R.I.P., Allan Melvin

Allan Melvin, who played Sam on The Brady Bunch and about a zillion other things, passed away last week. Mark Evanier has a nice write-up on his site, including some personal experiences with him. Mark points out that a number of obituaries have emphasized his role as Sam the butcher, to the detriment of his other work. And while that might not be fair (and might not be particularly professional, even), I think it's a natural reaction. I personally think The Dick Van Dyke Show is a much funnier TV show than The Brady Bunch, and would probably say the same about Sgt. Bilko and All in the Family, were I more familiar with the shows themselves (I've only seen a couple episodes of Bilko, and was too young to really appreciate All in the Family when it was originally airing). They're all good sitcoms -- great ones, in fact.

But The Brady Bunch wasn't so much a sitcom as a phenomenon. And while it certainly has a bigger hold on some people than others, the series somehow provides my generation with strange communal memories of vacations to the Grand Canyon and shampoo that turns hair orange. (I'm still always a little nervous when I measure out laundry detergent, thanks to an incident that never actually happened in real life, but somehow marks me to this day.)

I think by saying "Sam the butcher has died," obid writers are acknowledging Melvin's place in those communal memories, in much the same way that when Christopher Reeve died, he was Superman. Yes, it ignores many of Mr. Melvin's other acting accomplishments. But what it does do is pay our respects to a man who never existed, but who Allen Melvin made us think we knew well.

Rest in peace, Mr. Melvin.

Rob

Butcher Alert!

In the comments to my previous post about Allan Melvin, Travis points out that IMDB is unreliable for cast credits of older TV shows. He's right. According to the Canonical Brady Bunch Episode Guide, Sam actually appeared in eight episodes. That's out of 117. Very few, overall, but he was very much a presence. Maybe he could've been in more if he weren't so busy being a double agent. (Luckily the Mayberry Sheriff's Department caught him in time.)Isn't the Internet wonderful?

ALMOST IMMEDIATE UPDATE: I just realized the Beetle Bailey video Mark Evanier posted the other day is from the series featuring Allan Melvin as the voice of Sgt. Snorkel. (This might be his voice gruffly saying "Beetle Baily!" at the very end of the theme song. TRIPLE agent!

Rob

The Butcher Looms Large

At work this morning, we began a work-related discussion that ended with us wondering who played Sam the butcher on The Brady Bunch. I’m sure my sister could tell me off the top of her head, but we had to look it up on IMDB. Turns out his name is Allan Melvin. He was born in 1922 and is still alive, though it seems he retired in 1994. He made a ton of appearances on All In the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place, as well as being a recurring player on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Andy Griffith Show, and played Cpl. Henshaw on The Phil Silvers Show. Plus a lot of voice work for animation. He’s had a hell of a career.

But you know, I remember him best as Sam the Butcher. That’s not just a character he played, to me and my cohort. That’s who he is. I didn’t realize his character even had a last name (Franklin). He’s just Sam the Butcher, and if I see him on a Dick Van Dyke episode, I’ll say “Hey, it’s Sam!”

But IMDB revealed something else, even more interesting to me than his long career: Sam only appeared on four episodes of The Brady Bunch. That seems completely wrong to me. In my memory, his character has a much greater presence than that. (Jim the Bastard suggests that he was probably mentioned a lot more than he was seen; he’s probably right.) He is, after all, the reason why I conflated the definitions of “butcher” and “bachelor” when I was a kid. “A single guy who sells cuts of meat.”

So here’s to you, Sam. You’re a giant among recurring sitcom characters. In only four appearances, you fleshed out the Brady’s world, and sabotaged my dating technique for years. (“Lamb shanks? I thought we were going out for dinner...?”)

Rob