The Brady Bunch in the White House
The Brady Bunch in the White House | |
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The Brady Bunch in the White House DVD cover | |
Genre | Political Comedy |
Written by | Lloyd J. Schwartz and Hope Juber |
Directed by | Neal Israel |
Starring |
Shelley Long Gary Cole |
Music by | Laurence Juber |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) |
Armand Leo Lloyd J. Schwartz |
Cinematography | Robert Seaman (as Bob Seaman) |
Editor(s) | Terry Stokes |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production company(s) | Paramount Television |
Distributor | Fox Network |
Release | |
Original network | Fox |
Original release | November 29, 2002 |
The Brady Bunch in the White House is a 2002 American made-for-television comedy film and the second sequel to the The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), following A Very Brady Sequel (1996). It was directed by Neal Israel and written by Lloyd J. Schwartz and Hope Juber, based upon characters originally developed by Sherwood Schwartz for the 1970s television series The Brady Bunch.[1]
It was produced by Paramount Television for the Fox television network and first aired in November 29, 2002 on Fox.[2]
Plot
The film begins with Bobby finding a winning lottery ticket but Mike insists that it be returned to the rightful owner. Mike then invites people to the house to prove they are the owner but none are able to answer correctly what the original wrote on the back of the ticket. A local newscaster hears the story and Mike agrees to an interview in hopes of finding the original owner.
As a montage of multiple stations discussing the Brady story, the original owner is being sentenced to execution on death row and is unable to claim his winnings. Since he is not able to find the original owner, Mike decides to donate the money to charity, which attracts the attention of the president of the United States, President Randolph. President Randolph then invites him to a press conference where the president is asked about his dealings with an oil drilling company that has been abusing the environment. President Randolph insists that he has never had any dealing with the company and swears to resign if he is disproven. The press then asks who will be his running mate and Carol suggests Mike. President Randolph agrees to pick Mike as his running mate and they are shown to win the election. However, just before the president and Mike are to be sworn in, evidence reveals that President Randolph has made dealings with the oil company and is thus forced to resign which makes Mike the new president.
Mike then needs to select a new vice president, and he picks Carol. He asks Congress for permission to appoint her and initially, the speaker of the house, Sal Astor, is skeptical of Carol's abilities but she wins Congress over with a song and dance number. Mike settles in nicely as president and pushes to make the country even greater without playing into petty politics. Meanwhile, Veronica Dotwebb grumbles to Sal Astor that he should be president and the two plot to overthrow Mike and Carol by ruining their image. Greg develops a crush on Veronica and she exploits him to divulge any useful information on his family. The Bradys are good and innocent but Veronica manages to spin their most innocent moments into huge scandals. She claims Mike is still involved with a woman from his past; Carol is accused of being a radical hippie when she protests the destruction of a park; Marcia is called promiscuous because she wrote about a fictional erotic encounter with Desi Arnaz Jr. in her diary; Greg accused of underage smoking because a cigarette container found in his coat; Peter accused of bribery for getting a better grade after he compliments his teacher; Jan accused of cheating for getting a better grade on an essay; and Alice accused of drugging the food so the Bradys stay happy all the time. Although this plan garners significant news coverage, it is not enough to impeach the Bradys. Veronica and Sal devise a second plan to trick Mike Brady into informing the public that a world-ending asteroid is about to hit Earth. They succeed by switching a report from NASA regarding data from a space probe with Peter's science project.
Mike address the public telling them he received a report from NASA that confirms a massive meteor is on a course and will cause global devastation. The Bradys are then transported to a secret bunker underneath the White House that will protect them from the ensuing danger. Sal Astor then seizes the opportunity to take power by calling an official press conference as acting president and mocks Mike Brady for falling for the hoax. Embarrassed, the public demands Mike's impeachment but Cindy overhears Sal and Veronica plotting and she informs the family so they can stop them. The Bradys break out of the bunker and interrupt the press conference to tell the truth. Mike then address the public saying they deserve to know the truth, and goes on to start telling the story of the lottery ticket and how he got to be president.
Cast
- Gary Cole as President of the United States, Mike Brady
- Shelley Long as Vice President of the United States, Carol Brady
- Tannis Burnett as Alice Nelson
- Chad Doreck as Greg Brady
- Autumn Reeser as Marcia Brady
- Blake Foster as Peter Brady
- Ashley Drane as Jan Brady
- Max Morrow as Bobby Brady
- Sofia Vassilieva as Cindy Brady
- Saul Rubinek as Sal Astor
- Alex Appel as Summer
- Daniel Fathers as Priest
- Timm Zemanek as NASA Advisor
- Denis Akiyama as Hopeful Man
- Don Allison as Sen. Thurbright
- Jordy Benattar as Annie (Girl with Cat)
- Marcia Bennett as Secretary of H & H Services
- Patricia Carroll Brown as Maid
- Noah Danby as Secret Service Agent #2
- Oliver Dennis as Secretary of Treasury
- Ferne Downey as Press Secretary
- Dan Duran as Martin
- John Evans as Prisoner
- Barry Flatman as News Reporter
- Victoria Fodor as Lottery Woman
- Howard Hoover as Agent Parker
- Jai Jai Jones as Tour Leader
- Jef Mallory as Graham
- Marty Moreau as Walt - Military Guard
- Dave Nichols as President Lawrence Ivor Randolph
- Reagan Pasternak as Veronica Dotwebb
- Joshua Peace as Secret Service Agent #1
- Arnold Pinnock as Howard Katanga
- Tim Post as Secretary of Defense
Recurring events from the show
- Peter breaks a vase while playing ball in the house - "Confessions, Confessions"
- Marcia throws a slumber party, but the parents punish her - "The Slumber Caper"
- The boys putting itching powder in the girls' sleeping bags and scaring the living daylights out of them - "The Slumber Caper"
- Mike installs payphones to teach cooperation.- "Sorry, Right Number"[3]
Reception
The film was negatively received as some critics felt that the television movie lacked the creative wit and humor of the two feature films.[4]