@@michaelgendron He hadn't any other option. With Bobby & Cindy growing older & no longer being "Cute", Sherwood had to dig some kid up to play the part. May not have been the best choice, but, one could see The Show was on its way out once Cousin Oliver appeared. Bad rap on Him, as when similar shows experiencing the same scenario, it's always known as The Cousin Oliver Syndrome. He was most disappointed in this. I don't blame him...
@@mikeconnolly3299 Instead of complaining about him being cast as "Oliver" these days (which I don't blame him for doing). Once Denver passed, He should have been banging on the doors of producers to star in a film about him. It would have at least given him an escape from the roll of Oliver. Hell, they made one about Bob Crane that was more successful than Bob was,,,,,
@@mm_xx8827 Most of the eps centered around Gilligan unwittingly screwing up efforts for the castaways to get rescued. But when this got stale, Schwartz had the writers coming up with really outlandish plots, like the mad professor swapping people’s brains into each other’s bodies…or the dream where Lovey was Cinderella. Some eps were sillier than others, if you were paying attention.
Some of us first learned about Robert Reed's frustration in Barry Williams' book. Guess who wrote the foreword? Barry said that while Reed had problems with his role, he adored the kids. That included buying them cameras and taking them on a trip. Florence Henderson wrote that he asked her to tell the kids about his illness. In spite of everything, Robert Reed did every reunion project. He especially enjoyed the awful variety show. Yet he wasn't very good at singing and dancing. The Schwartzes not being involved might have helped his mood too. He got out of another project to do The Brady Girls Get Married. No one was giving them away except him. He, along with some other cast members, appeared on the NBC sitcom Day by Day. One of the show's actors, Christopher Daniel Barnes, would play Greg in the two Brady Bunch feature films. Next was A Very Brady Christmas. The tension with the Schwartzes got bad again during the Bradys drama series. Another factor may have been his illness. He would be the first cast member to die. It's sad that he wasn't happier. Some of his concerns were legitimate. My mom agreed with him that cooked strawberries don't give off a scent. In their book, Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz acknowledged that even with all the problems, he did a good job playing Mike Brady. I'm glad that the sixth season never happened. Did the parents adopt one another's children? We know the girls used the Brady name. But were they still legally Martins? Mike's death would have given his relatives a claim on custody. Greg may have already been 18. Carol might have needed to get a job, just like Shirley Partridge. What about Alice and Cousin Oliver? We'll never know.
In the backdoor pilot BB episode "Kelly's Kids", Mike & Carol's childless friends, the Kellys, adopt a boy & then adopt his 2 orphanage friends of different races. The Kellys mentioned that the Bradys had adopted each other's kids, so they knew how to go about doing that. I've read that in the later shows, Florence Henderson insisted that Carol have a job, which is why she got into real estate. The idea of killing off Mike Brady went farther with the more dramatic sequel series, THE BRADYS. After 2 movies & 2 hour-long episodes, THE BRADYS was cancelled. There were scripts written, but not produced, where Mike would be killed off in a helicopter crash, and Carol would become a widow. Fortunately (IMO) this series was cancelled before Mike Brady was killed off. Robert Reed died just 2 years after this cancellation.
The boys were full brothers and the girls were full sisters, but they were really step siblings, but treated each other like brothers and sisters and referred to their opposite genders as brother and sister and the girls took on the name Brady when their mom married the boys’ dad and even referred to them as mom and dad! Had a bit of a thing for Marcia - and, in case you might have wondered why I had a thing for a teenager, I myself was one at the time - in fact, she was probably a bit older than me!
I did not know he was drinking 😳 on set. Yes, he was very unhappy. But he loved those 6 kids and they him. I am glad there was not another season with him having died 😢
Sherwood Schwartz created a show in 1986 called “Together We Stand” based on a Brady Bunch episode called “Kelly’s Kids” about an ethnically blended family. It was retooled due to low ratings after 5-6 episodes and Star Elliott Gould would leave. The show was renamed “Nothing Is Easy” and Gould’s character was killed off. The show was ultimately canceled after a few more episodes. But Elliott Gould would make commercials in the 90’s referencing the show by talking about Natasha Bobo who “co-starred in a TV Series with me. He neglects to say it was only for about 5-6 episodes…
Thanks for the info. Before that, wasn't "Kelly's Kids" initially supposed to be a spinoff show in the 70s, boosted by "The Brady Bunch" airing (or recently aired) at the time?
