A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| The Brady Bunch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Sherwood Schwartz |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer |
|
| Opening theme |
|
| Composer | Frank De Vol |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 117 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Sherwood Schwartz |
| Producers |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25–26 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC[1] |
| Release | September 26, 1969 – March 8, 1974 |
| Related | |
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three girls. After its cancellation in 1974, the series debuted in syndication in September 1975.[2] Though it was never a ratings hit or a critical success during its original run, the program has since become a popular syndicated staple, especially among children and teenage viewers.
The Brady Bunch's success in syndication led to several television reunion films and spin-off series: The Brady Bunch Hour (1976–77), The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), The Brady Brides (1981), A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and The Bradys (1990). In 1995, the series was adapted into a satirical comedy theatrical film titled The Brady Bunch Movie, followed by A Very Brady Sequel in 1996. A second sequel, The Brady Bunch in the White House, aired on Fox in November 2002 as a made-for-television film.
In 1997, "Getting Davy Jones" (season three, episode 12) was ranked number 37 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[3] The show's enduring popularity has resulted in its widespread recognition as an American cultural icon.
Premise
Mike Brady (Robert Reed), a widowed architect with three sons—Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland)—marries Carol Martin (Florence Henderson), who herself has three daughters: Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen). Mike and Carol adopt each other’s children and Carol and her daughters take the Brady surname. Included in the blended family are Mike's live-in housekeeper, Alice Nelson (Ann B. Davis), and the boys' dog, Tiger. (In the pilot episode, the girls also have a pet: a cat named Fluffy who never appears in any other episodes). The setting is a large two-story house designed by Mike, located in a Los Angeles suburb.[4] The show never addressed what happened to Carol's first husband.[5]
In the first season, awkward adjustments, accommodations, gender rivalries, and resentments inherent in blended families dominate the storylines. In an early episode, Carol tells Bobby that the only "steps" in their household lead to the second floor (in other words, that the Bradys are not a "stepfamily", only "a family"). Thereafter, episodes focus on typical teen and preteen concerns such as sibling rivalry, puppy love, self-image, character building, responsibility, dating, school grades and getting along in social company. Noticeably absent is any political commentary, especially regarding the Vietnam War, which was being waged at its largest extent during the height of the series.[6]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
| 1 | 25 | September 26, 1969 | March 20, 1970 | ABC | |
| 2 | 24 | September 25, 1970 | March 19, 1971 | ||
| 3 | 23 | September 17, 1971 | March 10, 1972 | ||
| 4 | 23 | September 22, 1972 | March 23, 1973 | ||
| 5 | 22 | September 14, 1973 | March 8, 1974 | ||
Cast and characters
Main
The regular cast appears in an opening title sequence in which video "headshots" are arranged in a three-by-three grid, with cast members appearing to look around at one another. The sequence used the then-new "multi-dynamic image technique" created by Canadian filmmaker Christopher Chapman; as a result of the popular attention it garnered in this sequence, it was referred to in the press as "the Brady Bunch effect".[7][8] In a 2010 issue of TV Guide, the show's opening title sequence ranked number eight on a list of TV's top-10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.[9]
- Robert Reed as Mike Brady
- Florence Henderson as Carol Brady
- Ann B. Davis as Alice Nelson
- Maureen McCormick as Marcia Brady
- Eve Plumb as Jan Brady
- Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady
- Barry Williams as Greg Brady
- Christopher Knight as Peter Brady
- Mike Lookinland as Bobby Brady
Recurring characters
- Sam Franklin (Allan Melvin) is Alice's boyfriend. He is the owner of a local butcher shop. Sam appears in only eight episodes, but they span all five seasons. He is also frequently mentioned in dialogue, and Alice occasionally goes on dates with him off-screen. By the time of the 1981 made-for-TV film The Brady Girls Get Married, Alice and Sam are married.
- Tiger the dog – the original dog that played Tiger died early in the first season.[10] A replacement dog proved problematic, so the producers decided the dog would appear only when essential to the plot. Tiger appeared in about half the episodes in the first season and about half a dozen episodes in the second season. Tiger seemingly vanished without an explanation and was not shown again after "The Impractical Joker" (last episode shown with Tiger) and "What Goes Up" (last episode made with Tiger); however, his doghouse remained in the back yard for the entire run of the series.
- Mr. Phillips (Jack Collins) is Mike's boss at the architectural firm. He appears in only three episodes - all in season two - but is often mentioned in other episodes when work-related issues occur.
