The Brady Bunch Hour

From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.

Despite its title, The Brady Bunch Hour was not a one-hour musical variety show at all, but rather a nine-part documentary that aired on PBS between January and May of 1977. The show told the strange story of 16-year-old Florida girl Geri Reischl. Tormented by her older sister, rejected by her high school drama club, and caught up in a stress-filled home life, Geri began to pretend that she was Eve Plumb and that her life was like that depicted in the series The Brady Bunch. Eventually, Geri came to believe that her fantasy life was, in fact, real. Although this is now common in today's era of fanboys, Whedonites and TV boyfriends, in 1977 this was a rare phenomenon not often seen outside the world of Dungeons and Dragons players.

The Brady Bunch Hour followed Geri through her make-believe land. Early on, she began writing stories based on The Brady Bunch, with herself as the star. As time went on, Geri's stories drifted further and further from Brady canon. Characters such as Rip Taylor, Donny & Marie, and even Sid and Marty Krofft began to drift into her fantasy world. By episode six, Geri was using sock puppets to perform musical numbers and "introducing" characters and sketches. By week 8, she began to see visions of Charo and H. R. Pufnstuf in her twisted mind. When Geri finally tried to push the cameraman into a pool in Episode 9 as part of a "recurring bit", producers finally intervened. Massive doses of Ritalin and Prozac were injected into Geri, returning her to normal (or in any case, what passed for normal during the 1970's).

After The Brady Bunch Hour aired, Geri Reischl changed her name and entered the Witness Protection Program. At last report, she was living the quiet life of a typical suburban housewife and mother. However, fans of quality television shows never forgot her, and today her statue stands in front of NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas.