Episode 15: Greg Gets Grounded

Greetings once again dear readers!  Thank you for joining me to review “Greg Gets Grounded”.  The episode first aired on January 19th, 1973.  It is well remembered by fans of the show.  Greg’s request that exact words be used and Mike and Carol’s agreeing to such is one of those credibility strains that made The Brady Bunch so fun and memorable.  Peter and Bobby’s frogs add the craziness that also defined the show.  Let’s begin our review!

The story opens with Greg and Bobby arriving home.  Bobby thanks Greg for taking him to the pet store.  Bobby has laid out $2 to purchase a frog.  The pet store is having a frog jumping contest with a $25 prize for the furthest jumping amphibian.  In today’s dollars, Bobby paid approximately $11 for a frog that might win him $140.  Assuming the pet store knew a lot of people would participate, it is a clever way to sell frogs.  Greg has done some shopping of his own.  He is carrying an album that appears to read “Strawberry Shortcakes”.  A Google search produced only albums and music related to the line of toys that was not sold until the early 1980s.  Should some reader recall an actual Strawberry Shortcakes band or album from this time, please share with us more information!

Inside, Bobby shows his frog to Mike and Carol.  He shares that he has named the jumping jackpot contender Spunker.  At this point during the show’s original run, one might have feared the entire episode was going to be about jumping frogs.  Fortunately, the actual plot is soon introduced.  Bobby praises Greg’s fine driving skills and gets his older brother in a mess of trouble.  Bobby describes Greg’s avoidance of a collision with a large truck on the freeway.  Mike and Carol question Greg for more details about the incident.  Bobby shares that Greg was neither cut off or speeding, but distracted as he read the back of the album he’d just purchased.  Mike and Carol are furious.  Bobby slinks away as Greg’s punishment is doled out.  He will not be allowed to “the car” for a week.  Greg is very unhappy and protests.  Mike responds by threatening to take away the driving privileges for two or three weeks.  This may have been the most angry we ever saw Mike and Carol.  Readers, feel free to share any times Mike and Carol were angrier.  For possibly doing bodily harm to himself and Bobby and totaling the car, I think Greg got off easy with only a week’s loss of driving privileges.

Outside, Bobby is trying to get Spunker to jump.  Peter arrives home and questions if the frog came from Burke’s Pond.  Upon learning Bobby spent $2 on Spunker, Peter scoffs at the idea as the local pond is full of frogs.  During this scene, Peter is wearing a hat.  As the Brady kids never wore one before, unless playing a sport or in a costume/getup, this looked off to me.  Greg coasts into the garage on his bicycle.  He has just made a trip to the record store only to find out the tickets to a rock concert are sold out.  Greg chides Bobby for getting him banished to his bicycle for a week.  He asks how Bobby could get to be so stupid in such a short time.  Geez Greg, you nearly got your little brother killed or maimed earlier in the day and now you are insulting him?  One can surmise the still developing teenage mind can mix up priorities and trigger unreasonable emotions.  During this scene, there were some extreme close up shots that were not common on The Brady Bunch.  Maybe these were last minute retakes.

Greg’s ticket dilemma continues into the next scene.  He calls a friend to share the news that the record store was sold out of the tickets.  The only way to get some now would be to go to the stadium and buy them.  Without a car, this can’t be done.  Why he didn’t ask Alice if he might borrow her bus pass or ask Carol to drive him to the stadium is not made known.

Back outside, Peter has since procured a frog of his own.  His came from the local pond.  He shares some details about it with Jan and Cindy.  Cindy inspires Peter to name his amphibian competitor Old Croaker.  As he goes to rustle up some frog grub, he places the beast under his cap.  We now know why Peter had donned the ill fitting cap.  By looking at the earlier shot of him wearing it, it looks like strong sneeze by somebody standing nearby would have blown that hat right off his head.  Alice walks by and sees the hat scuttle around and initially thinks she is going crazy.  Peter watches from across the yard and pretends to be oblivious to the moving hat.  Once Alice is spooked enough by the moving hat, she gets another jolt by lifting it to see the frog.