- Cousin Oliver (Robbie Rist) – in the middle of season five, producers added a new character named Oliver, Carol Brady's young nephew, who is sent to live with the Bradys while his parents are living in South America. The character was added in an attempt to fill the age gap left by the maturing Brady children—the youngest (Susan Olsen) was 12 years old during the show's final season. Lloyd Schwartz, son of creator and executive producer Sherwood Schwartz, later admitted that the character threw off the balance of the show. Fans disliked the character of Oliver, regarding him as an interloper. Oliver appears in the final six episodes of season five, which proved to be the final season, as ABC cancelled the series in 1974. The addition of the character has been cited as the moment the series "jumped the shark".[11] The term "Cousin Oliver" has been used to describe the addition of a young character as an attempt to save a series from cancellation.[12]
Notable guest stars
- Herbert Anderson as Dr. Cameron, a doctor who comes to treat the boys' measles in "Is There a Doctor in the House?" (season one).
- Melissa Sue Anderson played Millicent, a girl who gives Bobby his first kiss ("Never Too Young", season five).
- Desi Arnaz Jr. meets Marcia, who wrote about him in her diary in "The Possible Dream" (season one).
- Jim Backus appears three times in the series, twice in two of the three Grand Canyon episodes, "Ghost Town U.S.A." and "Grand Canyon or Bust", playing Zaccariah T. Brown, who mistakenly thinks the Bradys are jumping his gold claim and locks them in a ghost-town jail; and in "The Hustler" (season five) playing Mike's second boss, Mr. Harry Matthews.
- Ken Berry played Ken Kelly, the Bradys' new neighbor who is the adoptive father of three diverse boys (black, white, and Asian) in the season five episode "Kelly's Kids". Sherwood Schwartz was attempting to sell a spin-off series called Kelly's Kids featuring Berry, but the show idea failed to interest ABC.
- Imogene Coca plays the Brady girls' great-aunt Jenny, whom Jan fears she will grow up to resemble after seeing a childhood photo of her in "Jan's Aunt Jenny" (season three).
- Jackie Coogan plays Harry Duggan, a man who tries to get money out of Carol Brady by faking an injury after a minor parking lot fender-bender.
- Don Drysdale tries to inject reality into Greg's dreams of being a professional baseball player in "The Dropout" (season two).
- Don Ho meets Cindy and Bobby and serenades Cindy in Honolulu in "Hawaii Bound" (part one of a three-part season-four episode), filmed on location in Hawaii.
- Davy Jones (of The Monkees) performs at a music studio and then takes Marcia to her school dance in "Getting Davy Jones" (season three). Decades later, Jones satirized his cameo in The Brady Bunch Movie.
- Deacon Jones encourages Peter's singing in "The Drummer Boy" (season two).
- Kym Karath as Kerry Hathaway, a girl Peter woos in "Cyrano de Brady" (season four).
- Bart La Rue plays a football coach in "The Drummer Boy" (season two) and "Click" (season three).
- E. G. Marshall is J.P. Randolph, Marcia's school principal, in "The Slumber Caper" (season two).
- Brigadier General James McDivitt (NASA astronaut) signs autographs for Peter and Bobby after appearing on a talk show in "Out of This World" (season five).
- Burt Mustin play Jethroe Collins, the son of a victim of Jesse James, invited over by Mike Brady to help Bobby understand the truth about Jesse James.
- Joe Namath visits Bobby after Cindy contacts him saying Bobby has a terminal illness in "Mail Order Hero" (season five).
- Denise Nickerson as Pamela Phillips, niece of Mike Brady's boss, Ed Phillips, whom Peter dates at Mike's request in "Two Petes in a Pod" (season five).
- Wes Parker meets Mike and Greg in Greg's math classroom, thus curing Greg of the crush he had on his teacher Miss Linda O'Hara (played by Gigi Perreau), Parker's fiancée in "The Undergraduate" (season one).
- Vincent Price appears twice in the series in two of the three Hawaii episodes, "Pass the Tabu", and "The Tiki Caves" from season four, playing the villainous Professor Hubert Whitehead, who holds the Brady boys hostage.
- Marion Ross appears as Dr. Porter, a doctor who comes to treat the girls' measles in "Is There a Doctor in the House?" (season one).
- Natalie Schafer is Mike's fussy client, Penelope Fletcher, who is charmed by Cindy's impromptu 'Shirley Temple' routine in "The Snooperstar" (season five).
- Hal Smith appears as Santa Claus in "The Voice of Christmas" (season one), and as Kartoon King in "The Winner" (season two).
