The Brady Bunch Season #1

 

The Brady Bunch

Season #1

💎💎Episode #1: The Honeymoon💎💎 – When two widowed people get married, both of their families and their housekeeper become one. Michael Paul Brady, an architect and widower with three sons (Greg, Peter and Bobby) marries Carol Ann Martin, a mother with three daughters (Marcia, Jan and Cindy) who is also a widow. Mike and Carol’s backyard wedding turns to chaos when the boys’ dog, Tiger, chases the girls’ cat, Fluffy. Mike and Carol yell at their children to catch their pets. The newlywed couple goes on a honeymoon later that day, while the children sit at home thinking that their parents took sides. While on their honeymoon, Mike and Carol can’t enjoy themselves and decide to make it up to the children by bringing them on their honeymoon. Alice the housekeeper and their pets join them. Notes: This was the pilot episode for The Brady Bunch, filmed from October 4^th to the 12^th, 1968. This is the only episode where Christopher Knight is credited as “Chris Knight”. It is Fluffy’s only appearance in the series. Mike, Alice and the Brady boys live in a different house than that seen in the rest of the series. Also, this is the first of two episodes without a tag scene at the end (the other being “Greg Gets Grounded” (from Season 4). Guest Stars: J. Pat O’Malley as Henry Tyler, Joan Tompkins as Mrs. Tyler and Dabbs Greer as The Minister.

Michael Brady, an architect and widower with three sons (Greg, Peter and Bobby) marries Carol Ann Martin, a mother with three daughters (Marcia, Jan and Cindy). Mike and Carol have a chaotic backyard wedding in which the boys’ dog, Tiger, chases the girls’ cat, Fluffy. Mike and Carol admonish their children, yelling at them to go catch their pets. The newlywed couple goes on a honeymoon later that day, while the children sit at home thinking that their parents hate them. While on their honeymoon, Mike and Carol realize that they were too hard on their children and they decide to bring them along on the honeymoon. They also bring along Alice (the housekeeper), Tiger and Fluffy. In the series opener, Mike Brady, a widower with three boys weds Carol Martin, a widow with three girls. Just after the minister marries them, the boys’ dog, Tiger gets loose and chases the girls’ cat through the wedding party. Chaos breaks loose which prompts Carol and Mike to yell at their kids to control their pets. Guilt over yelling at their kids comes into play later during Mike’s and Carol’s honeymoon.

In the beginning of the pilot, Mike is having breakfast with the boys and Alice, who can’t help but notice how nervous he is. He can’t eat his breakfast, puts too many tablespoons of sugar in his coffee and spills it. They make him feel better by letting on how great they think Carol is and how they believe he’s doing the right thing. Carol is over at her parents’ house with the girls and is just as nervous. She’s having a hard time getting ready and can’t help the girls get dressed. She whines about for a beautiful bride she looks awful. The girls assure her she looks fine. When she asks them how they can say that, Cindy says, “Because we love you”. Mike calls to say hi and lets on about how nervous he is, Carol says she has butterflies up in her stomach. This prompts Cindy to as if she slept with her mouth open, wondering how the butterflies ended up in her stomach. Carol tells her it is only an expression and Mike said he had another one. He claimed he wants to be cool at the ceremony.

Right before the guys leave, Mike notices Bobby removed his dead mother’s picture. Bobby thinks Carol will be jealous to see it. Mike tells him he can keep it out because he and Carol don’t want him to forget his own mother. Greg and Peter come out with a groomed Tiger, planning to take him along, since Alice is coming too. Mike says as much as loves Tiger, they can’t bring the dog to the wedding. Next scene: Tiger is in the car with them on the way to the wedding. When they arrive at Carol’s parents’ house, they introduce Bobby to Cindy, who offers to show a reluctant Bobby her new dollhouse. Carol shows Mike the setup, he says everything is beautiful. She then asks, rather indignantly, how does she look? He replies she’s prettier than the flowers, sweeter than the cake, more appetizing than the Hors D’oeuvres and more sparkling than the silverware. She says joyously how a few years prior she thought it was the end of the world (probably when her husband divorced her). Mike said now is a new beginning for both of them. Carol corrects him by saying for all them. Mike agrees, saying the whole blooming Brady bunch. When they exchange the vows, including “honor” and “obey”, Tiger gets a glimpse of Fluffy and can’t take lying down that the cat gets a better view of the wedding than him, so he chases after her, causing the kids to chase them. Chaos ensues as they knock things over and Mike yells at the boys to put the dog back in the car while Carol yells at the girls to stop their screaming because it’s ruining the wedding. Suddenly, when the cake starts falling, Mike goes and saves it, however, he loses his grip and it falls on him.

