The Pop Culture Addict presents... Television

February 2nd, 2007

From the moment that it made its debut in 1969 it seemed like the powers that be were waiting for the Brady Bunch to die. In its 1969 fall preview issue TV Guide called "The Brady Bunch" the worst show of the season and predicted it would be the first series to be cancelled. ABC TV refused to commit to an entire season and, for the first four years of the series, only renewed its contract in thirteen episode intervals. In fact it has been rumored that Robert Reed, who played the beloved Brady patriarch Mike, did the pilot only because he needed some cash and picked what he felt was the worst script he found that the network surely wouldn't pick up. As a result, for years afterwards Reed sent letter after letter to ABC pointing out the problems with scripts handed to him in attempts to get the show cancelled and get him out of his Brady contract so he could be away from sit-com hell. However, year after year, and decade after decade, the Brady Bunch stuck the middle finger up at TV Guide, ABC, and Robert Reed. Despite the fact that "The Brady Bunch" could often be corny, badly written, badly acted and tacky as hell, the world at large saw something special in the little series. As a result, after nearly four decades the Brady Bunch has gone from being a backwards little sit-com to a pop culture phenomena and one of the most endearing, and enduring programs in television history.

However, although "The Brady Bunch" saw its final episode air in 1974, the show, as well as its cast, just wouldn't accept the term "cancellation." Oh god no! It was like someone took "The Brady Bunch" and attached it to a life support machine. Even before the show was officially cancelled "The Brady Bunch" became very much like the Hydra from mythical Greek lore; cut off its head and two more seemed to grow in its place. Although it always seemed the odds were stacked against "The Brady Bunch", even long after the show left the airwaves the Bradys just kept going......and going......and going.......and going....with each incarnation being stranger than the next. So come with us as we explore the madness of "The Brady Bunch" spin offs in something I'd like to call:

HERE'S THE STORY OF THE SPAWN OF BRADY: THE SHOW THAT JUST WOULDN'T DIE

1. The Brady Kids (1972) - In the late 1960's through to the mid 1980's Filmation studios was one of the most popular animation companies in television. Part of the reason for Filmations popularity was its ability to seek out hot commodities and transfer them to animation. In 1972 Filmation Studios joined forces with Brady producer Sherwood Schwartz and ABC television to develop eighteen episodes of a Brady Bunch cartoon series aptly titled "The Brady Kids". Furthermore, the show would feature all six original Brady Kids (Barry "Greg" Williams, Maureen "Marcia" McCormick, Chris "Peter" Knight, Eve "Jan" Plumb, Mike "Bobby" Lookinland, and Susan "Cindy" Olsen) doing the voices of their animated counterparts. However, Filmation realized that what "The Brady Kids" needed was something that the regular Brady Bunch series couldn't offer viewers. It had to be completely different. What followed makes one wonder if the writers took a nod from the Kroft Brothers and ordered a giant truck of drugs. "The Brady Kids" featured the six Brady's, with no adults in sight, living in a tree house with their shaggy dog Mop Top (not Tiger, the ill fated canine friend from the Brady's early days), two pandas named Ping and Pong (how the Brady were able to find and raise endangered species was beyond me), and a magical talking Mynah bird named Marlon (don't even ask). All this, and the Brady Bunch was a rock band. Well, ever since the Archie's had hit gold with "Sugar Sugar" Filmation had all of its cartoon commodities doubling as rock bands. It was kind of a staple of their cartoons. Anyhow, thanks to the medium of animation, the Brady kids and their animal pals could get into tons of magical adventures. One week Myron turned Bobby into Clint Eastwood. Another week the Brady kids stopped jewel thieves, another week they get sent back in time to King Arthur's Court, yet another week they discover aliens from Venus. The Brady kids even found themselves entertaining guests such as the Lone Ranger, Superman, and Wonder Woman to their tree house. And, of course, during the episode, the Brady kids would perform a song. Sometimes it would be originals. In fact, "Sunshine Day" was featured on the animated show before it was transported to the regular series. However, most weeks the Brady kids did covers of popular 1970's soft rock songs such as "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo", "Summer Breeze," and, in possibly the lowest point in Brady musical history, an ear splitting rendition of "American Pie". In an attempt to keep up with their rivals the Partridges, the songs were packaged on a series of LP's that didn't sell very well. The songs were also accompanied by a funky animated video. Anyhow, despite the fact that the whole thing sounds like a giant train wreck, one can never judge the sensibility of kids overdosing on sugary breakfast cereals. "The Brady Kids" was a moderate success and Filmation ordered an additional five episodes for the 1973 season. However, due to scheduling disputes, only Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen, and Eve Plumb participated in the final five shows. Yet, although no more episodes were made, "The Brady Kids", like "The Brady Bunch" series itself, was popular in syndicated reruns until the early 1980's.

