"The Hero"
View from the top of the stairs
The dining room hutch in the Brady home disappeared after the first season. It was in such an awkward, 4th wall position, that I imagine it simply wasn't worth hauling out, even on occasion. As it is, it was seldom seen in Season One, and mainly served only as the background for Robert Reed's dining room table close-ups.
A Wide Shot in "Vote For Brady"
Mike's close up in that scene
A Wide Shot in "The Grass Is Always Greener"
Mike's close up in that scene
Once The hutch was gone, they used the blank wall or the dining room curtains behind him.
I am not sure why that extra chair would be there, when there were already 8 seats being occupied. Also, seeing the curtains behind the girls, it is crazy to think the curtain would extend behind him at the head of the table.
Interestingly, I imagine shooting his close-ups was difficult, and a bit time consuming. It would be easy enough to move them around, or get a bigger table. Yet, at this time in American culture, ABC was not going to veer away from any family dinner scene that didn't place Mom at one end of the table (nearest the kitchen) and Dad at the head of the table.
And check out the groovy chandelier in the top photo!
Thanks to DMD, I never noticed that before
Thanks for covering the disappearing hutch, Johnny! HGTV said they were going to base the renovation on the first season look, yet they didn't get a hutch! You're welcome at pointing out the chandelier. My source told me that HGTV attempted to locate a similar handelier. They did, but they didn't use it for the dining area. They put it in the stairwell beyond the new door in the dining room. Look at the renovation vids to see what they got!
ReplyDeleteOk thanks! I didn't realize that about the current HGTV chandelier. I got to check that out.
DeleteJohnny, I found some good shots of the "Brady Bunch Hutch" from the "Lucy the Robot" episode of The Lucy Show. It looks like it originally belonged to Irma Mooney! Several other props that found their semi-permanent home on the Brady set also appeared in this episode. Can you name them?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A55WBsKwIM&ab_channel=VincentRodriguez