- Marcia Wallace plays a salesclerk in "Would the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up" (season two) and Mrs. Robbins in "Getting Davy Jones" (season three).
- Rita Wilson began her career with a guest appearance in "Greg's Triangle" (season four) where she plays one of the candidates running against Marcia for head cheerleader.
- Paul Winchell appears as Skip Farnum, the TV commercial director in "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor" (season three).
Production
Development
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 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.[13] 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.
Schwartz shopped the series to the "big three" television networks of the era. ABC, CBS, and NBC all liked the script, but each network wanted changes before they would commit to filming, so Schwartz shelved the project.[14] Although similarities exist between the series and two 1968 theatrical release films, United Artists' Yours, Mine and Ours (starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball) and CBS's With Six You Get Eggroll (starring Brian Keith and Doris Day), the original script for The Brady Bunch predated the scripts for both of these films. Nonetheless, the outstanding success of Yours, Mine and Ours (the 11th-highest-grossing film of 1968) was a factor in ABC's decision to order episodes for the series.[13]
After receiving a commitment for 13 weeks of television shows from ABC in 1968, Schwartz hired film and television director John Rich to direct the pilot, then called "The Brady Brood", cast the six children from 264 interviews during that summer, and hired the actors to play the mother, father, and housekeeper roles.[15] For the part of the father, Schwartz originally cast Bob Holiday, who was well known for portraying Superman in a Broadway musical, but since Holiday had little on-camera experience, network executives overrode Schwartz's decision and gave the role to TV veteran Robert Reed.[16] As the sets were built on Paramount Television stage 5, adjacent to the stage where H.R. Pufnstuf was filmed by Sid and Marty Krofft, who later produced The Brady Bunch Hour,[17] the production crew prepared the backyard of a home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, as the exterior location for the chaotic backyard wedding scene. Filming of the pilot began on Friday, October 4, 1968, and lasted eight days.
Theme song and credits sequence
The theme song, written by Schwartz and Frank De Vol, and originally arranged, sung, and performed by Paul Parrish, Lois Fletcher, and John Beland under the name the Peppermint Trolley Company, quickly communicated to audiences that the Bradys were a blended family.[18] As described above, the Brady family is shown in a three-by-three grid, tic-tac-toe board-style graphic with Carol in the top center, Alice in the middle block, and Mike in the bottom center. To the right are three blocks with the boys from the oldest on top to the youngest. To the left are three blocks with the girls from the oldest to the youngest. In season two, the Brady kids took over singing the theme song. In season three, the boys sing the first verse, girls sing the second verse, and all sing together for the third and last verse. In season four, a new version is recorded with the same structure as the season three version, but in season five, the season three version returns. Utilizing Christopher Chapman's "multi-dynamic image technique", a version of which had famously appeared in the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, the sequence was created and filmed by Howard A. Anderson Jr., a visual effects pioneer who worked on the title sequences for many popular television series.[19] The use of this innovation here became so familiar through the sitcom's popularity that it was referred to in the press as the "Brady Bunch effect".[7][8]
The end credits feature an instrumental version of the theme song's third verse. In season one, it was recorded by the Peppermint Trolley Company. From season two on, the theme was recorded in-house by Paramount musicians.
The Brady house
The house built in 1959, by Harry M. Londelius Jr., and used in exterior shots, is located in Studio City, within the city limits of Los Angeles. It originally bore little relation to the interior of the Bradys' on-screen home, but was gutted and renovated in 2018 to match the layout of the soundstage sets. According to a 1994 article in the Los Angeles Times, the San Fernando Valley house was built in 1959 and selected as the Brady residence because series creator Schwartz felt it looked like a home where an architect would live.[20] A false window was attached to the front's A-frame section to give the illusion that it had two full stories (the 2018/19 renovation installed a real window where the false one was in the TV show footage).[21] Contemporary establishing shots of the house were filmed with the owner's permission for the 1990 TV series The Bradys. The owner refused to allow Paramount to restore the property to its 1969 look for The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995, so a facade resembling the original home was built around an existing house.[citation needed]
The house was put up for sale, for the first time since 1973, in the summer of 2018 with an asking price of $1.885 million.[22] Cable network HGTV outbid seven others for it, including NSYNC's Lance Bass.[23] HGTV has expanded the home for its original series A Very Brady Renovation, with the goal of recreating each of the interior rooms used in the TV series (which had only existed as a Paramount Studios set) while maintaining the original exterior look from the street, and to make it fully habitable (unlike the sets made on Paramount soundstage #5). The six actors who played the TV children, and who also actively participated in the 2018/19 renovation, posed for a photo in front on November 1 the same year.[24] In May 2023, it was announced that HGTV was selling the house for $5.5 million.[25][26][27][28]
In the series, the address of the house was given as 4222 Clinton Way (as read aloud by Carol from an arriving package in the first-season episode entitled "Lost Locket, Found Locket", and "Clinton Way" is clearly legible on Marcia's driver permit in the fifth-season episode "The Driver's Seat").[29] Although no city was ever specified, it was presumed from references to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Rams, and a Hollywood film studio, among many others, that the Bradys lived in Southern California, most likely Los Angeles or one of its suburbs.[30][31]
The interior sets of the Brady house were used at least three times for other Paramount TV shows while The Brady Bunch was still in production: twice for Mannix and once for Mission: Impossible. In the case of Mission: Impossible, the Brady furniture was also used.[32][33][34] A re-creation of the Brady house was constructed for the X-Files episode "Sunshine Days", which also revolved around The Brady Bunch.