During the newlywed’s honeymoon, they can’t enjoy themselves because they’re feeling guilty about berating the kids and the kids are bummed out at home for getting yelled at, the typical Brady solution is to go home, collect the kids and bring them on the honeymoon. When the kids are fighting about who gets the upstairs to the honeymoon suite first, ladies first, age first, older or younger, Mike takes control and says order: Big ones first. They all march upstairs, left foot first and evidently figure out where everyone will sleep.

💎💎Episode #2: Dear Libby💎💎 – After reading a letter in the “Dear Libby” newspaper column, the kids are worried that one of their parents is unhappy with the new kids and is considering leaving the marriage. Marcia is reading the letters in this week’s Dear Libby national advice column aloud to Jan and Cindy. She suddenly stops and refuses to read anymore. Initially she doesn’t want to share the reason why to anyone, especially her parents. But when Mike and Carol are missing that section of the newspaper and plan on going to get another copy, Marcia, who volunteers to get another newspaper for them, eventually has to tell Greg the reason why. They decide to pass the news on to their siblings: There is a letter in the column signed Harried and Hopeless from someone who has three children who recently married someone else with three children and who is now feeling trapped in an unsatisfying marriage because of the new children. The kids are certain the letter was written by one of their parents. The kids decide to take extreme and drastic measures to save their parent’s marriage and their new family. Regardless, their plan doesn’t solve the issue of knowing if the letter was indeed written by Mike or Carol. Only one source can tell them for sure.

The kids worry when a published letter to the “Dear Libby” advice column from “Harried and Hopeless” mirrors the Bradys’ new living situation. Thinking one of their parents wrote the letter the kids stay on their best behavior to ensure a harmonious domestic situation. Elizabeth “Dear Libby” (Jo De Winter) visits the Brady home explaining she received seven similar letters from the same address: They are from “Kitty Karry-All” (Cindy), “Feeling Awful” (Bobby), “Desperately Worried” (Marcia), “Down in the Mouth” (Peter), “Real Frantic” (Jan), “Guilt Complex” (Greg)and “Innocent Bystander” (Alice). Libby explains that the “Harried and Hopeless” letter originated from someone else, 2,000 miles away. Mike admits he also wrote a letter to “Dear Libby”, but never sent it. Carol admits she did the same.

Marcia reads a letter in the newspaper’s “Dear Libby” column, wherein the recently married author is stressed out over a living arrangement similar to the Bradys’. She spills the news to her siblings (and step-siblings) and they all become convinced that either Mike or Carol wrote the letter. An article in advice column, Dear Libby, draws Marcia’s attention. In the article, an anonymous person is in the same situation as Mike and Carol is in and this particular person is unhappy. This leads Marcia to draw the conclusion that Mike or Carol wrote the letter. She later shows the article to the other kids and they devise a plot to keep their newly formed family together.

Mike and Carol notice that page 5 of the newspaper is missing one evening when each cannot finish articles they are reading. When Mike decides to go out for a replacement paper, Marcia rushes in and offers to go herself. Since it is getting late, the parents have Greg go with her. Marcia explains outside that she took out the page and shows Greg a torn-out section. When the children return with a newspaper, the parents are surprised to find that page 5 is there, but a large ink stain has blotted out an entire piece. Later, Greg and Marcia read the article to the other children. It is an advice column called “Dear Libby”. Someone named “Harried and Hopeless” has written because they recently married. “Harried” has three children of their own and so does their new spouse. They are finding it difficult to learn to love their new children and wonder if they should get out of this relationship. The Brady children cannot help but think this letter was written by one of their parents. They decide to be extra good and helpful around the house in order to persuade the reluctant parent to stay in the family. Mike, Carol and Alice are surprised to see the children cleaning out the garage, weeding the garden and doing other household chores without asking. The fighting suddenly stops when Greg and Marcia intervene in spats between their younger siblings before the parents can arrive.

