''The Brady Bunch in the White House'' is a 2002 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

and the second

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''

The Brady Bunch Movie ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' is a 1995 American comedy film that parodies the 1969–1974 television series ''The Brady Bunch''. The film was directed by Betty Thomas, with a screenplay by Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, an ...

'' (1995), following ''

A Very Brady Sequel ''A Very Brady Sequel'' is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Arlene Sanford (in her feature film directorial debut), with a screenplay by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, James Berg and Stan Zimmerman, and starring Shelley Long, Gary Cole an ...

'' (1996). It was directed by

Neal Israel Neal Israel (born July 27, 1945) is an American actor, screenwriter, film and television producer, and director best known for his comedic work in the 1980s for films such as '' Police Academy'', ''Real Genius'', and '' Bachelor Party''. Biogr ...

and written by

Lloyd J. Schwartz Lloyd Jeffry Schwartz (born May 2, 1946) is an American television producer and writer. Career Schwartz is the son of TV mogul Sherwood Schwartz and his wife Mildred Seidman. Lloyd worked alongside his father since the late 1960s. They teamed ...

and Hope Juber, based upon characters originally developed by

Sherwood Schwartz Sherwood Charles Schwartz (; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series '' Gilligan's Isla ...

for the television sitcom ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, afte ...

'' (1969–1974). Although

Shelley Long Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Long portrayed Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom ''Cheers'' and received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Seri ...

and

Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American television, film and voice actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. On television, he has had starring roles in the ...

reprise their roles from the previous films, the children and Alice were all recast in this film. It was produced by

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

for the Fox television network and first aired on November 29, 2002 on Fox. The film received negative reviews.

Plot

Bobby finds 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 The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, 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 A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, and he picks Carol. He asks

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

for permission to appoint her and initially, the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

, 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 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. Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (born January 19, 1953), known professionally as Desi Arnaz Jr., is an American actor and musician. He is the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Early life Arnaz was born on January 19, 1953, at Cedars-Sinai Medical ...

in her diary; Greg accused of underage smoking because a cigarette container was 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 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

regarding data from a space probe with Peter's science project. Mike addresses 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 addresses 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

as Mike Brady *

Carol Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 1 ...

* Tannis Burnett as

Alice Nelson File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 159 ...

* Chad Doreck as Greg Brady *

Autumn Reeser Autumn Reeser (born September 21, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Taylor Townsend on the Fox series '' The O.C.'', Lizzie Grant on HBO's '' Entourage'', Katie Andrews on ABC's ''No Ordinary Family'', and Leslie Bel ...

Marcia Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 15 ...

Blake Foster Blake Anthony Foster (born May 29, 1985) is an American actor and martial artist. History Foster was the ''Huggies'' baby at the age of 16 months in 1986. In 1995, he was one of the stars in the movie '' Above Suspicion'' starring Christoph ...

as Peter Brady *

Ashley Drane Ashley Eckstein (; born September 22, 1981) is an American actress and fashion designer. She is the founder of the fashion label Her Universe. She is best known for voicing the role of Ahsoka Tano throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginni ...

Jan Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 15 ...

Max Morrow Max Morrow is a Canadian former actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Connor Undercover'' as the title character, ''Monk'' as Benjy Fleming, '' The Christmas Shoes'', ''Sister Mary Explains It All ''Sister Mary Explains It All'' is a 20 ...

as Bobby Brady *

Sofia Vassilieva Sofia Vladimirovna Vassilieva (born October 22, 1992) is an American actress. Notable roles include portraying the children's book character Eloise in '' Eloise at the Plaza'' and '' Eloise at Christmastime'', Ariel DuBois in the Emmy-winning ...

as Cindy Brady *

Saul Rubinek Saul Hersh Rubinek (born July 2, 1948) is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright. He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on ''Warehouse 13,'' Donny Douglas on ''Frasier'', Lon Cohen on ''A N ...

as Sal Astor * Dave Nichols as President Lawrence Randolph

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 Image:Brady Bunch.jpg, 320px, alt=A 3 x 3 grid of squares with face shots of all nine starring characters of the television series: three blond girls in the left three squares, three brown-haired boys in the right three squares, and the middle th ...

" * The boys putting itching powder in the girls' sleeping bags and scare the living daylights out of them - "

" * Mike installs payphones to teach cooperation.- " Sorry, Right Number"

Reception

The film was negatively received. Judge Patrick Naugle of ''DVD Verdict'' called it "a pale imitation of the two previous films" and said that the television movie lacked the creative wit and humor of the two feature films.

Home media

''The Brady Bunch in the White House'' was first released on DVD in 2004, in 2011 as part of the ''A Brady Bunch of Movies'' collection and again in 2019 as part of ''The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brady Bunch In The White House, The 2002 comedy films 2002 television films 2002 films The Brady Bunch films American comedy television films Films about fictional presidents of the United States Films based on television series Films directed by Neal Israel Films set in the 2000s Films set in the White House Fox network original films American sequel films Paramount Pictures direct-to-video films Television films based on television series Television sequel films 2000s American films