Broadcast and syndication
Since its first syndicated airing in September 1975, an episode of the show has been broadcast somewhere in the United States and abroad every day of the year.[35] Episodes were also shown on ABC Daytime from July 9, 1973, to April 18, 1975, and from June 30 to August 29, 1975, at 11:30 a.m. EST/10:30 CST.
The show aired on TBS starting in the 1980s until 1997, Nick at Nite in 1995 (for a special event), and again from 1998 to 2003 (and briefly during the spring of 2012), The N from March to April 2004, on TV Land on and off from 2002 to 2015, Nick Jr. Channel (as part of the NickMom block from 2012 to 2013), and Hallmark Channel from January to June 2013 and again starting September 5–30, 2016.
Current airings
Since its national launch in 2010, the Weigel Broadcasting–owned classic-TV network MeTV has aired a weekly block of the show every Sunday early afternoon promoted as the "Brady Bunch Brunch".[36] MeTV's sister network Catchy Comedy airs the show weekday mornings.
The Brady Bunch is also available through video-on-demand services Hulu and Paramount+, although neither streamer offers the complete collection of episodes in its entirety. It was shown dubbed in Argentina under the name “La tribu Brady”.
In West Germany, the show premiered on ZDF under the name Drei Mädchen und drei Jungen ("Three Girls and Three Boys") on August 8, 1971, with episode six "A Clubhouse Is Not a Home", and was shown on Sunday afternoons until halfway through Season 4, culminating with episode 77 "Cyrano De Brady" on October 5, 1974.[37] Some episodes were omitted. From 1984 to 1998, reruns would sporadically occur on Sat.1. The later reunion show, "The Brady Girls Get Married/The Brady Brides" would be broadcast on ZDF as Eine Reizende Familie ("A Lovely Family") from October 18, 1984, to January 10, 1985.[38] The second half of Season 4, Season 5 and the omitted episodes would not premiere before 1997 on Comedy & Co.[39][40]
In Italy, under a RAI-Paramount deal, eight episodes were broadcast on Programma Nazionale (today RAI 1) from April 27 to June 15, 1973 under the name Album di famiglia.[41][42][43] In the late-70s, it would be shown again in Italian dub on Swiss and Istrian networks.[44][45] Years later, RAI bought the distribution rights again, and the show began airing on Rai 1 and later Rai 3 under the name La famiglia Brady (The Brady Family) starting on March 11, 1987.[46][47] It was later bought by Fininvest, that aired it on Italia 1 from July 9, 1990 and on Canale 5 from January 5, 1991.[48][49]
ITV broadcast the show in a number of United Kingdom regions, including Thames, Granada, Tyne Tees, Grampian and Ulster from 1975 to 1982.[50]
Home media
Paramount Home Entertainment released all five seasons on DVD in Region 1 from 2005 to 2006, before CBS Home Entertainment took over DVD rights to the Paramount Television library (though CBS DVD releases are still distributed by Paramount). Paramount/CBS has released the series on DVD in other countries as well.
In April 2007, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment released the complete series box set, which includes the TV films A Very Brady Christmas and "The Brady 500" (an episode of The Bradys), as well as two episodes of The Brady Kids animated series. The box art for this set features green shag carpeting and 1970s-style wood paneling.
