The Brady Bunch vs. The Osbourne’s
Society’s image of the perfect family is portrayed through American Television. At first glance, the Osbourne family and the Brady’s would appear to have very little in common, however a closer examination will reveal that the two families have more similarities than differences. The Brady Bunch first aired in 1969 with a scripted format that illustrated a perfectly blended family whereas the Osbourne’s first aired in 2000 as a reality show featuring a dysfunctional family.
Sherwood Schwartz, creator of The Brady Bunch, conceived the idea for the series after reading an article in the Los Angeles Times that said “40% of marriages [in the United States] had a child or children from [a] previous marriage”. As the ultra-catchy theme song explains, The Brady Bunch contained a blended family, meaning a father married a widow. The show illustrated a societal change, taking a step forward to where television is today. The widow, Carol Brady had three daughters of her own; Marcia, Jan, and Cindy. The father and architect, Mike Brady had three sons of his own; Greg, Peter, and Bobby. Their different ages provided for three separate stages of youth, thus explaining why it appealed to a range of viewers. The maturing children tackled the typical issues of first crushes, dating, neighborhood bullies, and homebound matters such as sibling rivalry, dealing with parental restrictions, and the fact that their house had two bedrooms and six children. Almost always, even with the toughest problems, each episode ended with the issue neatly wrapped up. Mike Brady always contributed his weekly lectures explaining a moral lesson. The large family lived in a suburban home designed by mike. They also had a live-in housekeeper named Alice, and a dog named Tiger.
The first season deals with the Brady’s adopting to their new living arrangements. The kids fight over chores, and bathroom time. In later seasons, as the kids grow up,...