On September 26, 1969, a certain lady met a handsome fellow and together with their six children knew that this group must somehow form a family. That’s the way viewers met The Brady Bunch!
Created by Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan’s Island, The Brady Bunch revolved around a large blended family with six children. Mike Brady, played by Robert Reed, was a widowed architect with three sons, Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). He marries widow Carol Martin, portrayed by Florence Henderson, who has three daughters of her own: Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen). The entire family lives in a large house designed by Mike in a Los Angeles suburb, with their live-in nanny Alice Nelson (Ann B. Davis).
Early episodes of the series focused on the awkward adjustments and resentments typically inherent of newly blended families. Later episodes involved such subjects as sibling rivalry, puppy love, self-image, character building, and responsibility, almost always leading into Mike’s “lectures.” Although the Vietnam War was at its height during the series run, the show noticeably did not feature any political commentary. The Brady Bunch aired on ABC from September 1969 to March 1974 for a total of 117 episodes across five seasons.
Across its original run, the show featured a number of guest stars of that era, such as Davy Jones of The Monkees, Lucille Ball’s son Desi Arnaz Jr., horror icon Vincent Price, New York Jets’ Joe Namath, and Los Angeles Rams’ Deacon Jones. The six Brady Bunch kids also became a singing group at this time, even touring the country with a live stage performance. The Brady kids recorded several albums on Paramount’s record label, including Merry Christmas from the Brady Bunch, Meet the Brady Bunch, and The Kids from the Brady Bunch. Most of their singles fell into the bubblegum pop genre, with “Time to Change,” “It’s a Sunshine Day,” and “Keep On” serving as their greatest hits.
Following the show’s cancelation in 1974, The Brady Bunch spawned several spinoffs. Among them were the animated cartoon The Brady Kids, variety show The Brady Bunch Hour, and the reunion movie The Brady Girls Get Married which itself led into the spinoff sitcom The Brady Brides. These latter adaptations showed what the characters had been doing since the conclusion of the original series: Greg is a doctor, Marcia is a fashion designer, Peter is in the Air Force, Jan is an architect, Bobby and Cindy are in college, and Alice has finally married Sam. Eventually, they reunite for Marcia and Jan’s double wedding with The Brady Brides showing the sisters and their respective spouses all living together.
In 1995, more than 20 years after the show’s end, Betty Thomas directed a satirical theatrical film based on the original series entitled The Brady Bunch Movie. The comedy drew humor from the culture clash of placing the sitcom characters, complete with their groovy fashion sense and puritan morality, into the grungy ’90s. The plot highlighted how out of place the Brady’s were as they vied to save their house from an unscrupulous real estate developer. It starred Gary Cole as Mike, Shelley Long as Carol, Christopher Daniel as Greg, Christine Taylor as Marcia, Paul Sutera as Peter, Jennifer Elise Cox as Jan, Jesse Lee Soffer as Bobby, Olivia Hack as Cindy, and Henriette Mantel as Alice. Monkees members Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork also made cameos along with most of the original cast of The Brady Bunch.
The Brady Bunch Movie opened at No. 1 at the box office with $14.8 million and grossed $46.6 million in the US and Canada. The following year, Arlene Sanford made her feature film directorial debut with the follow-up A Very Brady Sequel. Once again the ’70s family was dropped into the ’90s with much of the hilarity involving the subsequent culture clash. This film saw a con man claiming to be Carol’s first husband arriving to procure a $20 million ancient artifact. While this sequel did not match the box office success of the first feature, both remain cult classics among fans.
Now, in celebration of the kitschy series 50th anniversary, cast members from the original series are returning to the small screen for a slew of Brady-inspired TV specials. Along with guest spots on episodes of Fast N’ Loud, Worst Cooks in America, The Kitchen and Pioneer Woman, all six Brady kids help overhaul the interior of the original Brady Bunch house on HGTV’s “A Very Brady Renovation.” Williams, McCormick, Knight, Plumb, Lookinland, and Olsen duplicate the floating staircase, orange and green kitchen, and Jack-n-Jill bathroom as seen on the original ABC series.
The old style, and often cheesy, family sitcom was not considered a critical success during its original run and failed to ever place in the top 30 or garner any awards. However, rather than fade into obscurity, The Brady Bunch gained a cult following in syndication and left an indelible mark on American pop culture. The Brady Bunch has remained a timeless classic for five decades and it seems they are gonna keep on, keep on, keep on groovin' for another five.
