Brotherly love

Newsday (MCT) - The Jonas Brothers get their own Disney Channel musical-comedy series this week _ think of "Jonas" (8 p.m. EDT Saturday) as kind of a Monkees for the 21st century, except we think Nick, Joe and Kevin play their own instruments. While ruminating on the talents of the boys, we began thinking about other brotherly trios we've seen on the tube over the years. Take these five:

The Hudson Brothers ("The Hudson Brothers Show," 1974) _ Singers Bill, Brett and Mark starred in their own short-lived summer variety series. But Bill is probably better known for his short marriage to Goldie Hawn, which produced Kate and Oliver.

The Brady Brothers ("The Brady Bunch," 1969-74) _ Bobby, Peter and Greg _ all of them groovy, red-blooded and all-American. And, after several seasons, all sported perms, just like their dad.

The Douglas Brothers ("My Three Sons," 1960-1972) _ Mike (Tim Considine), Robbie (Don Grady) and Chip (Stanley Livingston) lived with their widowed dad (Fred MacMurray) and grandfather (William Frawley), later replaced with their grandfather's brother (William Demarest). The boys were also red-blooded and all-American, but not as groovy as the Brady sibs.

The Partridge Brothers ("The Partridge Family," 1970-74) _ More musical bros: Keith (David Cassidy), Danny (Danny Bonaduce) and Christopher (Jeremy Gelbwaks, then Brian Forster) sang with their two sisters and mom in a band modeled after the Cowsills.

The "Newhart" Brothers ("Newhart," 1982-90) _ Not sure we ever learned their last name, but this trio of Vermont rustics _ Larry (William Sanderson), Darryl (Tony Papenfuss) and Darryl (John Voldstad) _ were certainly the world's worst handymen.

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