Here’s the story of a lovely lady, a man named Brady who could’ve been played by Gene Hackman, six kids, a wacky housekeeper, and how a series that started as a typical formulaic sitcom grew into a syndicated monster. Here are some things you might not know about The Brady Bunch.
- Gene Hackman was the original choice to play Gene Hackman
- The Show Was Never A Hit
- Schwartz (The Creator) Once considered killing off Mike Brady
- In The Bathroom Scenes, the toilet is missing
- The brads Sliding glass door never had glass in it
- Sherwood Schwartz wrote the song’s theme song
- Despite Tiger (the family dog) only being in the first season, they still kept the doghouse in the back yard
- Greg never kissed any of his dates on the show
- Carol Brady was the only character who’s name never appeared in the title of the episode
- The success of the Lucille Ball/Henry Fonda film inspired ABC to green light the show
Let’s go behind the scenes and hear what Barry Williams (Greg Brady) has to say…
In 1966, following the success of his TV series Gilligan’s Island, Sherwood Schwartz conceived the idea for The Brady Bunch after reading in The Los Angeles Times that “30% of marriages [in the United States] have a child or children from a previous marriage.” He set to work on a pilot script for a series tentatively titled Mine and Yours.
Schwartz then developed the script to include three children for each parent. While Mike Brady is depicted as being a widower, Schwartz originally wanted the character of Carol Brady to have been a divorcée, but the network objected to this. A compromise was reached whereby Carol’s marital status (whether she was divorced or widowed) was never directly revealed.
In the first season, awkward adjustments, accommodations, gender rivalries, and resentments inherent in blended families dominate the stories.
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In an early episode, Carol tells Bobby that the only “steps” in their household lead to the second floor. In other words, the family contains no “stepchildren”, only “children”.
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The later episodes focus on typical preteen and teenaged adjustments such as sibling rivalry, puppy love, self image, character building, and responsibility.
https://youtu.be/-dZPRbR4SI8
Remember the Classic TV Cameos by Musicians including Davy Jones?
If you loved Florence Henderson, like we loved Florence Henderson, you will also want to read: Florence Henderson: Beyond The Brady Bunch
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(Sources: Mental Floss & Wikipedia)
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