2. Kelly's Kids (1974) - Now, although Sherwood Schwartz developed silly television shows like "Gilligan's Island", "My Mother the Car", and "Its About Time," Schwartz considered himself to have his finger on the pulse of social consciousness. In fact, when he sold the premise of "The Brady Bunch" to ABC he described the series as being "a serious, boundary-pushing look at modern family life." Of course, in Schwartz's eyes that meant half hour plots revolving around Marcia getting hit in the face with a football. Anyhow, in 1974 Sherwood Schwartz was back to the drawing board still looking for that "serious" series. Now competing with show's like "All in the Family," Schwartz knew his brand of television series had ran its course. Now it was time to play hardball and what better place than to debut his new "boundary pushing" series in an episode of his original "boundary pushing" series! The result was "Kelly's Kids", the most obscure of all the Brady spin offs. Years before Norman Lear developed "Different Strokes", Sherwood Schwartz developed the premise in which a young couple adopted three little boys - one white, one black, and one Asian - and tried to not only function as a family but find acceptance in a world that wasn't ready for families of mixed ethnicities. "Kelly's Kids" appeared as an episode in the Brady's final season and focused on Mike and Carol's friends, the Kelly's. The episode would double as a pilot for Schwartz's new show. Future "Mama's Family" star Ken Barry and popular television actress Brooke Bundy played Ken and Kathy Kelly who adopted nine year old Matt but when Matt tells his new parents that he misses his two best friends at the orphanage, Steve and Dwayne, the Kelly's adopt them as well. However, controversy hits the neighbourhood when Dwayne ends up being black and Steve Asian. The racist next door neighbour and neighbourhood busy body Ms. Payne (played by Hazel's Molly Dodd) attempts to stop Dwayne and Steve from joining the family. The three boys run away to the Brady's house because they have so many kids that they wouldn't notice a few others. Of course, their plan wasn't thought out very well because well....amongst the Wonder bread whiteness of the Brady's, Dwayne and Steve kind of stood out. Anyhow, the Kelly's come and pick up their boys, assure them that everything will be alright, and the five of them drive to their new home and, what Schwartz would hope to be a new series. However, television audiences never heard from the Kelly's again. With season five being the final season for the Brady's, ABC didn't pick "Kelly's Kids" up either. Either that, or Robert Reed contacted the actors involved and warned them to run for the hills because Schwartz couldn't write a hard hitting series if it hit him in the face. However, while it was the last we'd see of the Kelly's some of Kelly's kids did gain a bit of success later on. Matt, the white kid, played by Todd Lookinland (Mike Lookinland's younger brother) made appearances in a number of television programs throughout the 1970's but eventually ended up developing models for George Lucas for the second "Star Wars" trilogy. Dwayne, the black kid, played by Billy "Pop" Atmore became one of the very first black Mousketeers in Walt Disney's 1970's revival of the Mickey Mouse Club. And Scott, the Asian kid, played by Carey Wong? Well....he made a few minor TV appearances but with George Takai monopolizing Hollywood's token Asian roles it was hard to be an Asian actor in Hollywood and Carey Wong disappeared. I mean jeez - if Bruce Lee couldn't make it Carey Wong didn't have a chance! Anyhow, "Kelly's Kids" faded to be a lost idea on Schwartz's writing board, as well as an odd little episode and tid bit in Brady history.

3. The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1977) - One of the oddest phenomena's of the 1970's has to be the popularity of variety shows. Starting with Sonny and Cher, and continuing with acts like the Captain and Tennille, Sha Na Na, Donny and Marie Osmond, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and even one hit wonders Starland Vocal Band, these silly, corny and cheaply made hours of television were popular show pieces for current musical acts. Anyhow, in 1977 the Brady Bunch returned to the airwaves in what has been called by TV Guide as being the fourth all time worst program in television history. The story of "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" actually started in 1976 when Florence Henderson, Maureen McCormick, Mike Lookinland, and Susan Olsen made a guest appearance on "The Donny and Marie Show" and, in one skit, played their Brady characters. The result of that appearance proved to be a giant success in ratings, which gained the attention of ABC president Fred Silverman. Silverman contacted Donny and Marie's producers, the legendary Kroft Brothers, and talked them into developing The Brady Bunch as a variety show. What Silverman didn't do, however, was consult Paramount Pictures or Sherwood Schwartz who held the rights to the show. However, Paramount felt that the variety show might be good to keep interest in the series so that they could continue to sell "The Brady Bunch" on the syndicated market, and it has been said that Schwartz didn't get in the way as to allow the Brady cast to have this opportunity. So the word went out to the original Brady cast that they were back on the air in a song and dance extravaganza. However, one Brady wasn't enthusiastic and refused to come back. Surprisingly, it wasn't Robert Reed. This time Reed was an enthusiastic team player who wanted to do this thing, although he could barely sing and couldn't dance at all. In fact, Reed's fondness for his TV family actually kept him returning to Brady projects for the rest of his life. This time the unwilling participant was Eve Plumb who had a desire to distance herself from the Brady phenomena. Thus the Kroft Brothers had to hire a new Brady which led to the discovery of the multi-talented, and far prettier, Geri Rieschl as the new "Fake" Jan. They also added a new character to the Brady world - Jack Merrill played by comedian Rip Taylor. However, the dynamo that was Geri Rieschl (the shining light in this dark period of Brady history), as well as impressive guests including Donny and Marie, Farrah Fawcett, Lee Majors, Lynn Anderson, Paul Williams and Tina Turner, couldn't save this tragedy. Terrible costumes, flamboyant badly choreographed dance routines, and questionable musical numbers, as well as an unstable time slot doomed the Variety Hour to only nine episodes. However, despite only a hand full of episodes, a cult following for the series has emerged by lovers of both bad television and nostalgia buffs. I'll even guiltily admit that "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" is easily my favorite Brady incarnation for it's outrageousness, it's insanity, its odd ball selection of guets and for the addition of Geri "Fake Jan" Rieschl - easily my favorite Brady of them all. That girl is outtasite.

4. The Brady Girls Get Married (1981) - In 1981 Sherwood Schwartz was at it again, but this time instead of ABC, Schwartz was to bring the Brady Bunch over to NBC in a brand new, all different Brady series to be called "The Brady Brides." However, before "The Brady Brides" came to be there was a one hour TV movie/pilot "The Brady Girls Get Married." Focusing on Marcia and Jan (once again played by Eve Plumb who had been holding out but eventually took the offer), "The Brady Girls Get Married" would be the final time the entire original Brady cast would appear together on the screen. Anyhow, Mike and Carol, who are now empty nesters with Cindy finally leaving for college, are delighted when Jan announces to them that she is getting married to her long time uptight, square peg, college professor boyfriend Phillip Covington III (played by Ron Khulman). Meanwhile Marcia is talked into going out with a jackass slacker named Wally Logan (played by Jerry Hauser). After a seven day whirlwind romance, Marcia announces to her parents dismay that she and Wally are also going to tie the knot. Jan and Marcia decide for a double wedding in the Brady home but that's when conflict arises, in classic Brady fashion as the two girls fight over a traditional wedding or a modern one. Anyhow, the entire Brady clan comes back for the wedding (for the exception of Cousin Oliver who wasn't invited) which leads us right into.....

5. The Brady Brides (1981) - "The Brady Brides" wasn't only the shortest lived of all the Brady spin offs, but probably also the dumbest Brady concept...and yes, I am even including the "Variety Hour" when I say that. Sherwood Schwartz was reaching at straws when he got the idea to combine "The Brady Bunch" with "The Odd Couple". When Jan and Phillip, and Marcia and Wally both want to purchase the same house, but can't afford it, they all combine their efforts to buy the property and live there together. However, uptight Phillip and slobby loser Wally are constantly at each others throats and hilarity ensues. "The Brady Brides" is also the series that had the least amount of Brady alumni participation with pretty much all the Brady's turning their back on this one for the exception of, of course, Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb, but also Anne B Davis and Florence Henderson as regular visitors to the Brady girls' home. Thankfully, after five dismal episodes, NBC pulled the plug on this atrocity. Oddly, in recent years McCormick and Plumb have become famous for not wanting to have anything to do with the Brady franchise. Could this have been the straw that broke the camels back?