That night, Mike and Carol find that neither of them can sleep and share a sandwich in the kitchen. Alice joins them and they all agree that this extra cooperation among the children is very unusual. The next day, Alice talks to Greg and Marcia. She mentions that talking the problem over with the parents is a better way to resolve it than feeling pressured to be good all the time. Marcia takes the column to her mother, while Greg talks about it with his father. While Mike and Carol recognize the coincidence in the letter, each denies writing it. Greg and Marcia remind their father and mother, respectively, that the other parent could have done so. The conversations end with each parent secretly concerned about the happiness of the other. The parents individually turn to Alice, each showing her the article and asking her if the other has expressed any concerns about their family life. Alice is not successful in convincing either of them of her certainty that the other spouse did not write the letter. Later, Carol goes into the den and confesses her concerns to Mike. They both admit that neither wrote the letter and are delighted with the children added to their family. They decide to tell the kids after the program they are watching on television ends. The entire family sits in the living room while the show is finishing up. A doorbell interrupts them and both Mike and Carol go to answer it. The woman at the door introduces herself as Elizabeth Carter – the author of the “Dear Libby” column.

After letting her in, Mike and Carol are surprised to see that the living room is empty. Only Kitty Carry All remains on the floor as a small hand snakes from behind a chair to grab her. “Libby” explains that she received seven separate letters from the Brady address regarding the “Harried and Hopeless” column. Though she normally doesn’t visit the homes of letter writers, she came because she realized this particular column has caused a lot of worry in the Brady home. She calls out the pseudonyms of the writers of the seven letters as each Brady child plus Alice step out from their hiding place in turn. Libby announces to the family that the original “Harried and Hopeless” letter was sent from Kingston, Ohio, which is 2,000 miles away. The entire family erupts in celebration.

💎💎Episode #3: Eenie, Meenie, Mommy, Daddy💎💎 – Cindy lands the lead role in her school play, but her joy turns to sadness when she discovers that because of a seating shortage she can only invite one parent to the play. Cindy is starring in the school play The Frog Prince as the fair princess. She is very excited at the thought of her entire family watching her in the play, then is heartbroken when she discovers that she can only bring one parent and she has much difficulty picking between Mike and Carol. This is resolved by the whole family being allowed to sit through a dress rehearsal. Guest Stars: Marjorie Stamp as Mrs. Engstrom, Tracy Reed as Miss Sherry Marlowe, Brian Forster as the elf. Cindy is excited when she is chosen to play the lead, the Fairy Princess, in her school’s production of The Frog Prince. Her family is as excited for Cindy as they help her learn her lines, make her costume and props and even feel what it’s going to be like to “fly” while hanging on wires. They are all as excited to be able to see Cindy in the play as Cindy is excited to have the largest cheering section with her large family in attendance. But Cindy’s excitement changes when she learns that because of the large number of people involved in the production and the relatively small auditorium, each cast member is only issued one ticket. It’s bad enough that her siblings and Alice can’t attend, but she doesn’t know how to choose between her parents. Her mother has attended everything she’s ever been involved with and is her biggest booster, but she doesn’t want to make her new father feel excluded. While Cindy does the only thing she knows how to solve the problem, Alice, the only adult in the family who knows what’s going on, thinks Cindy needs a little help in figuring out this problem.

Cindy has been cast as the Fairy Princess in the school play. She’s excited that her mom and new dad will be able to see her in the production until she learns she can only invite one parent. Torn between whom she should choose, Cindy fakes an injury to get out of being in the play. Cindy comes home with the news that she has been cast as the Fairy Princess, the lead in the school play. Her parents are thrilled. Cindy is soon hard at work learning her script, with Mike offering his school drama experience to help her by playing her costar, Prince Victor. He is surprised to learn that all he has to do is play a bullfrog because that is what the wicked witch has turned Prince Victor into. Cindy’s older sisters offer help as well. The boys also help by showing Cindy how she is going to fly in the play by hanging her on the clothesline. But then they get a reminder that they are wanted at a ballgame. They take off forgetting to let Cindy down from the clothesline. Carol has to call for help from Alice, but the boys come back; they need their belts back, after all. Later, they make a wand for Cindy while her older sisters set about making wings.