8 years later on April 7, 2015, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment re-released the complete series box set, a repackaged version at a lower price, but it does not include the bonus disc that was part of the original complete series release.[51]
The TV film A Very Brady Christmas was released as a stand-alone DVD in Region 1 on October 10, 2017.[52]
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the original series, CBS/Paramount released The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection in Region 1 on June 4, 2019.[53] The collection contains every episode of The Brady Bunch, The Brady Kids, The Brady Brides, and The Bradys, as well as the films A Very Brady Christmas, The Brady Bunch Movie, A Very Brady Sequel, The Brady Bunch in the White House, and Growing Up Brady.
The first two seasons are also available on Region 2 DVD for the UK, with audio in English and subtitle choices in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or Finnish.[54][55]
The series has also been released on VHS.
| DVD name | Episodes | Release dates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | DVD Special Features | ||||
| The Complete First Season | 25 | March 1, 2005 | August 27, 2007 | September 19, 2007 | Audio Commentary on 4 Selected Episodes. 15 min Behind the scenes Feature Special features are on the Region 1 release only | ||
| The Complete Second Season | 24 | July 26, 2005 | March 24, 2008 | March 6, 2008 | None | ||
| The Complete Third Season | 23 | September 13, 2005 | N/A | September 4, 2008 | None | ||
| The Complete Fourth Season | 23 | November 1, 2005 | N/A | April 2, 2009 | None | ||
| The Complete Final Season | 22 | March 7, 2006 | N/A | June 18, 2009 | None | ||
| The Complete Series | 117 (with extras) | April 3, 2007 April 7, 2015 (re-release) |
N/A | N/A | Audio Commentary on 4 Selected (Season One) Episodes. 15 min Behind the scenes Feature (Season One) A Very Brady Christmas "The Brady 500" Two episodes of The Brady Kids | ||
| The Brady Kids: The Complete Series | 22 | February 16, 2016 | N/A | August 6, 2016 | Episode Promos | ||
| A Very Brady Christmas | Film | October 10, 2017 | N/A | N/A | None | ||
| The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection | 50th Anniversary Collection | June 4, 2019 | N/A | N/A | The Brady Bunch: The Complete Series The Brady Kids: The Complete Series The Brady Brides: The Complete Series A Very Brady Christmas The Bradys: The Complete Series The Brady Bunch Movie A Very Brady Sequel The Brady Bunch in the White House Growing Up Brady | ||
Reception
U.S. television ratings
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank (Nielsen ratings) | Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||||
| 1 | 25 | September 26, 1969 | March 20, 1970 | 56 | 14.9[56] | |
| 2 | 24 | September 25, 1970 | March 19, 1971 | N/A | N/A | |
| 3 | 23 | September 17, 1971 | March 10, 1972 | 31 | 19.3[57][a] | |
| 4 | 23 | September 22, 1972 | March 23, 1973 | 45 | 17.8 | |
| 5 | 22 | September 14, 1973 | March 8, 1974 | 54 | 16.1[58][b] | |
- ^ Tied with Mission: Impossible.
- ^ Tied with Chase.
Ratings data prior to 1972 is scarce for shows that did not place in the Top 30. Beginning in 2017, The TV Ratings Guide began publishing vintage television ratings as they became readily available from old newspaper publishings. Season 4 ratings came from Variety year-end rankings dated May 30, 1973.[58] The Brady Bunch earned steady ratings during its primetime run (but never placed in the top 30 during the five years it aired) and was cancelled in 1974 after five seasons and 117 episodes; it was cancelled shortly after the series crossed the minimum threshold for syndication. At that point in the storyline, Greg graduated from high school and was about to enroll in college.[59]
Awards and honors
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2020) |
The Brady Bunch was not an award-winning show at the time of its original broadcast in the 1970s. The series and its cast and crew were not nominated for an award until 1989, when Barry Williams was honored with the Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Youth in Film Awards.[60]
All other awards and nominations for the series have come from the TV Land Awards:
| Year | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Hippest Fashion Plate – Male | Barry Williams | Nominated |
| Favorite Dual-Role Character | Christopher Knight (as Peter Brady and Arthur) | Nominated | |
| Funniest Food Fight | The Brady Pie Fight on the Paramount Lot | Nominated | |
| Favorite Guest Performance by a Musician on a TV Show | Davy Jones | Won | |
| Most Memorable Male Guest Star in a Comedy as Himself | Joe Namath | Won | |
| 2004 | Favorite Fashion Plate – Male | Barry Williams | Nominated |
| Most Memorable Mane | Susan Olsen | Nominated | |
| Favorite Made-for-TV Maid | Ann B. Davis | Won | |