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Recap / The Brady Bunch S 5 E 6 Getting Gregs Goat

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Greg is quite the ladies man. So much so that by the later seasons, subtle hints began to be dropped that he went all the way with babelicious classmates. Although no episode ever stated it outright, Greg Brady was one big stud on the Westdale High campus.

The only time it is explicitly suggested he slept with a girl is in the episode "Getting Greg's Goat," where Greg actually did not. But he did have a female in his room ... a female goat.

Viewers are in the know from the beginning of the episode, when Greg sneaks into the house late at night with Raquel, the goat mascot who had been nanny-napped from rival Coolidge High School. It seems that factions from the two high schools had been in an escalating series of pranks, culminating with Coolidge students swiping the bear mascot of Westdale High, leading to Greg's friends going under the bridge to get the goat.

Much of the fun of this episode, then, is what various other Bradys think is going on in Greg's room ... and it's definitely not homework or Greg practicing the guitar, to be sure.

In the Brady's walk-in linen closet, there is a vent up to the attic, and anyone can eavesdrop on conversations taking place upstairs. His younger siblings — particularly, Bobby and Peter — hear Greg cooing to Raquel and whispering sweet nothins' ("Dat feel good, Raquel?" — graphic language for the Brady Bunch to be sure) ... they being unaware that it is a goat Greg's talking to and that the ears being rubbed are the goat's. The charade continues, and the first to find out the truth about Raquel is Marcia, who agrees to keep things a secret. (She manages to get Alice to put off doing Greg's laundry.)

Just then, Mike goes into the closet to get a washcloth and hears Greg continuing to coo up to Raquel. Three stern knocks on the door later, Greg, whom Mike likely fully expected to be bare chested and in nothing but boxer shorts (and with a big bulge in them), is forced to explain. The conversation is vague at first — to draw 1970s double-entendre laughs, natch — until Greg finally explains that Raquel is a goat.

Mike immediately realizes what's going on: Greg is one of the main culprits behind the recent mascot heists. However, Mike goes easy since he, too, had been a mascot thief in his time. Since Carol has left for an emergency PTA meeting (ironically enough, to deal with the mascot-stealing crisis), there's time to meet with Greg's friends to discuss returning the goat as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Peter discover Raquel's identity and the goat gets loose, running amok all over the house. Meanwhile, Mike and Greg get back home, discover that the PTA group has decided to meet at the Bradys instead, and then a real mess breaks out when the vice principal shows up to help deal with the situation.

And then Raquel begins her run through the house and Greg is caught. The vice principal is rightly pissed and orders Greg to write a 5,000-word essay on the evils of mascot stealing. Mike then admits to the vice principal that he did the same thing in college and got suspended for a week; the vice principal then sheepishly says he, too, was a former mascot stealer and was kicked out of college for a month!

Tropes present in this episode:

  • Cycle of Revenge: It's stated that there were earlier pranks pulled by students at Westdale and Coolidge High, and they had been escalating.
  • Did They or Didn't They?: What several of the Bradys were likely thinking when they (erroneously, as it turns out) conclude Greg had spent the night with a girl in his room.
  • Extreme Omni-Goat: Raquel the goat eats everything Greg feeds her ... and even his bedsheets, homework and pants!
  • Hilarity Ensues: Particularly with the wild goat chase in the climatic scenes, while the PTA and assistant principal are at the Bradys! Greg is very fortunate to get off with having to write a long essay about his actions; in the real world, he would at least be facing a long suspension from school and likely criminal charges and loss of any pending scholarships he was going for. (The vice principal sheepishly admits that he indeed did the same thing in his wilder college days and was suspended for a month.)
  • Parental Hypocrisy: Averted with Mike, as he once engaged in a similar prank in college; why he does little more than say, "Oh, Greg," when Greg admits he stole Raquel the goat. Played nearly straight with the vice principal when he demands Greg write a long essay reflecting on his actions; the vice principal had done the same thing in college, but goes easy when he did remembers his far more severe punishment – suspended for a month – for his own college mascot-stealing prank.
  • The '70s: Barry Williams, in his autobiography, remarks about some of the very 1970s fashions worn by some of the cast members. (Also seen but not mentioned: the 1973 Chevrolet Caprice convertible in the scene where Mike and Greg arrive home from their meeting to return the goat.) But hey, this was the 1970s.
  • A Threesome Is Hot: While Greg is not home, Bobby and Peter go back to the linen closet to listen in on what's going on in their oldest brother's room. When they hear what they think are two sets of footsteps, Peter jumps to the conclusion that Greg slept with two girls ("Greg's got two girls up there? What an operator!"). Before the two can jump to any more conclusions on what sexual activity might have happened overnight under their parents' roof, the initial silence – which Bobby notes, since it can be assumed he thought there would be a little bit of conversation – followed by the goat's neighing and subsequent investigation put a stop to their fertile imaginations.

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