At school, the teachers worry about the potential audience and decide to limit numbers by allowing only one parent per child. The child must decide which parent to ask and the other parent can come to the next production. The school phones the Brady house to explain. Alice takes the call and tells Cindy. Cindy cannot decide which parent to take. Alice suggests she stick a pin in it, but the blindfolded Cindy keeps missing. Cindy cannot tell her parents about the problem and tries to dissuade them. Eventually, Cindy tells Marcia and Greg, but they leave her even more torn between her parents. Cindy tries eenie-meenie with a daisy, but this does not help either. The parents realize something is wrong. Alice overhears and explains. The parents are horrified at the choice Cindy has to make but say nothing to her. At the rehearsal, Cindy fakes a bad ankle and drops out of the play. But the teacher, Mrs. Engstrom, gets suspicious when Cindy switches ankles. Mrs. Engstrom phones Cindy’s parents and they realize what Cindy has done. Mike decides to help Cindy by saying he has a business meeting on the night. Cindy is delighted and goes back into the play. However, she is very surprised to find both parents in the audience. The teachers had bent the rules once the parents explained the problem. So, the school put on a special performance just for the Brady family. Cindy hopes for a part in the next play, but then wonders if she will face the same dilemma again. The parents just wish her good night.

💎💎Episode #4: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore💎💎 – Alice doesn’t think the boys need her as much now that Carol is in the house – so she announces that she is leaving. To help the boys bond with their new stepmother, Alice begins sending them to Carol when they need help with something. Her actions have unintended consequences and soon, Alice begins feeling she is unneeded and announces she’s leaving to care for a sick relative. Knowing this isn’t the real reason for her imminent departure, the Brady’s go all-out to convince Alice to stay. Mrs. Brady is feeling like the kids just go to Alice for their problems. In order to fix the problem, Alice decides to send the kids to Mrs. Brady. Before long, Alice is the one feeling unwanted and decides to quit. Alice discovers that the boys are going to Carol with their problems instead of her. Thinking that the family no longer needs her, she invents a story about a “sick aunt in Seattle”. When Marcia and Jan overhear Alice on the phone to a friend and discover the ruse, they tell their parents. The family devises a plan to get Alice to stay and are successful.

Alice thinks the family does not need her anymore and invents a story to leave, but the family devises a plan to get Alice to stay. For any domestic chores or problems, Mike and the boys turn to Alice as they always gave since Mike’s first wife died. Alice thinks that they should instead turn to Carol to make her feel like the woman of the house and truly the boys’ mother. Alice’s plan works like a charm as Carol feels buoyed by the boys and Mike turning to her. One side effect of this plan is the girls feeling neglected by Carol, which she can explain rectify. What Alice didn’t count on was feeling like she is no longer needed in the Brady household as the boys in particular now always turn to Carol instead of her. She makes up a pretense about a “sick aunt in Seattle” to leave their employ. Marcia and Jan overhear a phone conversation between Alice and her friend and discover the ruse. They tell their parents, but Mike and Carol can’t just tell her not to go, but when they learn the real reason for her leaving, they have to try and come up with a way of not just telling her but really showing her now much they want her to stay.

No longer feeling needed around the Brady household, Alice makes up a story about an ailing Aunt in Seattle in order to leave. Later, the family finds out the truth and put “Operation Alice” in effect in an attempt to make her stay. Bobby comes in with a grazed knee from a cycling accident – with a banana. Carol offers to help him, but Bobby insists that Alice do it, as she always has done. However, Alice concurs that Carol treat the knee. Later, Mike asks Alice to sew a button on his shirt, but Alice says she does not have time and suggests Carol do it. Later, Peter and Greg quarrel over a baseball glove. Alice says she has no time to referee and sends them to Carol to sort it out. Carol does as it turned out she unwittingly caused the trouble. Carol is delighted to tell Mike that the boys are now beginning to accept her. Meanwhile, the girls feel neglected because they feel Carol is spending more time with the boys than them. They speak to Carol and things are sorted out between them. But when Alice finds the boys turning to Carol for things instead of her, this has her thinking Carol has superceded her and she is no longer needed. She tells Carol and Mike that she is leaving, making the excuse that she has an ailing Aunt in Seattle. Mike finds it a bit odd, as Alice never mentioned an Aunt and they are puzzled as to why she is making a permanent leave instead of a temporary one to attend to her Aunt. Alice also goofs in saying she is flying south to Seattle.

