SPOTLIGHT: The Brady Bunch

It's the story of a man named Brady...

The Brady Bunch, which aired in the U.S. on ABC from September 26, 1969 to March 8, 1974, might just be the most iconic, most popular, and most famous of all the TV shows that have consistently achieved low ratings. Indeed, during its entire run, the beloved series, produced by Paramount Television, never made the top 30, and by the point in the storyline in which Greg (Barry Williams) graduated from high school and was about to enroll in college, ABC cancelled the series and placed it into off-network syndication. Many of the stations that did telecast the show after ABC cancelled it showed it in late afternoon or early evening (after school) time-slots, creating a platform in which kids could watch the program when they came home from school, and providing iconic status amongst the type of crowd too young to have seen The Brady Bunch during its (almost) 5-year run on ABC.

Sherwood Schwartz, the show's now-deceased creator, stated that, in spite of longer-running, higher-rated, and more critically acclaimed programs running at that point, the show became an American cultural icon and staple because they wrote each episode of the series from the standpoint of the kids and addressed situations understandable-to-children, like girl trouble, sibling rivalry, or meeting famous people such as rock stars or baseball players.

There was also a 22-episode animated Saturday morning cartoon series, produced by Filmation and airing on ABC from September 1972 to August 1974, about the Brady kids having various adventures. We never saw nor did they mention the family's adults. The "home" scenes took place in a very large well-appointed tree house. Among the regular characters were a variety of animals, including two non-English speaking pandas (Ping and Pong), a talking bird (Marlon) who could do magic, and an ordinary pet dog (Mop Top, not Tiger). The first 17 episodes featured the voices of all six of the original child actors from the show. However, because of a (not excruciatingly long) contractual dispute Paramount had with Filmation, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, and Christopher Knight were replaced for the last five episodes.

The series also inspired The (infamous) Brady Bunch Hour, featuring all the original cast members sans Eve Plumb, who was replaced by the "Fake Jan" herself, Geri Reischl. The Hour, which lasted just 9 episodes, all aired between November 1976 and March 1977, was made at the point when variety shows were on the way out, hence low ratings and a (quicker than the original Bunch) cancellation.

There was also the 1981 NBC spinoff The Brady Brides, which also underperformed, but at least lasted an episode longer than the Brady Bunch Hour.

But then, ultimately, that extra success the show needed (on-network wise) was given: 1988's A Very Brady Christmas, aired on CBS (which coincidentally part-owned the series), and became first the highest, then second-highest, rated TV film of the 1988-89 TV season, spawning a six-episode long series simply titled The Bradys, affectionately titled Brady-something because it dealt with adult issues the former Brady kids had to deal with, in a similar format to Thirtysomething. At the time of its run, the latter aired on ABC, which originally broadcast the show that started it all.

The fanbase for the Bradys just kept getting steadier, as after Viacom bought Paramount Pictures (1994), they theatrically released The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel, released in the respective years in film of 1995 and 1996. The first film featured cameo appearances from The Brady Bunch's original cast members, sans Robert Reed, who unfortunately died in 1992, two years into Viacom's acquisition of the rights to the series, and sans Eve Plumb, the original Jan "Marcia Marcia Marcia" Brady, who chose instead to appear in the Susan "Cindy Brady" Olsen-produced retrospective special, Brady Bunch Home Movies, the year that film came out. A TV movie, The Brady Bunch in the White House, aired on FOX in 2001.

Years later, CBS is now considering re-booting the show, this time focusing on a divorced adult Bobby Brady who remarries to start a new family. The new Brady Bunch will be produced by Vince Vaughn, who, at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), is one of Hollywood's tallest actors.