Although the addition of Cousin Oliver was a horrible idea Robbie Rist did not kill The Brady Bunch. The Brady Bunch was already dying due to the show was anachronistic and the fighting between Reed and Schwartz. The writers clearly ran out of ideas and people moved on to more cotemporary comedies by Norman Lear. Cousin Oliver is now the TV trope when a show needs a new cute kid.
3 Reviews
Jump the Shark episode
barnsleylad494931 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The introduction of Cousin Oliver can officially go down as one of the worst character adds in TV history next to Stefan Urkle. It was totally unnecessary as there were still plenty of story lines for the Brady kids. The visit to the movie studio would have been fine except for the slapstick pie fight at the end. Totally ridiculous as Extras would never be involved in a scene like this. There's no wonder Robert Reed refused to participate. Although the fate of the series was already decided at this point I just wish Oliver had gone to South America with his parents.
OLIVER AND THE FAMOUS PIE FIGHT EPISODE!
tcchelsey23 March 2024
Not really that bad of a story, and written by Al Schwartz, famous writer for Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton and Lucille Ball. This may have all come about with the casting of new family member Ricky Segall on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY.
Robbie Rist was a little older than Ricky, but a fun kid who made his debut on LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE.
You had to give Schwartz credit for being creative, starting off the episode with the idea Carol may be pregnant! --though the child she's expecting is her cousin, Oliver? Right off the bat, Oliver tries to fit in and things start go wrong, making him think he's brought a ton of bad luck with him. The idea could have been inspired by the famous introduction of Ernie on MY THREE SONS, years earlier, who also thought he was doomed.
Robbie, who is still acting today and doing voice work, was a talented kid and seemed destined to make at least one appearance on the show anyway. The problem is ABC didn't do much to introduce him, which made his addition to the Bradys kind of awkward. The clever transition here is when the gang gets to go on a movie studio tour (naturally Paramount's famous backlot) and a WILD, old fashioned pie fight begins, likely due to Oliver and his lousy luck.
I give it 9 Stars because the pie fight is funny, and at a time when nostalgia (particularly silent movies) was thriving in the 70s. Applause to the costume department for coming up with some neat clothes and it looks like everyone had fun. This ABC did promote and over the years the pie fight episode got lots of publicity, especially in reruns.
The only negative note was Robert Reed refused to do the scene, long fighting with producer Sherwood Schwartz, which soon brought an end to the series. He was also dropped from a recurring role on MANNIX. Mystery solved!
All of us kids back in the day often wondered whatever happened to Reed on Mannix?
A neat episode, if for the nostalgia angle.
Robbie Rist DID have some extremely good luck (in real life) when Mary Tyler Moore and her producer husband, Grant Tinker, apparently liked him and cast him as Ted's adopted son. TV history assured, and Ted Knight and Robbie made a hilarious team, and still looking very much like Cousin Oliver. What a snub to ABC from CBS! That's showbiz.
SEASON 5 EPISODE 17 remastered color ABC/Paramount.
Robbie Rist was a little older than Ricky, but a fun kid who made his debut on LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE.
You had to give Schwartz credit for being creative, starting off the episode with the idea Carol may be pregnant! --though the child she's expecting is her cousin, Oliver? Right off the bat, Oliver tries to fit in and things start go wrong, making him think he's brought a ton of bad luck with him. The idea could have been inspired by the famous introduction of Ernie on MY THREE SONS, years earlier, who also thought he was doomed.
Robbie, who is still acting today and doing voice work, was a talented kid and seemed destined to make at least one appearance on the show anyway. The problem is ABC didn't do much to introduce him, which made his addition to the Bradys kind of awkward. The clever transition here is when the gang gets to go on a movie studio tour (naturally Paramount's famous backlot) and a WILD, old fashioned pie fight begins, likely due to Oliver and his lousy luck.
I give it 9 Stars because the pie fight is funny, and at a time when nostalgia (particularly silent movies) was thriving in the 70s. Applause to the costume department for coming up with some neat clothes and it looks like everyone had fun. This ABC did promote and over the years the pie fight episode got lots of publicity, especially in reruns.
The only negative note was Robert Reed refused to do the scene, long fighting with producer Sherwood Schwartz, which soon brought an end to the series. He was also dropped from a recurring role on MANNIX. Mystery solved!
All of us kids back in the day often wondered whatever happened to Reed on Mannix?
A neat episode, if for the nostalgia angle.
Robbie Rist DID have some extremely good luck (in real life) when Mary Tyler Moore and her producer husband, Grant Tinker, apparently liked him and cast him as Ted's adopted son. TV history assured, and Ted Knight and Robbie made a hilarious team, and still looking very much like Cousin Oliver. What a snub to ABC from CBS! That's showbiz.
SEASON 5 EPISODE 17 remastered color ABC/Paramount.
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