The kids are upset to hear Alice is leaving. The parents cannot believe the story about the Aunt. Mike thinks the problem is that Alice has been doing double work since the family doubled but had no raise. But Alice declines the raise and goofs again when she says her Aunt is in Sacramento. She starts packing and the kids tell her how much they will miss her. Then the phone rings for Alice. It is her friend Myrtle and Alice tells Myrtle the real reason she is leaving. She does not realize Jan and Marcia have over overheard. Marcia tells Carol, who then phones Mike. They realize simply telling Alice that they need her will not be enough – they have to show it in order to convince her and they must do it before Alice’s plane leaves. So, “Operation Alice” is launched. The family pretends that that they are being overwhelmed with too many things at once – Tiger going missing, parties, business meetings, cakes, dinner, kids demanding rides, messy kids, etc. As they hoped, Alice steps in to help and unwilling to leave them in the middle of such chaos. Alice then reveals that she saw through the trick, but she appreciated how much it proved how much they cared about her. She will stay and the kids burst out cheering when they hear. At breakfast, Carol and Mike give Alice a list of chores to do as further proof of how much they need her. Alice whistles for them to stop, saying nobody needs to be needed that much.

💎💎Episode #5: Katchoo💎💎 – Jan’s allergies are acting up, so Carol keeps her home from school. Alice and Carol are worried and Alice fears it might be Mike or one of the boys. When it seems that Jan is allergic to Tiger, the family fears that they might have to lose their pet dog, until they discover that she’s only allergic to his new flea powder. Jan has been sneezing quite a bit lately and the family begins to wonder about the source. After initially coming to the silly conclusion she is allergic to Mike, suspicions fall on Tiger. After confirming what they hoped wasn’t true (Jan sneezes like crazy when the dog is in the room with her), the other family members give Tiger a whole much of baths in order to salvage his place in the household. Alas, it doesn’t seem to work, but when Mike leaves to take Tiger to the grandparents to live, he forgets the mutt’s new flea powder. Carol decides to keep Jan home from school because of her excessive sneezing, which she believes could be the sign of something like the Flu. But once Jan gets into bed, she stops sneezing. Carol, Alice and the doctor surmise that Jan has probably developed an allergy to something. After checking many of the regular causes of allergies such as pollen, they end up believing that Jan is allergic to a person, namely Mike, as Jan starts sneezing as soon as he comes home. Their concern about this revelation is bittersweet when Jan continues to sneeze even when Mike isn’t around, but does so when Tiger is, leading the thought that he is the cause of her allergic reaction. They know that they have to get rid of Tiger for Jan’s sake, news which will probably hit the boys the hardest as they raised Tiger from a pup. Individually, each of the family members, without telling anyone else, believes they have the answer to the problem without needing to get rid of Tiger, but which makes for an extremely agitated dog.

Jan comes down with a mysterious allergy and Carol and Alice try to determine just what is causing it. At first, they think it’s Mike because the allergies act up when he enters her bedroom, but they don’t see that Tiger is in the room. After Mike leaves and Tiger is still in the room, they deduce that it’s Tiger that Jan’s allergic to. Or is it? The kids are heading off to school and Mike to work when Jan comes downstairs sneezing. Carol thinks Jan has the Flu and keeps her at home. The sneezing soon subsides and Jan seems perfectly well. Carol and Alice deduce it must have been an allergy and try to figure out what set it off. They first suspect the baking flour and garden flowers, but these are soon ruled out. Alice suggests that it may be an allergy to a person – perhaps the new half of Jan’s family. Mike comes home for lunch and goes up to see Jan. The moment he enters the room, she starts sneezing again and stops when he leaves. Carol and Alice begin to think that Jan is allergic to Mike. Then Jan has a very bad fit of sneezing when Tiger enters and has no further reaction to Mike. They now deduce that Jan is allergic to Tiger. This means getting rid of Tiger. Mike knows the boys will be very upset. And they are. Saying goodbye is very difficult, especially when Tiger gets too distracted by the bone they give him. The girls, Alice and Carol and Mike in turn get the idea of bathing Tiger, not knowing everyone else has had the same idea. As a result, Tiger starts resisting when he gets a bath, much to the puzzlement of the person administering the bath. But the next morning, Jan again reacts when Tiger approaches. So, Mike takes Tiger to the grandparents. The family then realizes Tiger’s new flea powder got left behind and Jan takes it. As she does, she starts sneezing again. They now realize it is the flea powder and not Tiger and recall Mike and Tiger. That night, the parents are relieved to see Tiger sleeping peacefully on Jan’s bed.

