The Brady Bunch FAQ list -- Version 1.0 by Michael Kotler ___________________________________________________________________ #1. How many spin-offs were there and what were they called? The Brady Bunch. 1969-1974. Five seasons, 116 episodes + pilot. The Brady Bunch Hour. 1977. A Donny-and-Marie-type variety show. Lasted 6 episodes. The Brady Girls Get Married. 1981. Three part special. Double wedding for Marcia and Jan. The Brady Brides. 1981 Series about the married Marcia and Jan. Lasted 6 episodes. A Very Brady Christmas. 1981. Christmas special. Very high ratings. The Bradys. 1989-90. Series about the grown Brady kids, and _their_ spouses and kids. Bobby was in a wheelchair from a racing accident, and Marcia became alcoholic. Lasted 6 episodes. (I think episodes are ordered in lots of 6.) The Brady Kids. A Saturday morning cartoon about the kids only. Included the actual voices of their real-life counterparts. Incidentally, the "Kelly's Kids" episode, where a neighbor adopts 3 kids, (one Caucasian, one African-American and one Asian-American) was actually a pilot for a proposed spin-off series. The concept was resurrected in 1986 with "Together We Stand". #2. Why didn't Susan Olsen play Cindy in "A Very Brady Christmas"? Rumors, rumors, she was _not_ dead. She was actually away on her honeymoon at the time. Jennifer Runyon stood in for her. But this was not the first time a Brady had a stand-in. In "The BB Hour", Geri Reischl played Jan in lieu of Eve Plumb. And in "The Bradys", Leah Ayres played Marcia in place of Maureen McCormick. ("The Brady Girls Get Married" was the only reunion in which everyone played their original role) #3. Was Carol initially a single mother? If not, what was the fate of her first marriage in which Marcia, Jan, and Cindy came about? Although we did learn in "the Honeymoon" that Mike's first wife had died, we never found out about Carol's first husband. According to the producer she was divorced, which, until Mary Tyler Moore came a year later, was too controversial to mention on TV. #4. Were there any technical or logistical errors in the series? In "What Goes Up...", when they get a trampoline, Greg says to Jan, as she's about to jump on it, "Let's see you try it, Eve." as in Eve Plumb. #5. Why did all the men have black straight hair at the beginning of the series, then have curly hair towards the end? Rumors, rumors. They did not get perms. In the beginning, they tried to get the men to look nice and neat, probably in contrast to the shagginess of the late 1960's. But as the boys grew older, their hair simply got stubborn and refused to hold still under that black liquid which kept it flat and straight. And speaking of hair, Carol's "Bubble-do" in the first several episodes was really a wig. The flip-do came later. #6. Why isn't there a toilet in the kids' bathroom? Although the original bathroom set had a commode, apparently the network ordered it removed for fear that people would be offended. No, I don't know why either. Maybe they used an outhouse out behind the carport. :) Actually, there was a toilet in there, but we just couldnt see it. In "My Brother's Keeper", Bobby yells to Peter "The bathroom's on MY side of no-mans land!!" He then walks into the john off-camera, and we hear a toilet flush. But this was a later episode, after Archie Bunker had made TV flushing popular. #7. Were Mike and Carol the first TV couple to share a bed? Contrary to popular belief, Herman and Lily beat them by half a season on "the Muensters". Anyone know if _they_ were beaten by the couple on "Green Acres"? #8. Was BB filmed in a real house? Sorry, that place you see on TV was just a set, constructed inside a soundstage at Paramount Studios. But the house's downstairs, from the backyard to the front door, were all really connected (though I am still not sure about Mike's den.) The upstairs bedrooms and hall, Alice's room, and the seldom-seen laundry room were independent sets. Pssst: Notice that you never see the foreground of the bedrooms or the living room (except maybe in close-ups). Rarely see ceilings, either. And just try someday to draw a blueprint of the place. The kids' bedrooms are over nothing! BTW, the house that you see in the establishing shots is indeed a real house in the San Fernando Valley. But the Brady's have no such picture window in the living room ... and did you know that its upstairs window is _nailed_ on? #9. What about this rumor I heard that the actress that played Jan or Cindy became a porn star? That's a rumor all right, and should be treated as such -- totally false. Here are some possible reasons that this rumor is so widely held: -- Since the