Anyone who knows that much about the real-life cast of The Brady Bunch knows that those people were wild horndogs on the set of the show. The guy who played Greg used to hook up with Marcia; the actors who played Peter and Jan used to make out; the actor who played Greg also had a crush on his TV mom, played by Florence Henderson. Apparently, Robert Reed — who played the Dad — was also a real asshole, so much so that the creator cut him out of the final episode of the series. Had the series been picked up for another season, he was going to be written out.
But honestly, all the real-life drama behind the scenes of The Brady Bunch couldn’t compare to how the characters turned out. Some of you, though not many, may recall that in 1990 there was a The Brady Bunch reunion television series called The Bradys that picked up 15 years after the original series ended. It only lasted six episodes before it was canceled because it got trounced in the ratings, opposite Full House and Family Matters on Friday nights.
The fate of the series, however, is not as important as what we found out about those characters in the six episodes that did air. This, presumably, is part of Brady canon, people, and it is INSANE.
Here’s a summary of the storylines in those six episodes from Wikipedia:
- Family patriarch Mike begins a political career.
- Bobby’s budding car-racing career ends abruptly in the first episode after an accident leaves him a paraplegic. As he recovers, he marries his college girlfriend.
- Peter breaks up with his fiancée, to whom he became engaged in A Very Brady Christmas, and begins dating the abusive daughter of Mike’s political rival.
- Jan and Phillip, unable to conceive children of their own, adopt a Korean girl named Patty.
- Stay-at-home mother Marcia battles alcoholism while Wally loses yet another in a series of jobs, the latest being as 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.
Wait, WHAT?
Just think about this a second, OK. That Mike Brady — a mild-mannered architect — is running for political office is the LEAST surprising development. Bobby was a racecar driver turned paraplegic? Peter was dating an abusive woman? Jan adopted a Korean girl named PATTY? Marcia was a drunk with a deadbeat husband? And Cindy was sleeping with her skeevy older boss.
Keep in mind, folks, that this was a LAUGH-TRACK sitcom.
No wonder it was canceled. That show must have been a mess.
The first episode is actually available on Youtube, and you’ll never guess who played Greg Brady’s son:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVOwSfU7t0Q
Yup. That’s JTT. Jonathan Taylor Thomas. And Bobby Brady’s wife is played by former MTV VJ, Martha Quinn. Mind. Blown.