💎💎Episode #6: A Clubhouse Is Not a Home💎💎 – The boys don’t want to share their backyard clubhouse with the girls, so the girls try to build one on their own. After a few months of marriage, Mike and Carol are reveling in the harmony of their now blended family – although Alice tells them it won’t always be smooth sailing. Indeed, the harmony amongst the kids starts to break down when the boys don’t want to allow the girls into their clubhouse. The boys want a private clubhouse of their own, but their siblings want to join in on the guys’ fun. Mike tries to get the girls and Carol to see things the boys’ way, in that they need a place of their own. Eventually, Carol decides that two can play the boys’ game and commissions her daughters to build a clubhouse of their own. But what they build is nothing short of a train wreck and then a beam nearly hits Cindy on the head. The boys decide to compromise and build a clubhouse they all can share.

Interpersonal relations among the kids reach a low after the boys refuse the girls entry to their clubhouse. Mike tries to reason with Carol that men sometimes need a place of their own. In the name of gender equality, Carol and the girls attempt to build their own clubhouse. They do a shoddy construction job and Cindy is nearly injured. Mike and the boys rebuild the clubhouse but the boys’ clubhouse suddenly collapses: Bobby had pulled out the nails from the boys’ clubhouse to finish the girls’ clubhouse. Guest Stars: June Foray as Sandra (Voice only; uncredited), Hans Conried as Lance (Voice only; uncredited). Note: This was the second episode filmed. When interpersonal relations among the kids reach a low as they try to share everything, Alice thinks she’s come up with the perfect solution. After just a few months of marriage, Mike and Carol are reveling in the harmony that exists within their family, in their words, “paradise”. Alice tries to warn them that it will not always be smooth sailing. Indeed, the harmony amongst the kids starts to break down as the differences between the boys and girls start to emerge. Even Mike and Carol are having a difficult time negotiating their own problem of equitable closet space. Mike issues a household directive: Share and share alike. But that directive has an unintended consequence in use of what was the boys’ private sanctuary: The clubhouse in the backyard. Beyond the kids, Mike and Carol are also having differing opinions on what is equitable in this situation. Mike tries to reason with Carol that men sometimes need a place of their own. Everyone looks to Alice for advice, but she vows to stay neutral, until she devises a possible solution. In the name of gender equality, Carol and the girls attempt to build their own clubhouse. They do a shoddy construction job and Cindy is nearly injured. Mike and the boys rebuild the clubhouse and the boys’ clubhouse suddenly collapses because Bobby has pulled out the nails from the boys’ clubhouse to finish the girls’ clubhouse.

With more and more of the girls belongings being moved over from storage, the boys become fed up and take to their “No Girls Allowed” clubhouse in the backyard which sparks the first of many battles between the sexes. This leads the girls to try to build their own clubhouse. The kids are outside playing happily, which prompts the parents and Alice to toast to their success on getting the family together. The toast proves premature. As the family starts unpacking boxes from their move, quarreling erupts again. Carol keeps shifting the marker in the closet that divides her wardrobe and Mike’s in order to get more space than he does. The boys bring up boxes for the girls, but think they are too bossy. After more arguments, they walk off the job and retire to their clubhouse. Mike has a word with them and they agree to try to relate more to the girls. But the girls and boys are soon squabbling again and this results in a chase the ends up in chaos in the parents’ room. After this, Mike lays down the law that the kids have to share. But when the girls start sharing the clubhouse, the boys do not like the changes they have made and fighting erupts again. Mike believes that a line must be drawn here and the boys should have their own men’s space with the clubhouse. Carol says they must share. The boys put a “No Girls Allowed” sign on the clubhouse while the girls stage a demo for a right to share the clubhouse. The parents try to persuade the kids to see the others’ point of view more. Alice refuses to take sides – until she sees a television program about equality in the home. This gives her an idea. At Alice’s suggestion, Carol and the girls start making a girls’ clubhouse, which they make a deliberate mess of. Mike and the boys are watching and reach the point where they decide to step in. Carol admits the ruse to Mike, but he says he guessed anyway because Carol is such a rotten actress. When it is finished, Mike reflects on the lessons they have learned from the experience before dedicating the new clubhouse. Just then the boy’s clubhouse falls down because Bobby used nails from it to build the girls’ clubhouse. The boys demand to share the girls’ clubhouse, which leads to another fight. Afterwards, the kids are watching television, everything is quiet. Mike now thinks it is all smooth sailing – until the kids start fighting over which program to watch.