In the next scene, Greg attempts to butter Mike up before asking for an exception to using the car.  Mike emerges from his office with some plans he has been working on.  Greg looks them over and praises their high quality.  Mike is suspicious and rightfully so.  Greg asks for an exception that will allow him to drive right to the stadium and then back.  Mike won’t hear of it.  Greg is forbidden from using “the car”.  With his flattery plan failing with Mike, Greg’s desperation increases.  He then calls an acquaintance named George.  I say acquaintance because as Greg begins the conversation, he states it has been a while since the pair has spoken.  Also, it is evident that Greg would not have even thought to call the fellow up had he not been seeking a favor.  George can’t help Greg out, but does suggest that Greg use his car to go to the stadium.

At the supermarket, Greg’s attempt at exploiting a loophole in his punishment is made known.  While shopping, Carol encounters George’s mother Jenny.  She offers Carol a ride home.  Since Greg borrowed her son’s car, she assumed Carol’s was out of commission.  It was a clever way on the script writer’s part for Mike and Carol to find out about Greg’s circumventing his punishment.  One can only imagine what would have been Greg’s explanation to his parents of how he came to get tickets for the show when they found out he had them.   During this scene, one will notice that all the products in the supermarket either have obscured labels or the products are turned in a way so that the brands are not seen.

Gracia Lee

Jenny was played by Gracia Lee.  Her other television credits included appearances on Little House On The Prairie, Diff’rent Strokes and One Day At A Time.  Feature films to her credit include “Two Minute Warning” and “Schizoid”.  Her final acting credit on IMDB was a 1992 episode of The Wonder Years.  She died in 1995.

BUSTED!

The scene changes from the supermarket to Mike’s den flawlessly.  I’ve always appreciated when this is accomplished on a TV show.  When the conversation from one scene shifts to another as though it is continuing, it transitions scenes nicely.  Greg is summoned to the den where Mike is none too happy to learn that Greg was out driving.  Greg tries to defend his actions by stating Mike only limited him from driving the Brady’s

Mike is mad.

car.  Such loopholes and thinking is very in line with how many teenagers think.  I could easily see a younger version of myself or my stepson making such a case.  Carol asks if Greg really thought his driving restriction was limited only to their car.  Greg replies he knows only what he heard.  What a terrific bit of writing Greg’s lines are in this scene.   Kudos to Barry Williams for delivering them so well.  Mike tells Greg there is no doubt he knew he was not to drive any car.  Mike then says the punishment he is about to give leaves no room for misunderstanding.  Greg is grounded for ten days.  He may only leave the house to go to school.  Greg’s response sounds about the whiniest he ever was on the series as he protests being grounded.  He laments that this punishment means he will miss the concert.  He storms off slinging his arms and saying “Awwrgh!”  Mike and Carol show no sympathy as he leaves.

 

As Mike and Carol prepare to retire for the night, we see Mike exercising.  I recall Bob Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show” doing the same.  The last thing I want to do before falling into bed for the night is get worked up and and sleep in sweaty pajamas.  This seems like the worst time of the day to decide to exercise.  Maybe the 1970s had some school of thought that suggested otherwise.  Greg pays Mike and Carol a visit and pleads his case.  He now wants to live by “exact words”.  Here is where the episode gets a little crazy.  Mike agrees to this nonsense!  He lifts Greg’s ten day punishment and agrees that from now on, exact words will be the rule of the house.  While it makes for an entertaining remainder of this episode, the idea that a parent would agree to such is crazy.  After Greg leaves, Carol says she can’t believe Mike let Greg get away with pleading such a case.  Mike tells Carol that living by exact words is no easy task.  This goes both ways!  I can’t see Mike or Carol taking on the extra stress that comes with exact words just to win an argument with a teenager.  The lifting of Greg’s punishment due to the lack of using exact words is a bit of a stretch too.