Brady kids were squeaky clean on TV, it amuses us to think that one of them is into porno flicks. -- So many guys were attracted to the Brady girls that the rumor provided a sort of vicarious fantasy. -- Later TV roles of the actresses described this image (Maureen McCormick, for example, played a promiscuous high school girl in some 1979(?) made-for-TV movie called "When, Jenny, When?" -- Some strip joints give their dancers stage-names of famous women (such as Marilyn Monroe) in hopes that the gullible will believe them and thus give more generous tips. -- Many other child actors got into trouble as they grew up. see also alt.folklore.urban for related discussions. #10. Why did Mike say in "Our Son, the Man", in reference to a room for Greg, "The attic? That'd be great if Greg were 2 1/2 feet tall..", when Greg did indeed move to the attic 2 years later in "A Room at the Top"? There are several possible explanations: 1) Schwartz decided that the idea of a bachelor pad for Greg outweighed a simple story constraint. 2) Mike knew that the attic was big enough, but had adult magazines stashed up there that he didn't want Greg to get his mitts on. 3) After some storm damage or a tree fell on the house, the roof was partially rebuilt, raising the clearance of the rafters. 4) All the junk stored up in the attic made it impractical for a taller person to live up there. #11. Where was that amusement park they all went to, where Jan lost Mike's blueprints? The park is called King's Island, and it is indeed near Cincinnati, Ohio. The episode "The Cincinnati Kids" was filmed in 1973, the year after KI was first opened. Many of the rides seen on the show have long since been removed, but "The Racer" roller coaster is still there. BTW, that park is now called "Paramount's Kings Island", as it was bought by Paramount pictures in late 1992. The newest roller coaster there is called "Top Gun" after the movie. Yet Paramount is the same company that did the Brady Bunch. Kind of makes you wonder. (see also rec.roller-coaster under KI or "Beast" references) #12. What is the connection between BB and Gilligan's Island? Sherwood Schwartz is the creator and producer of both. In "The Snooperstar", Penelope Fletcher is played by Natalie Schaefer, alias Mrs. Howell. Jim Backus, a.k.a. Thurston Howell III, appears twice on BB: as Zacchariah (the swindling gold prospector) in "Ghost Town USA", and as Mike's Boss (Mr. Matthews) in "The Hustler". And in "The Brady Girls Get Married", when asked if he was busy, Mike replied "No. Unless you consider watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island to be important." #13. What ever became of Alice? Alice Nelson eventually married the butcher, Sam Franklin. Sam, BTW, was played by Allan Melvin, and did the cartoon voice of "Magilla Gorilla" #14. Did the episodes of BB have names? Yes, and here they are. Note: Each episode had a main plot and a subplot, the two of which are often but not always tied together. (e.g.Bobby saves Peter's life [main plot]; painted the girls room [subplot]; the paint smell gets the girls out of the house for the Bob/Pete showdown.) In the summaries, subplots will only be mentioned where space permits. ---------------- The First Season ---------------- Pilot: "The Honeymoon" Mike and Carol get married, and Tiger and Fluffy the cat make a mess of the wedding 1:"Dear Libby" In a newspaper advice column, a writer describes being unhappy in a blended family. Did one of the Bradys write it? 2:"A Clubhouse is Not a Home" The boys build a clubhouse in the backyard, and the girls try to take it over. 3:"Kitty Karry-All is Missing" Cindy blames Bobby for the disappearance of her doll. 4:"Katchoo" Jan appears to be allergic to Tiger the dog. 5:"Eenie Meenie Mommy Daddy" Cindy can only invite one parent to her school play. 6:"Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" Alice, feeling unwanted, plans to move away; the kids plot a scheme to make her stay. 7:"Father of the year" Marcia sends an essay about Mike to a newspaper contest. 8:"The Grass is Always Greener" Mike and Carol switch jobs for a day. 9:"Sorry, Right Number" Mike installs a pay phone in the house. 10:"Is There a Doctor in the House?" When all the kids get measles, both a man and a woman doctor show up. 11:"54-40 and Fight" The boys and the girls build a house of cards to see who will get to redeem 94 books of trading stamps. 12:"A-Camping We Will Go" The family goes on a camping trip. Girls scare fish away, get scared of strange noises, and finally scare the boys. 13:"Vote for Brady" Greg and Marcia both run for student council president. 