6. A Very Brady Christmas (1988) - Seven years passed before Schwartz had the nerve to bring the Bradys back to the screen, but in 1988 he tried it again with the help of CBS. As a result, the Brady clan had managed to cross over to all three major networks. This time Schwartz brought back the combined casts of "The Brady Bunch" and "The Brady Brides" for the now classic (and possibly the most successful Brady spin off) two hour Christmas special "A Very Brady Christmas." Unfortunately, Susan Olsen was unable to play Cindy as she was on her honeymoon in Jamaica when this production filmed. Instead, this time a "Fake" Cindy was played by former "Charles in Charge" actress Jennifer Runyon. When Mike and Carol decide not to go to the tropics for the holidays they get a plan together to spend all their money bringing all six of their kids and their spouses home for the holidays. However, the Brady kids all have their own issues. Greg has to come with his son, but without his wife Nora, who promised to spend the holidays with her parents and refuses to come. Marcia's jackass husband Wally is unemployed....again. Peter's hiding the fact that his girlfriend is his boss. Jan and Phillip are talking divorce. Bobby is hiding the fact that he dropped out of college to become a race car driver. Cindy is tired of being treated like a child after she had to cancel her ski trip because she was expected to come home. Even Alice is back, having walked out on Sam the butcher. Meanwhile, Marcia and Wally have two demon spawned children, while Greg's child is a wuss. Anyhow, as the tension between the Brady's mount and rise, Mike gets crushed when a defective building falls on him but, of course, survives. Then, at Christmas dinner, everybody reveals their problems and secrets and all issues get resolved and all is well again. "A Very Brady Christmas" was a rating giant and has become a staple of holiday viewing to this day and, while not my favourite of the spin off series, it is probably the easiest to watch.

7. The Bradys (1990) - After the success of "A Very Brady Christmas" CBS decided to try their hands at the Bradys again. This time, however, Sherwood Schwartz decided that he was finally, after all these decades, going to actually attempt to make that hard hitting drama that he always intended "The Brady Bunch" to be. The result was "The Bradys" (aka Bradysomething) that brought back all the characters you know and love by putting them in new, more mature situations. Susan Olsen was back as Cindy but this time Maureen McCormick dropped out of this production and actress Leah Ayres was cast as the new "Fake" Marcia. So to give you an example of the kind of hi-jinks that you could expect from "The Bradys" we need not look further than just the first two hour pilot. Wally has, once again, lost his job and the house which forces himself, Marcia, and their two horrible children Mickey and Jessica to move in with Mike and Carol; Jan and Phillip are unable to conceive children and adopt an Asian orphan. Peter breaks up with Valerie and starts changing women like he changes underwear, Cindy is schmoozing with her boss, Bobby gets in a tragic car crash while racing in the Nashville 500 and becomes paralyzed from the waist down...and marries his long time girlfriend Tracy, and Greg's son wets the bed. Whoo hoo! Let the hilarity begin! Future episodes included Mike going into politics, Marcia becoming an alcoholic, and the entire Brady clan fighting to save their family home from being demolished for the construction of a freeway. Two interesting additions to the Brady cast appeared within this series. Long time fan favorite MTV VJ Martha Quinn co-stared as Bobby's wife Tracy, and future "Home Improvement" co-star and 90's teen heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas played Marcia's son Mickey Logan (replacing G.W. Lee who played him in "A Very Brady Christmas", making Thomas the "Fake" Mickey). "The Bradys" was probably, without a doubt, the worst of the ideas that Sherwood Schwartz ever came up with...and I'm including "My Mother the Car" in that assessment. TV audiences just weren't ready for the Brady Bunch as a dysfunctional family after so many years of being the family you loved because they were so perfect and their small problems could be solved within a half an hour. Either that, or it was because the horrible, horrible Florence Henderson sung theme song (even the network dropped the vocal version to a less ear bleeding instrumental version after a few episodes). As a result only six episodes were filmed, but only five of those episodes were even aired. Thus, with "The Bradys" demise the original Brady series was finally laid to rest...but the Brady franchise would prove to live on and on.

The shocking AIDS related death of the often difficult, but the much beloved Robert Reed in 1992 pretty much ended the continuous adventures of the original Brady clan. More recently, Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb have both turned their back on the franchise and have stated that they want little to do with the series and refuse to have any part in interviews or reunions. Anne B. Davis, now in her seventies, has officially retired from show business. Yet the remaining members of the cast - Florence Henderson, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olson, Chris Knight, and Barry Williams still keep "The Brady Bunch" legend alive. As a result, while the fictional original adventures of the Bradys are now over, the Brady franchise has lived on in movies, TV specials, documentaries, reality television, game show appearances, television specials, stage productions, talk shows, DVD releases and, of course, syndication. The Brady Bunch have become a part of the Western subconscious and as long as somewhere the phrase "Here's the story" is being sung on television sets world wide the Brady Bunch will never ever die.