Captain's Library BRADY BUNCH "T.V. or Not T.V."

Today's the 50th Anniversary of the debut of...

...so let's celebrate with a tale about television and its' effect on the newly-blended family!

BTW, note that Alice is decidedly "off-model", as if Ann B Davis had not yet been cast, or the artist had no reference for the character...

If you're under 30, this story will make no sense whatsoever, since almost infinite access to entertainment via a variety of screens including tvs, desktop and laptop computers, tablets/ipads, and even smartphones is a way of life!

If you're over 30, you probably experienced this situation (or something similar) during your childhood!

Written by Don (DJ) Arneson and illustrated by Jose Delbo, Dell's Brady Bunch #1 (1970) was a decent, if cliched, attempt to capture the humor and feel of the first season.

Strangely, the comic only lasted one more issue, which, considering the show's five-year run seems odd, since even series that lasted two seasons had comics that lasted at least five issues!

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Brady Bunch 50th Anniversary TV & Movie Collection

...which includes the original series, the animated series, the various tv movies and spin-off series and the rebooted feature film series!

(It doesn't include the Brady Bunch Variety Hour, due to music rights issues!

But everything else is here!)

Captain's Library SPOOF "Marooneded"

While the lower-budgeted CountDown received an official comic adaptation...

...the best the bigger-budgeted (and better-known) flick Marooned could manage was several satire strips, including MAD, Cracked, Sick and this never-reprinted tale from Marvel's short-lived Spoof #1 (1970)...which was the only full-color take on the flick!

(Note the characters from two then-hot TV series...The Mod Squad and Dark Shadows along with Marooned's Gregory Peck (whose character in the movie didn't go into space) on the Marie & John Severin-rendered cover!)

Though Stu Schwartzburg is listed as the writer/artist, Marie and John Severin redrew a number of characters to make them resemble the actors in the movie better than Stu's renderings.

Captain's Library COUNTDOWN Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

We Must Beat the Commies to the Moon!

It's 1967!

When the USSR announces they'll have a man on the Moon before the Apollo flights can get there, NASA switches to their "Plan B", a flight with a solo astronaut who'll have to "camp out" on the Moon in a shelter already sent there until a rescue ship can pick him up!

Does he make it or not?

Neither the movie or the comic ever answer the question!

While CountDown beat its' bigger-budgeted competitor, Marooned, to the theaters, it didn't garner the reviews, attention, or box office sales the other film received!

OTOH, Marooned never had a comic book adaptation.

Correction...Marooned never had a licensed comic book adaptation.

It did receive several satirical adaptations, including MAD, Cracked, Sick and...

...the only full-color version, which we'll present Sunday!

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CountDown
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Captain's Library COUNTDOWN Part 2

"We must beat the Commies to the Moon..."

 No, you're not reading another reprint of Marvel's Fantastic Four #1.
It's 1967.
With the USSR announcing they're sending a rocket to the Moon, the still-untested Apollo project is superseded by the Pilgrim Project, which would send a single astronaut on a one-way trip to get there first and await rescue almost a year later.

A top-rated military pilot would handle the solo flight.

But since the Soviets announced they're sending a scientist as their solo cosmonaut, the decision is made by NASA to send an astronaut scientist in the Air Force pilot's place!

To Be Concluded...
TOMORROW!

Based on a 1964 novel by Hank Searls, the movie had a troubled production with original director Robert Altman's cut re-edited because he tried the Howard Hawks method of having actors do overlapping dialogue, which had fallen out of favor (but would make comeback a few years later!)

The late, great, Roger Ebert has a kool review HERE.

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Pilgrim Project
by Hank Searls
The Gemini-era novel that Countdown the movie was adapted from.
It was not reprinted with a new, movie-themed cover, as is the practice when movies/tv shows are adapted from novels.
It was reprinted in the 1970s, without reference to CountDown on the cover or inside!
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