The Brady Bunch's Influence On American Pop Culture

The concept of "The Brady Bunch" started back in 1966 when Sherwood Schwartz (the creator and producer of the show) heard that somewhere between 20-30% of all families had at least one child from a previous marriage. The show was about a mother with three daughters by one marriage, marries a widower with three boys, a maid and a dog. The first season of The Brady Bunch focused on the newly blended family and the conflicts that arose from the merger. The family eventually learned to get a long as they knew more about each other. They all helped each other with their individual problems and went through their difficulties as a family. The remaining years were more about a wholesome, but large, family with universal plot lines that were familiar to anyone growing up in suburban, middle-class America. The Brady Bunch made it through for years because it spent little or no time on actual current events or fads, but focused on topics that were significant to any generation of kids. The Brady Bunch is a base of American pop culture and is a pure example of classic TV.
Many people compare themselves to others, sometimes to fictional others. It is not uncommon for someone watching television …show more content…
In the 80s and 90s came shows like Married With Children and Roseanne, which show couples with much more real-world marital issues in a much less flattering, yet more realistic, such as (divorce, financial hardships, teen rebellion, death, abuse, etc.). The families in these shows are seen to be flawed, like our own families. These families are also not shown to always be perfect when working through these flaws. Therefore we can relate to them much better. The Brady Bunch leaves us, the typical viewer without the modern-day ability to relate to the Brady family, but could still be seen to provide a get away from the trials and tribulations of a real family