💎💎Episode #7: Kitty Karry-All Is Missing💎💎 – After Cindy and Bobby get mad at each other, Cindy loses her doll. She accuses Bobby of “doll-napping” and won’t believe him when he promises he didn’t take it. This causes a rift between the boys (who believe Bobby is innocent) and the girls (who believe Bobby is guilty). A mock trial is held for Bobby, during which Jan suddenly votes Bobby as innocent (against Marcia’s expectations) and Peter votes Bobby as guilty (against Greg’s expectations), which then causes a rift between Marcia and Jan and between Greg and Peter. Next, Bobby’s kazoo goes missing and he retaliates by blaming Cindy for stealing it. Bobby realizes that Cindy is very, sad he spends all of his money on a new doll for her, but she will not accept it. After it goes missing too, the clues then lead them to the real culprit: Tiger. The kids are torn over whom to believe when Cindy’s favorite doll, Kitty-Karry-All disappears and she says that Bobby took it. Cindy’s favorite toy is her doll, Kitty Karry-All, who she treats like a real baby. Bobby has often stated that he doesn’t like Kitty as her presence affects his ability to play with his favorite toy, a kazoo. So, when Kitty goes missing, an emotionally tearful Cindy naturally assumes Bobby took her as he was the only person seeming around, even though she didn’t actually see him do so and he had motive. Bobby pleads innocence in the matter, stating that his affection for Cindy as a sister trumps whatever he may have said about Kitty, which Cindy does not buy. As everyone in the house turns it upside down looking for Kitty, Mike and Carol try to mediate the dispute between Cindy and Bobby, while the other kids side with one sibling or another, which affects the relationship between all six kids. The mystery deepens when Bobby’s kazoo goes missing, the show now on the other foot as he automatically blames Cindy as again she was the only other person seemingly around at the time the kazoo went missing despite him not seeing he take it and she had motive. And like Bobby before her, Cindy pleads innocence. Regardless, Bobby tries to extend an olive branch to Cindy in the only way he can not being the person who took Kitty. But the mystery of the missing toys may only be solved by the real culprit trying to steal again.

When Cindy’s doll, Kitty Karry-All turns up missing, she accuses Bobby. This leads to a mock trial with Alice as the judge to determine Bobby’s guilt or innocence. Then later Bobby’s kazoo turns up missing and he blames Cindy. At long last the real culprit is revealed in the end. Cindy is playing with Kitty Karry-All in the living room when Bobby comes in playing his kazoo. Tiger comes in too. Cindy is annoyed with Bobby because the noise of the kazoo will wake up Kitty. Bobby thinks this is a dumb attitude because Kitty is just a doll and not even alive and expresses his dislike for Kitty as well. He then leaves. Cindy goes into the kitchen to get another bottle for Kitty. When she returns, Kitty is gone. Bobby comes back and in view of what he said about Kitty, Cindy accuses him of taking her. Bobby denies taking Kitty. He convinces his brothers of his innocence while the older sisters’ side with Cindy. Predictably, this leads to more arguing between the boys and girls. The family searches the house for Kitty. The kids find lost things in their rooms (which they make a mess of much to Alice’s annoyance), but not Kitty. When Bobby expresses how much he hates Kitty, his brothers again begin to doubt him he finds himself ostracized by the other kids. Mike has a word with the kids about fair trials.

The kids take this too literally and organize a trial for Bobby, with Marcia as Prosecutor, Greg as Defense Attorney, Jan and Peter as Jury and Alice as Judge. Bobby makes an impassioned plea of innocence. This moves Jan and she votes not guilty. But Peter votes the other way. Alice declares a hung jury and then the case dismissed because the pot roast is burning. This makes for a very burnt dinner. Afterwards, Marcia turns against Jan and Greg against Peter, but things are easier between Bobby and Jan. Bobby again comes into the living room playing his kazoo. He finds Cindy playing with a toy her parents bough for her. Tiger is there too. Cindy renews her accusations against Bobby and goes off in a huff. Bobby finds his kazoo is missing and accuses Cindy of taking it. The arguing brings Mike in. He says he does not believe Bobby took Kitty or that Cindy took the kazoo. He then talks to them about circumstantial evidence and how it can make a person look guilty when they are not. Bobby and Cindy are a bit young to properly understand about circumstantial evidence but agree to believe the other’s claims of innocence. Mike comments on how Bobby is taking the loss of his toy better than Cindy is taking hers. He does not understand why Cindy is taking the loss of her doll so hard. Carol talks to him about the attachment girls can form with their dolls. She gives an example of how she cried for a week when she lost a doll as a child. They decide on another search, but neither toy is found.

