The Brady Bunch

The Brady Bunch was a US television situation comedy, based around a large blended family. A total of 117 episodes were broadcast between September 1969 and August 1974 on the ABC network. The idea to make the series was based on creator Sherwood Schwartz's reading an article that a growing share of the marriages in the United States involved children from a previous marriage. Despite the similarities between the series and the 1968 theatrical release Yours, Mine and Ours, starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, the original script for The Brady Bunch (which was titled Yours and Mine at that early stage) antedated that for the film. However, the success of the film was likely a factor in the network ordering the series.

Spinoffs and Sequels

Several sequels to the original series were made, featuring all or most of the original cast.

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The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

A variety show called The Brady Bunch Variety Hour was spun-off (Eve Plumb was the only actor who declined to be in the series; the role of Jan was recast with Geri Reischl) in 1977 and was canceled after only nine episodes.

Related Topics:
Geri Reischl - 1977

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("The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" was parodied in The Simpsons episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (where a different girl plays Lisa but the rest of the Simpsons appear).)

Related Topics:
The Simpsons - The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase - Lisa

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The Brady Girls Get Married

A TV reunion movie called The Brady Girls Get Married, and a spin-off sitcom was produced in 1981. The reunion movie featured all the original cast, and the ensuing series (titled The Brady Brides) featured Maureen McCormick (Marcia) and Eve Plumb (Jan) in regular roles. The series had Marcia and Jan both married and both couples living together. The clashes between Jan's uptight husband, Phillip Covington III (a college professor who was several years older than Jan) and Marcia's more slobbish partner, Wally Logan (a salesman who could never seem to keep a job) were the pivot on which many of the stories were based.

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A Very Brady Christmas

A second TV reunion movie A Very Brady Christmas featured all the regular cast (except Susan Olsen), as well as three grandchildren, Peter's girlfriend, and the spouses of Greg, Marcia and Jan. After a series of pratfalls to get the family together, everyone comes home harboring various secrets (e.g., Jan and Phil are considering separation; Wally is out of work again; Greg's wife wants to spend Christmas with her family; Cindy feels pressured to come home in lieu of a skiing trip; Peter feels inferior to his girlfriend, who is also his boss; and Bobby puts off college in favor of a stock car racing career. Alice, meanwhile, temporarily moves back in with Mike and Carol after her husband, Sam (the butcher), runs off with another woman.

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Even Mike has problems: Contractor Ted Roberts, wanting to save money on a downtown office complex project where Mike is the architect, demands that he redesign the building to omit important safety specifications. Mike advises against it and causes his firm to lose Roberts' services. Later, the building crumbles, and Roberts (unable to contact anyone at the new firm he hired), must rely on Mike to find what caused the building's structure to become unstable. While inside, the building continues to crumble, trapping Mike and two security guards inside. Of course, everyone turns out OK, and Alice and Sam reunite.

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The movie ? which aired in December 1988 to high ratings ? renewed interest in the Brady clan and set out the current careers and family situations which were continued in The Bradys.

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The Bradys

The dramedy series The Bradys was produced in late 1989, and premiered on February 6, 1990; Maureen McCormick decided not to participate in this series, and her role of Marcia was filled by Leah Ayres. It was also the last time Robert Reed would portray Mike Brady. Mike ran for city council to battle a freeway offramp that would necessitate destruction of the Brady house, which, however, was lifted and moved when Mike got the idea from his grandson.

Related Topics:
Dramedy - February 6 - 1990 - Leah Ayres

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Other storylines:

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• Bobby's budding car-racing career ends abruptly in the first episode with an accident that left him a paraplegic.
• Peter breaks up with his fiancée, to whom he became engaged in A Very Brady Christmas.
• Jan and Phillip, unable to conceive children of their own, adopt a Korean girl.
• Stay-at-home mother Marcia battles alcoholism while Wally loses yet another in a series of jobs ? the latest being Mike's campaign manager. Wally and Marcia, who along with their two children have been forced to move in with Mike and Carol, eventually decide to open their own catering business to support their family.
• Radio host Cindy begins a romantic interest with her boss, a widower more than 10 years her senior who has two children.

The role of Kevin Brady, Greg's son, was filled by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who went on to greater success on sitcom Home Improvement just 18 months after The Bradys was cancelled (after just six episodes, due to low ratings).

Related Topics:
Jonathan Taylor Thomas - Home Improvement

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