Robert Reed was a classically trained actor whose most famous role was that of the dad on “The Brady Bunch.” He was evidently a prickly fellow and constantly harassed the show’s producers about its lousy scripts. I get the feeling that for him, working on the show was like a gourmet chef having to take a job at McDonald’s.

I’ve just stumbled across an amazing memo that he wrote to the producers in response to a particular episode. It is amazing for two reasons. One, analyzing “The Brady Bunch” with high-minded theatrical philosophies is funny, and the seriousness with which Reed treated it is hilarious.

But two, in the process of explaining why “The Brady Bunch” sucks, Reed actually does a really good job of explaining the principles behind comedy, and why violating those principles usually results in failure.

Here is the memo. It is long and academic-sounding, but I truly do find it fascinating.

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There is no “Snide Remarks” today, nor will there be one next Monday or the Monday after that, because I’ll be covering the Sundance Film Festival.

However! Please do not despair. I will do my best to entertain you in other ways. I’ll be doing my usual daily reports from Sundance, with the first one appearing Saturday. Also, I’m going to post some other amusing reading material for you here shortly.

In the meantime, why not watch a video of two old French-speaking men fighting on a TV news broadcast?