Bobby pulls out his piggy bank to buy Cindy another Kitty Karry-All. The parents appreciate the gesture, but Cindy rejects the doll, saying it is not the same and leaves the living room. Just then, Tiger, who is also in the room, snatches the doll and takes off with it. The parents now realize who the thief really is. Sure enough, a search of Tiger’s kennel yields the missing toys. As Mike and Carol get ready for bed, Mike says that he still does not understand how anyone can get so attached to an inanimate object. Then Carol tells Mike his lucky seven iron is missing and he gets upset. Carol then puts the golf club out and asks Mike if he understands now. Mike says he does – and then makes gestures to sleep with his golf club. But he was kidding and he and Carol start making love.

💎💎Episode #8: A-Camping We Will Go💎💎 – Mike and the boys have gone camping once a year for several years and Carol and Mike insist on a camping trip for all the family. The girls do not want to participate, and the boys do not want them along either. The family trip starts out a failure, but things improve. The girls do not want to participate in the boys’ annual camping trip, and the boys do not want them along either, but their parents insist. Mike and the boys go on their annual camping and fishing trip, but for the first time with Carol and the girls. However, the trip turns out to be less than peaceful. Greg, Peter and Bobby are looking forward to their annual camp out with Mike and Alice. But this time, Carol and the girls are coming along. Uh-uh, says the boys, who are sure the girls will ruin their good time. But even though the siblings take sides (boys vs. girls, match), they eventually begin to bond with each other, and a fun time is had by all. Mike and the boys’ annual camping trip will be different this year in that the whole family is going, including Carol and the girls who have never been camping before. The boys confide to their father that they don’t want the girls to go. The girls confide to their mother that they don’t want to go. All the kids feel camping is more a boys’ activity. However, each parent tells their respective same sex offspring that they will all be going for the sake of family togetherness, no ifs, ands or buts. As the camping trip progresses, the boys and girls get into one misadventure after another as they try to bridge their camping sensibilities, with the occasional attempt to maintain that divide. The primary question still remains if Mike will get his wish of family togetherness by the end of the trip.

Mike and Carol prepare for a family camping trip. However, the boys are not thrilled that the girls will be coming along. Meanwhile, the girls aren’t exactly thrilled about sleeping in the wilderness. Later on, in the trip, things go awry when the girls mess up the boys’ fishing plans and freak out when they hear owl hoots. Mike is making preparations for a weekend camping trip. This is something he is accustomed to doing with the boys, but it is a first for Carol and the girls. The parents hope the trip will bring the family together. Things do not get off to a promising start because the boys are not thrilled at having the girls along and the girls are not thrilled at the idea of camping. They are pressured by their parents to go along with it. At the camping ground, things go even more wrong when Mike insists the girls accompany the boys on a fishing trip. But the girls get repulsed by handling fish and their screaming scares the fish off. Even worse, Cindy takes a fall into the lake. As a result, the boys end up with paltry catches for the fish dinner and are even more annoyed with the girls. Fortunately, Carol packed some emergency provisions. The boys call it sissy food, but hunger makes them cave in to eating it with relish. The next night brings more problems. The girls, Alice and Carol get scared by owl hoots, croaking frogs and a hissing noise which they think is a Rattlesnake but is in fact Alice’s leaking air mattress. Their screams keep bringing Mike over to check on them, which disrupts sleep for him and the boys. The boys are more annoyed than ever and scorn the girls for being so scared. Their taunts provoke Jan and Marcia into taking revenge by tricking the boys into thinking there is a bear outside their tent. This scares the boys into the girls’ tent, and it collapses. Now, the boys and girls are together – under one collapsed tent. Carol tells Mike that they finally have togetherness. Back home, Mike is so exhausted from the trip that he is glad to get into bed. Greg tells his parents that he and his siblings have had a discussion. They have decided that they did have a good time and ask if they can go everyplace with them from then on. Naturally, the parents say yes, and laugh with delight after Greg leaves. They got togetherness after all.