the episodes are about. They should have given us The Brady Brides pilot movie instead at least. Hopefully that series is also released soon.

Final Comments:

This set is or die-hard fans I think! The bonus disc and the packaging are the only things new here, but for die-hard fans, it is necessary to own. Now, if you own all five seasons and are not that big of a fan, it is up to you if you want to pay all that money for just a bonus disc and some shag carpeting. You can sell your previous season sets and buy this set, but then you’d be losing the cool cases and boxes from the season sets, as the complete series set doesn’t have that. If you don’t have this series on DVD yet, then get this complete set. It will save you time in buying one by one.

It really is up to you if you want to buy this set, if you already have the season sets. The packaging is not bad, but it could have been better. The extras disc is great but it also could have been a bit better, like having The Brady Brides pilot movie instead of the horrible animated series. Let’s hope we get all the Brady universe on DVD soon. The Brady Kids, The Brady Brides and The Bradys. And maybe when all those are finally out, CBS DVD will release another complete series and spin-offs set and again make us decide if we want to buy it or not. Once again, it is up to you if you want to buy this set, or you can ask Mike Brady, he always has answers...

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)

Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Bonus Disc: 2/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 4/5
Complete Series Packaging: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 04/02/07

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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000MGBSEY/ref=nosim/happydaysonline4-20

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http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=197665

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