Never Before Heard Facts About America’s Favorite Family- ‘The Brady Bunch’
“Here’s a story” about that “lovely lady” and that “man named Brady” who shocked and dazzled television audiences for decades. The couple created the most popular family show on television in 1969. We’re talking about none other than The Brady Bunch!
We all watched Mike, Carol, Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bob, Cindy, and Alice, the nation’s favorite housekeeper, get into some crazy and wild situations. But the show didn’t always show the positive side of family life. Producers made sure to include issues like sibling-rivalry, self image-issues, and more.
The Brady Bunch surprisingly didn’t have the best ratings on air as the nostalgia would have you think. When the show went on syndication, its popularity grew enormously! The reruns and spin-off series such as The Brady Bunch Hour, The Brady Girls Get Married, The Brady Brides, A Very Brady Christmas, and The Bradys were top hits. We can thank syndication for making The Brady Bunch a timeless classic in American television.
In 1966, Sherwood Schwartz, an American television producer, was on a mission. He had already achieved wildly high ratings with his hit show, Gilligan’s Island, when he got an idea for his next hit show. Who knew that reading an article in The Los Angeles Times would change the landscape of television series forever. The article said “30% of marriages [in the United States] have a child or children from a previous marriage.” That sparked his idea for the Brady Bunch, a show where two families from previous marriages came together as one. From there, Schwartz pondered the idea and produced one of America’s most loved and renowned television shows in history. How incredible is that?
With five seasons and 117 episodes, as we’ve mentioned before, the show wasn’t exactly a hit when it first aired. It gained its success with syndication, where its popularity grew with younger audiences. Teenagers and children loved the show when reruns hit, and Schwartz attributes that to the show’s writing style. He said that the show was written from the vantage point of children, and for that reason, it later became popular with children. The themes on the show, ranging from gushing over meeting someone famous to sibling rivalry, were themes that only children could really understand.
The show went off air in 1974 but the reruns were what led to the show’s amazing success. We’ll tell you about their movies and albums, and other facts you didn’t know about the The Brady Bunch. What happened to Marcia after the show ended, and what was her relationship with Brady? What was Mike Brady’s real sexuality and what were their top salaries? What tricks did the producers use to cast the children on the show? Let’s find out!
Simple Math
How did the The Brady Bunch begin? It was a simple mathematical formula stated in The Los Angeles Times that said “30% of marriages [in the United States] have a child or children from a previous marriage.” It’s amazing that such a simple statement inspired Sherwood Schwartz to produce one of America’s most loved programs.
Simple Math
