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| Written by Stefan Blitz |
There’s no doubt that for millions of people growing up in the Seventies, the Brady family played a somewhat significant part of their childhood.
The Brady Bunch ended after five seasons in 1974, and for many of us, our earliest connection with Mike, Carol, Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, Cindy, Alice and Tiger were during the series earliest runs in syndication.
One of the secrets to the accessibility of the series is that with six kids, there was always someone who the viewer could relate to. And as a testament to both creator Sherwood Schwartz, adult stars Robert Reed, Florence Henderson and Ann B. Davis and the parents of the six younger actors, the Brady Kids (as we’ll refer to them from here on out: Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland and Susan Olsen), made sure that despite their success, they remained grounded.
Although an animated series, The Brady Kids aired from 1972-1974, the final cancellation of the series occurred following a little on-set turmoil.
Robert Reed, who played patriarch Mike Brady, famously didn’t get along with creator/producer Sherwood Schwartz, and was written out of the show’s final episode, The Hair-Brained Scheme. Reed found the episode ridiculous (a hair tonic turned Greg’s hair orange). Reed remained on set for the episode’s filming, but Schwartz was already considering recasting the role or killing the character if the series were to be renewed for a sixth season.
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| Reed and Schwartz |
Robert Reed, strongly disliked his role as Mike Brady, claiming that he only took the part because producer Sherwood Schwartz told him the show would be a, “serious, boundary-pushing look at modern day family life”. Schwartz considered the possibility of either hiring a new actor to play Mike Brady or killing off the character altogether, if the series were renewed for a sixth season. Reed stayed with the series (and subsequent reunion spin offs) out of loyalty to the kids.
In 1977, Sid and Marty Krofft, resurrected the Bradys with a variety show, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. Without the involvement of Schwartz, Reed returned to join his fellow cast members (with the exception of Eve Plumb, who would only commit to six episodes; the network wanted a thirteen episode commitment, so the part was recast with Geri Reischl).
The series only lasted nine episodes, but was a virtual who’s who of seventies kitsch with such guest stars as Rip Taylor, Robert Hegyes, Redd Foxx, Donnie and Marie, Tony Randall, Milton Berle, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Charo, Farrah Fawcett, Rich Little, Lee Majors, Vincent Price, the cast of What’s Happening!! (in character), Tina Turner and Paul Williams.
With a sporadic schedule and lukewarm reception, the Bradys once again went their separate ways.
Until…
In 1981, he cast reassembled once again for the TV-movie/pilot, The Brady Girls Get Married.
This is the only time in history that all nine cast members of series reunited on screen.
We’re introduced to Wally Logan (Jerry Houser), a toy salesman and Philip Covington III (Ron Kuhlman), a college professor; fiances to Marcia and Jan respectively. The girls decide on a double wedding and the family reunite for the event. Greg is now a doctor, Peter is in the air force, Bobby and Cindy are both in college and Alice has married her longtime suitor, Sam the butcher.
The pairs of newlyweds agree to share a house (of course) which is precisely what they did in the short lived several episode series, The Brady Brides (which starred McCormick, Plumb, Houser and Kuhlman). Florence Henderson and Ann B. Davis were also regular cast members.
The next incarnation of the Bunch was in 1989, when the cast reunited (this time without Susan Olsen who was replaced by Jennifer Runyon) for A Very Brady Christmas.
This time, we see The Brady Kids now as adults, many of them married and with kids of their own. The special also introduced drama into the Brady storylines with Mike inspecting a building that collapsed, leaving him trapped within.
It’s no surprise that Mike survived and the family once again decided to tackle television with a series of dramatic television movies. The network decided to convert the movies into a series (which prompted new mother Maureen McCormick to decline participating; the character Marcia now being played by Leah Ayres).
The series launched as The Bradys.
In the pilot, Bobby, now a race car driver getting into an accident which leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. Other “dramatic storylines” involved Mike running for city council, Marcia developing a drinking problem and Peter has a near death experience.
Viewers weren’t particularly charmed with this incarnation that has quietly disappeared from pubic consciousness. And the network didn’t help things by adding a canned laugh track to the poorly received drama hoping to lighten it up. Once again, the Bradys found themselves off of television.
Robert Reed passed away from HIV complications in 1992, Sherwood Schwartz passed away from natural causes in 2011 and Ann B. Davis passed away earlier this year from injuries sustained from a fall in her home.
But nevertheless, the Bradys live. The cast (minus Reed) reunited a decade ago with host Jenny McCarthy for The Brady Bunch 35th Anniversary Reunion Special: Still Brady After All These Years.
What will the future bring for the family?
Two years ago CBS announced that they were developing a possible new The Brady Bunch series, which would be produced by and star Vince Vaughn as an adult divorced Bobby Brady who remarries to start a new family. There’s been little other news about the series since, but it certainly would be interesting.
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| “My brother Greg and I got trapped in Sam’s meat locker once. And I don’t mean that as some kind of fetish…Sam was a butcher.” |
As for the original cast, they’re a part of our collective childhoods.
Shared memories of old friends that will forever keep us singing and dancing all through the night….
