TVSquad

Each year, the Emmys honor the best in current TV. They also recognize the all-time greats. This year Bea Arthur, Larry Gelbart, Merv Griffin, Daniel Burke, Tom Murphy and Sherwood Schwartz will be entering the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame. Grand choices, in my opinion, with only a minor quibble which I'll mention later.

According to ATAS chairman and CEO John Shaffner , "The Hall of Fame is a special recognition for those who have made significant contributions and have left an indelible mark on the television business." As Maude in the 1970's and Dorothy on The Golden Girls in the 1980's (into the '90s) Beatrice Arthur, made her mark. She was more effective on TV than she was in the theater, and she was a dynamo on stage.

There are six human beings on this planet who will be forever linked by one experience: growing up on the set of The Brady Bunch. But, of the six actors who played the Brady kids during the show's 1969-74 run, none has embraced the role as consistently and enthusiastically as Barry Williams, who played Greg. Over the years, Williams has been involved in every reunion show (including the ill-fated "dramatic" show The Bradys in 1990) and has never shied away from discussing the show during interviews. He even wrote a book about the experience, 1992's Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg, where he recounted stories like his crush on co-star Maureen McCormick, his "date" with his TV mom, Florence Henderson, and Robert Reed's constant arguments with the producers. The book was made into a TV movie in 2000.

Now, at 53, Williams has a blog, called The Greg Brady Project, which debuted in December. There, Williams tells stories about his experiences as an actor over the last 40-plus years while a series of co-writers wax nostalgic about the past, and not necessarily about The Brady Bunch. I spoke to Williams by phone earlier this month. We talked about the blog, why he's embraced his Greg Brady past more than his co-stars, and what he thinks of some of those co-stars' new projects. The interview is after the jump.

If you've read any of the 200 books written about The Brady Bunch or seen any of the TV movies or "behind the scenes" exposes, you know that Robert Reed wasn't a big fan of the show's scripts. In fact, he had battles with the producers on the show many times and even refused to be in a couple of episodes because of the plot and/or his arguments with the people in charge of the show.

And it wasn't just verbal arguments. Reed actually took the time to send memos to the producers explaining why a certain plot point/line/scene didn't make sense. Reed was a veteran TV (The Defenders) and stage actor and often referred to Shakespeare in his memos. This site has one of the memos, and after the jump is the full text of the memo (it's about the classic episode where Greg's hair turns green because of some shampoo Bobby sold him).

I got a great question this week from a fan named Alan...

"My wife swears this show existed in the early to mid 80s. Here's what she remembers... Animated kids who were once live action kids but somehow became animated. They played in a rock band. The theme song to the show was, "Owner of a Lonely Heart," by Yes.* It is not "The Brady Bunch Kids."

*This fact seems the most suspect to me as there is no mention of this song being used as a theme song to anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks."

As I was watching all my favorite holiday specials this season, it became clear to me that there's a desperate need for some new offerings. Then I started thinking that if weekly shows can spinoff characters then why can't specials? With that in mind, here are my ideas for spinoffs to make your holidays more festive.

Out of the Box
Nobody wants a Charlie in the Box...except Charlie. After years of being not being delivered by Santa Claus, Charlie from the island of misfit toys decides it's time to make a change. Determined to find himself and discover what he was really made for, Charlie travels the country living on the road and meeting adventures head on. After living the life of Kerouac, Charlie returns to share his wisdom with the jelly squirting gun, ostrich riding cowboy and the doll with the unnamed condition.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Gloria Reuben is returning to ER, and so is Noah Wyle.
• CBS is getting heat for having Rita Braver interview Lynne Cheney.
• Seth Green is going to guest star on two episodes of Grey's Anatomy.
• I first saw this on Jimmy Kimmel Live: the Star Wars trumpet girl!
• What's with the odd promos for the new TBS series Frank TV?
• Jaime Weinman analyzes The Brady Bunch as much as I do, heh.
• Check out Buddy TV's television quiz.

I'm sorry, but the line that keeps going through my head is "Oh my nose! Oh my nose!"

Former Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) has admitted that not only was she bulimic after the show ended in 1974 and she went back to high school, but that the guy she was dating at the time introduced her to cocaine. She says that she became an addict because of her addictive personality, and actually went through several relapses before getting clean through "therapy and faith." I sense a book coming from this.

