I hated the original "Brady Bunch"--the show was totally saccharine and about as edgy as a basketball! When the Brady movie came out in 1995, I was thrilled--as the saccharine Brady family was gone and the movie had a wonderful way of making fun of itself. Because of this good-natured lampoon, I was excited to see the sequel--and it did not disappoint--being MUCH better, even, than the previous film.

Here, the plot is much sillier and the film is much more daring--going some sick places that the last film never dared. Jan is back--and even crazier than before and simply a hoot. And, there is a totally sick plot involving Marsha and Greg that had me falling on the floor laughing.

One of the only reservations about the film is that it, unlike the TV show, there is some family-unfriendly humor. It was very, very funny and welcome...but not for the younguns. The other is that to enjoy and appreciate the film, you really need to have seen the original show. If you never saw the show, you will miss a lot of the references and won't enjoy it nearly as much. So, as a result, here is how I rate the film: 9 if you've seen the original show and hated it and 7 if you've never seen it and 2 if you LOVE the original show and can't imagine anyone lampooning this 'pure genius' (yeah, right).

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It turns out that the horse statue in the Brady family living room is a priceless artifact unbeknownst to the Bradys. The gang is back with the same satirical take on the 70s TV family. Tim Matheson plays the mysterious man who shows up claiming to be Carol Brady's first husband Roy. Carol doesn't recognize him but he claims to be disfigured by an elephant. Everybody buys into the story as he tries to steal the horse.

The gang is still fun satire but Tim Matheson adds nothing to the movie. The setup needs to be more natural and not so stupid. The family should be the only ones doing silly things. Also they keep pushing Marcia and Greg together. Everything is just a little bit too awkward. The first Brady Bunch movie is much more in keeping with the ideas of the original TV show.

We may wonder why they would make a sequel, given that the original series is widely considered so fluffy. But "A Very Brady Sequel" isn't half bad. Portraying a man (Tim Matheson) showing up at the Bradys' house and announcing that he was Carol's first husband long believed dead, the movie pulls some neat tricks. The whole thing about "George Glass" was kinda funny.

So, there's nothing particularly special here, but it's an OK way to pass time. Like in the first movie, we can definitely see the contrast between the 1970s and 1990s. Also starring Richard Belzer, Barbara Eden and David Spade in small roles.