The frog b-plot continues outside.  The girls all watch Peter and Bobby’s frog participate in their own jumping contest.  Old Croaker is the victor and Bobby questions if Spunker is sick.  He laments wasting $2 on a thoroughbred frog and heads to the pond in search of a mutt.  As I watched this scene, I could not help but notice that Marcia looks really nice in that shade of blue.

Exact words come back to haunt Greg in the next few scenes.  He arrives home and it is almost 11.  Mike questions if Greg washed Carol’s car.  Greg says he forgot but will do so the following day.  Mike reminds him that per his exact words it was to be done today.  Greg goes outside to wash his car in his pajamas and robe.  He soon finds himself sprayed with water.  With this complete, he bids Carol goodnight.  She questions if another chore is done.  He had traded chores with Marcia.  Exact words see Greg washing dishes late into the night.

The frog jumping plot soon clashes with the main plot.  Peter and Bobby look over Bobby’s new assortment of frogs.  In a funny line, Peter suggests Bobby drained the pond of all the frogs.  Bobby has so many now he can’t recall which is which.  The boys ask Greg about transportation to the frog jumping contest and he says no way.  His younger brothers will just have to make other arrangements as he is bound for the rock concert.  Understandably, Peter and Bobby go to Mike and Carol with this predicament.  Greg gets no sympathy from his parents.  They have their own plans for the evening.  Mike even suggests their plans could have been changed, but Greg’s commitment to exact words sees that they will not.  Since Greg had told the boys he would take them, he is going to do just that.  Peter gives the smuggest of expressions when he sees that Greg has lost this fight.  An irate Greg questions what he will tell his rock concert date, Rachel.  In a funny line, Peter says for him to tell her there is a frog jumping contest.

Greg’s entire night is not ruined.  He breaks his date with Rachel who is disappointed, but shares she really only wanted to spend time with him.  The pair agree to go see a movie after the frog jumping contest.  Greg should have asked Rachel if she enjoys watching frogs jump.  Then they could have spent the entire night together.

Peter and Bobby are hurriedly dropped of by Greg who is anxious to go pick up Rachel.  They both lament their frogs’ poor performance in the contest.  Then they notice said frogs were left in the backseat of the car!

The disastrous result of the forgotten frogs is predictable, but still funny.  How neither Greg nor Rachel heard the frogs croaking in the backseat is not made known.  The movie playing on the screen is the same one they saw last time at the drive-in.  A reference is made to the last time they went to a movie together with Bobby in tow.  So enraptured with each other or the movie, both Rachel and Greg fail to hear the box of frogs opening in the back seat.

Soon, frogs are hopping all over the car.  The first one lands square on Rachel’s head!  Another one lands on the pizza Greg purchased at the snack bar.  That snack bar staff sure doesn’t skimp on the cheese when making a pizza!  Look how much is on that thing!  Well, there is a lot of cheese in the middle of the pizza.  It made for a funny visual, but not a very appetizing pizza.  Greg and Rachel just have a good laugh over the frog fiasco.

Back at home, Greg tells Mike and Carol about what happened and they all have a laugh over it.  He also asks if the exact words doctrine may be tossed.  That is agreed upon and all is well.  Greg bids his parents good night and leaves the room.  Some playful goodnight banter involving exact words is exchanged between Mike and Carol.  The closing squares then appear and are followed by the end credits.  So, for the second time in season four, the normal sequence of squares, epilogue and credits is altered.

Thank you for joining me to review “Greg Gets Grounded”.  While the main plot has a most questionable parenting decision, the episode remains fun and pretty solid.  It would take a show like The Brady Bunch to somehow meld a frog jumping contest with a plot about a teenager’s conflict with his parents.  Your thoughts on this episode are most welcome!  Next week, we will be experiencing singing and dancing Brady kids again as we review “Amateur Nite”.   Have a great weekend!