Good for her for getting through it, but she should have listened to mom, because mom always said, don't do coke in the house.

[via TV Tattle]

One day, while sitting around the palatial TV Squad offices, a notion came to mind. What would happen if you took all of today's technology and applied it to classic television shows of yesteryear? Would The Fugitive's Richard Kimble be acquitted of his crime after the DNA evidence proved that he didn't kill his wife? Or, would The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter be a better anchor if he had access to all of the day's news via the Internet?

Taking that notion one step further, here are five shows that would have been vastly different if modern technology were applied to them.

The Dick Van Dyke Show: No more schlepping into the city for Rob Petrie; not when he could write his scripts from his home desktop computer. And, if he got tired sitting at his desk, he could grab his WiFi laptop and continue to write from the local Starbucks. He would still need Buddy and Sally, of course, but he could pass ideas to them via Instant Messenger. When they were all done with that week's script they could have a video conference with Alan where changes could be made via NetMeeting.

No, the other guy. The middle kid. Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch television series and now has his own reality show on VH1, got married over the holiday weekend to another reality television star. Knight, 47, met Adrianne Curry, 23, when they were both on The Surreal Life. They went on to star in the reality series, My Fair Brady, and in the sequel, My Fair Brady: We're Getting Married. The actual wedding was May 29th and some of Knight's former co-stars attended, including Barry Williams (Greg Brady), Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady), and Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady). There's no official air date for the nuptials.

After all these reality shows, when do you think reality will actually set in for these two lovebirds?

In a post on his favorite five television housekeepers, Adam Finley listed some of the best household servants who served penthouse, futuristic home, or haunted mansion. However, someone very important was missing; someone who epitomized the uber-housekeeper. A person who not only took care of the house, but helped raise a practical brood of children.

I am, of course, talking about one Alice Nelson, who we affectionately know as simply Alice from The Brady Bunch. Sure, Florence Johnston had to deal with the rants of George Jefferson, and Rosie the Robot had to handle Elroy Jetson flying around the house in his jetpack, but Alice had to practically raise first the Brady boys and then the whole Brady clan by herself while Mr. Brady worked and Mrs. Brady drank a lot of coffee.

She was head cook and bottle washer, handyman, teacher, and scapegoat all wrapped up into one blue-uniformed, white-aproned whrilwind.  And what did she get for it? A small room beside the washing machine and a boyfriend who wouldn't commit to a serious relationship.

So, raise your brooms and mops in a salute to Alice; housekeeper, philosopher and stateswoman.

It's no surprise that the choice of celebrities on this show just get worse and worse each season... Unfortunately, I see no end to this series because the B-list just grows longer and longer with each washed-up film/band/show.

And what's the worst part? Sometimes, these seasons are so bad/bizarre that they have to be watched just so one can participate in the watercooler talk that comes with it (Flavor Flav/Brigitte Nielsen love affair; Verne Troyer naked, drunk, and urinating in the corner of the gym). As long as there are train wrecks, people will tune in. How big of a wreck will this season be? Make your predictions! Read on and check out the cast...

All you've got is hours left. Everyone else planned ahead, bought their gifts... probably even wrapped them already. And what are you doing? Sitting here reading this post. Nice job. So what are you going to do? Fight the crowds, scour the many picked over store shelves? There's not going to be much left. It happens to the best of us, and I should know because I plan on doing most of my shopping after I finish writing this. So what's going to be left? Not much, but here's a few things you might be lucky to find sitting next to the empty spaces where Lost Season 1 DVDs and SpongeBob memorabilia used to rest.

• The Genuine Miami Vice 100% Pre-Shrunk Cotton T-Shirt! Get excited friends because everyone is going to want to shake your hand when they see Don Johnson's mug emblazoned on your chest. My kid sister is going to love this!
• Authentic Brady Bunch American Made Figurines! Okay, maybe they're not American made, but who's going to even try and question your patriotism when they see you playing with these hot items?
• 100% Recycled Paper 2006 Munsters Calendar! Again, not sure if it's actually recycled paper but that's okay because you'll be ringing in the new year with the calendar for a 40 year old sitcom.

Now as I said, you're going to be lucky if these items are still around especially because I'm probably going to scoop them up before you. Honestly though, everyone wants these... I'm telling you, that Munsters calendar? This year's "Tickle me Elmo."