14:"Every Boy Does it Once" Bobby plans to run away. 15:"The Voice of Xmas" Cindy asks Santa Claus to give Carol her voice back for Christmas (she has laryngitis) so she can sing in church. 16:"Mike's Horror-Scope" Mike meets Beebe Gallini, a snooty cosmetics heir who asks him to design her a cosmetics factory. 17:"The Undergraduate" Greg is in love with his schoolteacher, Linda. Baseball star Wes Parker guest stars ... as her boyfriend. 18:"To Move or Not to Move" Mike makes plans to move; the kids sabotage them. 19:"Tiger! Tiger!" Tiger runs away. 20:"Brace Yourself" Marcia gets braces. 21:"The Big Sprain" Alice sprains her ankle tripping over kids' game. Kids have to do household chores (but not so well). 22:"The Hero" Peter saves a little girl's life in a toy store (when a wall falls down), and becomes swelled headed about it. 23:"Lost Locket, Found Locket" Jan loses and finds the locket that Alice anonymously gave her. 24:"The Possible Dream" Cindy inadvertently gives away Marcia's diary (detailing her crush on Desi Arnez Jr.) Desi guest stars as himself. ---------------- The Second Season ---------------- 25:"Going, Going...Steady" Marcia goes steady with Harvey Klinger. 26:"The Dropout" Greg plans to drop out of school and be a baseball player after meeting Don Drysdale (playing himself). 27:"The Babysitters" Greg and Marcia are appointed babysitters. 28:"The Treasure of Sierra Avenue" The boys find a wallet containing $1100. 29:"The Un-Underground Movie" Greg films a home movie about the Pilgrims. 30:"The Slumber Caper" Marcia throws a slumber party; the boys sabotage it. 31:"Confessions, Confessions" Peter breaks a vase, and ALL the others cover for him so they won't miss a camping trip. This show contains the line, "Mom always said, don't play ball in the house." which is everybody's second favorite BB line. 32:"The Tattletale" Cindy tattles on her siblings a lot, and even gets Alice in trouble with Sam 33:"Call Me Irresponsible" Greg gets a job with Mike at the arch. firm, but keeps losing the blueprints he is to deliver. 34:"The Impractical Joker" Jan repeatedly pulls practical jokes on everyone. 35:"A Fistful of Reasons" Buddy Hinton makes fun of Cindy's voice, and Peter tries to retaliate. 36:"What Goes Up..." Bobby becomes afraid of heights. 37:"Coming Out Party" Cindy and Carol get their tonsils removed. 38:"The Not-So-Ugly Duckling" Jan dresses like a lady to attract a guy. 39:"Tell It Like It Is" Carol writes a family story for a woman's magazine. 40:"The Drummer Boy" Peter joins the glee club; Bobby takes up the drums. Football star Deacon Jones plays himself. 41:"Where There's Smoke" Greg is caught smoking. 42:"Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?" Jan gets a brunette wig. 43:"Our Son, the Man" Greg wants his own room and moves into Mike's den, -- temporarily. 44:"The Liberation of Marcia Brady" Marcia joins the Frontier (Boy) Scouts. Peter tries to join the sunflower girls. 45:"Lights Out" Cindy is afraid of the dark; Peter takes up magic. 46:"The Winner" Bobby tries desperately to win a trophy. 47:"Double Parked" Mike has to design a courthouse in a park, while the family protests the impending loss of that park. 48:"Alice's September Song" An old boyfriend of Alice comes to visit. ---------------- The Third Season ---------------- 49:"Ghost Town USA" On the way to the grand canyon, the family visits a ghost town and get locked up in a jail cell by a swindling gold prospector. 50:"Grand Canyon or Bust" The Bradys finally get to the Grand Canyon and set up camp. Bobby and Cindy get lost. 51:"The Brady Braves" Bobby and Cindy befriend an Indian boy who shows them back. His father, a Chief, makes the Bradys tribe members. 52:"Juliet is the Sun" Marcia is in the school play "Romeo and Juliet". 53:"The Wheeler Dealer" Greg buys a lemon car (a beat-up 1956 Chevrolet) from a buddy. 54:"The Personality Kid" Peter tries to overhaul his personality, telling jokes, acting like Humphrey Bogart, etc. 55:"Her Sister's Shadow" Jan is tired of always being compared to Marcia. 56:"The Teeter-Totter Caper" Bobby and Cindy set a teeter-totter record. 57:"My Sister Benedict Arnold" When Marcia dates Greg's basketball adversary, Greg turns around and dates Marcia's cheerleading rival. 58:"The Private Ear" Peter's eavesdropping on the others with a tape recorder. 59:"And Now a Word from Our Sponsor" Bradys get asked to do a soap commercial. 60:"Click" Greg becomes photographer for the football team. 61:"The Not-So-Rose-Colored Glasses" Jan has to get glasses. 62:"Little Big Man" Bobby is depressed that he is too short. 63:"Getting Davy Jones" Marcia gets Davy to perform at her school prom. 64:"Dough Re Mi" Peters voice begins to change, right while preparing to record a song with his siblings. 