# Would you watch The Alan Brady Show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657 "2014-06-12T21:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/1 "2014-06-12T21:47:33Z")
The Dick van Dyke Show I love. (Thanks, Netflix!) The Alan Brady Show…I’m not so sure about. A man impersonating a bowling pin? A talking car? Richie Petrie singing “Little Drummer Boy”??? Meh…I think I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/2 "2014-06-12T21:57:54Z")
What? Of course! Sure the bowling pin sketch fell down and the talking car sketch was a lemon, but everyone has off days. The quality would have been generally high (I think). I especially would have enjoyed Alan son’s early small screen experimentation with the mockumentary genre. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/3 "2014-06-12T22:56:29Z")
It was a different time, you understand. _The Alan Brady Show_ was based on Sid Caesar’s _Your Show of Shows_, which was very popular at the time. But that time passed, and YSoS went off the air. Would I watch it now, if it were new? Probably not. Watch it in the 50s? Sure. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/4 "2014-06-12T23:03:18Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I especially would have enjoyed Alan son’s early small screen experimentation with the mockumentary genre. 🙂 > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It was a different time, you understand. > > _The Alan Brady Show_ was based on Sid Caesar’s _Your Show of Shows_, which was very popular at the time. But that time passed, and YSoS went off the air. > > Would I watch it now, if it were new? Probably not. Watch it in the 50s? Sure. But do you/would you watch “The Dick van Dyke Show” now? That, too, is a product of its time, but it’s held up very well. It’s just the show within the show that strikes me as very creaky. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/5 "2014-06-12T23:09:07Z")
Has the show in any “show about a show” ever been any good? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/6 "2014-06-12T23:10:46Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Has the show in any “show about a show” ever been any good? If the show within the show was any good, it would be the show. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/7 "2014-06-12T23:15:54Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If the show within the show was any good, it would be the show. Right. People complained that the show in “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” wasn’t particularly funny. Well, yeah, if Aaron Sorkin could write SNL, Lorne Michaels would have tried to hire him to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/8 "2014-06-12T23:57:23Z")
Have we had a thread about shows-within-shows? The only other one that leaps to mind is _Jerry!_ which looked like quite the snore-fest. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/9 "2014-06-13T00:05:38Z")
Maybe. I’m just saying the part of a sketch they showed on _Mad About You_ looked like it had potential. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/10 "2014-06-13T00:06:11Z")
Complaining about the show within the show is a bit like complaining that the WJM newscast wasn’t particularly informative. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/11 "2014-06-13T00:32:02Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Has the show in any “show about a show” ever been any good? Itchy and Scratchy! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/12 "2014-06-13T00:36:09Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Itchy and Scratchy! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/13 "2014-06-13T02:03:32Z")
But The Simpsons isn’t \*\*about \*\*_Itchy and Scratchy_, except on a few occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/14 "2014-06-13T02:26:54Z")
One of the wonderful things about YouTube is that you can find some of the not so special editions of variety shows. So you don’t have to take our word for it that shows existed with a [four-minute song and dance number to introduce the guest stars](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvFZeC_JCvw) before the opening credits. Commercials that (literally) sing the benefits of [hexachlorophene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMLHVJ54BNE). And the inevitable [discomfort of variety show hosts](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2dljaLtiYM) when trying to deal with anything even close to youth culture. Alan Brady would have been Number 1 in his time slot with a 40 share! ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/15 "2014-06-13T02:49:55Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Have we had a thread about shows-within-shows? The only other one that leaps to mind is _Jerry!_ which looked like quite the snore-fest. If news counts… The Mary Tayler Moore Show. And Murphy Brown. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/16 "2014-06-13T03:27:26Z")
Yes, t-t-t-t-tune into Network 23! The network that’s a _real_ mind-blower! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/17 "2014-06-13T04:25:23Z")
I just watched the “Alan Brady Song” segment. I laughed, in a 1950’s sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/18 "2014-06-13T04:32:02Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > But The Simpsons isn’t \*\*about \*\*_Itchy and Scratchy_, except on a few occasions. True. Sometimes it’s about Krusty the Clown. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/19 "2014-06-13T04:57:12Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > If news counts… The Mary Tayler Moore Show. And Murphy Brown. I always wondered who in their right mind would watch Ted Baxter deliver the news on Channel 12 in Minneapolis, and why he wasn’t fired immediately ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657/20 "2014-06-13T06:12:26Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > I always wondered who in their right mind would watch Ted Baxter deliver the news on Channel 12 in Minneapolis, and why he wasn’t fired immediately I always figured it was one of two things: 1. The producers trusted the audience to suspend their disbelief and go with the joke. 2. The producers are all east coast and west coast elitist, who assumed that all fly-over country denizens are bumpkins who wouldn’t know the difference. I’ll be charitable and assume that #1 is probably the correct answer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-watch-the-alan-brady-show/690657.md?page=2)