65:"The Big Bet" Bobby bets Greg he can't do 2X chin-ups more than him. 66:"Jan's Aunt Jenny" Aunt Jenny, a name-dropping world traveler, visits. Imogene Coca guest stars. 67:"Cindy Brady, Lady" "Cynthia" tries to become "..an older woman" 68:"The Power of the Press" Peter becomes a school newspaper columnist. 69:"Sergeant Emma" Alice's cousin fills in for her while on vacation. Runs the house like military barracks. 70:"The Fender Benders" Carol is involved in a fender-bender lawsuit. 71:"My Fair Opponent" Marcia competes to be hostess of school Banquet Night. ---------------- The Fourth Season ---------------- 72:"Hawaii Bound" The family goes to Hawaii. 73:"Pass the Tabu" In Hawaii, the boys find a bad luck tabu. 74:"The Tiki Caves" Boys try to return the tabu to a remote burial site. Vincent Price guest stars. 75:"Today I am a Freshman" On Marcia's 1st day of High School, she joins every single school club to be popular. 76:"Cyrano De Brady" Peter has Greg cue him as he tries to pick up a girl. 77:"Fright Night" Boys & girls take turns sleeping in the "haunted" attic. 78:"Career Fever" Mike thinks Greg wants to become an architect, too. 79:"Law and Disorder" Bobby is drunk with power as a school safety monitor. 80:"Jan the Only Child" At her request, Jan is given silent treatment by her brothers and sisters. 81:"The Show Must Go On??" Greg and Mike, and Marcia and Carol all perform in the Family Frolics at school. 82:"You Can't Win 'Em All" Cindy gets on a kids quiz show. 83:"Goodbye, Alice, Hello" Alice leaves when she thinks the kids are mad at her. 84:"Love and the Older Man" Marcia is attracted to Dr. Vogel, her dentist. 85:"Everyone Can't be George Washington" Peter gets the part of Benedict Arnold in the school play. 86:"Greg's Triangle" Greg has to judge a cheerleading contest which includes Marcia and his girlfriend. 87:"Bobby's Hero" Bobby becomes enthralled with Jesse James. 88:"The Great Earring Caper" Cindy accidentally loses her mother's earrings. 89:"Greg Gets Grounded" - and goes on a date with Rachel -- with frogs in the back seat. 90:"The Subject was Noses" Marcia gets hit on the nose with a football. Source of "oh, my nose!" everyone's favorite BB line. 91:"How to Succeed in Business?" Peter gets and loses a job at a bike shop. 92:"Amateur Nite" The kids put on a TV dance to pay for a silver platter for their parents anniversary. 93:"You're Never Too Old" Carol's grandmother meets Mike's great-grandfather. 94:"A Room at the Top" Greg & Marcia fight over who moves into the attic. ---------------- The Fifth Season ---------------- 95:"Snow White and the Seven Bradys" Snow White is performed in the backyard. 96:"Mail Order Hero" Joe Namath comes to visit Bobby, after Cindy cooked up a scheme to lure him. 97:"The Elopement" The Bradys think that Sam and Alice plan to elope. 98:"Adios, Johnny Bravo" Greg almost gets a recording contract. 99:"Never Too Young" Bobby kisses a girl named Millicent and almost catches the mumps. 100:"Peter and the Wolf" Peter wears a fake mustache to get on a double-date with Greg's girlfriend's cousin. 101:"Getting Greg's Goat" Greg hides a goat in his attic room. 102:"The Cincinnati Kids" Family goes to King's Island Amusement Park. 103:"Quarterback Sneak" Marcia's boyfriend tries to steal a book of football plays from Greg. 104:"Marcia Gets Creamed" Marcia and Jan get jobs at an ice cream parlor. 105:"My Brother's Keeper" Bobby saves Peter's life from a falling ladder. 106:"Try, Try Again" Jan tries and fails at Ballet and tap-dancing. 107:"Kelly's Kids" A neighbor adopts 3 kids, each of a different race. 108:"The Driver's Seat" Marcia takes her driver's test. 109:"Miss Popularity" Jan enters a popularity contest at school. 110:"Out of this World" To get back at Bobby, Greg makes UFOs appear out back. 111:"Two Petes in a Pod" Peter meets a look-alike in school. 112:"Welcome Aboard" Oliver is added to the family. 113:"The Snooperstar" Marcia plants a "Shirley Temple" story in her diary to thwart Cindy's snooping 114:"The Hustler" Bobby becomes a pool shark when they get a billiard table. 115:"Top Secret" Mike draws up separate plans for the FBI and for Sam the butcher. Bobby and Oliver erroneously link the two. 116:"The Hair-Brained Scheme" Gregs hair turns orange after applying Bobby's hair tonic. #15. Are there any books about BB? I know of three: "The Brady Bunch Book" by Andrew J. Edelstein and Frank Lovece. ISBN 0-446-39137-9 "Growing Up Brady: I was a Teenage Greg" by Barry Williams. Subtitled "An Insider's Guide to the Brady Bunch". "Bradymania" by Elizabeth Moran.