@@bobdavis4848 It was supposed to be, but never happened. I don't even know if there was a pilot ever filmed, or not. I remember the kids coloring in The Three Muskateers. Ken Berry was perfect as the dad in the guest role, and would have been great in a series like that.
@@censorshipsucks9493 Thanks, yes I remember there was a definite plan but that it fell apart. I wonder if there were skittish advertisers. That's "The Three Musketeers." I agree about Ken Berry.
I never understood Cousin Oliver hate. He was just as corny as the rest of the show, he fit in fine. He wasn't necessary to add, but he didn't make it any worse either.
What bugs me is that years later Schwartz said that Mike,and Carol, or at least one of them, was divorced. I call bullshit, and he was trying to rewrite history. If one, or both of them were divorced then where were the ex spouses, and the visitation rights. Everyone always assumed they were both widowed.
It makes me glad they didn't have it because it just wouldn't be the same without Mike Brady! Robert Reed really loved all those kids so much that he took them to New York and London at his own expense.
I am glad that they did not have a sixth season. It would have spoiled the reruns knowing what was going to happen. Even with Newhart, it puts a little bit of a damper on the show knowing that what you are watching turns out to be just a dream.
They actually played the last Brady Bunch episode the other day. Greg had orange hair and no Robert Reed. Heard he went ballistic and had to be tossed by security
I think the idea of killing off Mike was Sherwood Schwartz thinking out loud some years down the road. According to the documentary movie, "Growing Up Brady", which he had a hand in, it wasn't the network that pulled the plug on the show, but Schwartz himself. While Reed's difficulties may have had something to do with it, it was more an issue with the kids. They had all retained the same new manager, and he had convinced them that they were the stars, and they began making, wild and unreasonable demands. He realized he couldn't make a show like that and shut it down.
I'm glad the show ended at season 5, although I somewhat enjoyed the reunions (esp. A Very Brady Christmas). I'm glad they ended up NOT killing off Mike Brady; that would have been much too sad a development for the show. They could have recast the role, but I'm not sure how that would have gone over. Suffice it to say that the show had pretty much run its course after 5 seasons.
I really liked Mike.......he was a good Brady dad. I heard Hughe Beaumont on Leave it to Beaver was a drunk also.......oh well, God rest both their souls.
I have read about Robert's relationship with the child actors before. I heard he hated working with kids but understood that Hollywood can be cruel and often acted as their protector. I can't imagine this sixth season concept working, because the show was already about second marriages. Granted we never saw Mike or Carole before their wedding, we know they had lives and spouses previously. I think replacing either one would have ruined the show. Plus a sixth season would have featured Cousin Oliver.
I also heard that if they did a Season 6, not only were they considering killing off Mike Brady, but the writers also considered bringing back Mr. Martin, Carol's first husband. Since it was never established that Carol was a widow or a divorcee it was going to be written that Mr. Martin had amnesia or something.
I knew about a lot of this from a TV special about the show. Reed was written out of the final ep when Greg graduated, but he reportedly watched off-camera. Who knows if they would've booted Robbie Rist as well. The formula of bringing in younger kids when the regulars aged up was never a good idea. Oliver never landed.
I think Sherwood Schwartz should have had a 6th season and simply put up with Robert Reed, double life and all, because he was too iconic and a father figure to too many Americans children
Greg Brady graduated from high school. Does that mean Cousin Oliver would have been promoted to a regular status since Greg would have gone to college?
They would've totally had to redo the credits. As it was, the theme song lyric "the youngest one in curls" stopped making sense when Cindy got braids. Somehow, that hairstyle carried over to the movies in the 90s.
He was well known and much respected from his role in The Defenders, a Northwestern graduate and "serious" actor. His side is he was misled about the nature of the show as he expected a much more nuanced take on the burgeoning generation gap occurring in the late 60's in a blended, modern family. What he go was cheap. physical comedy ala Gilligan. Don't know why he was surprised. It was Sherwood Schwartz after all!
So many actors would give almost anything for the chance Robert Reed got. Such ungratefulness for not just going along for the ride of the series run. Mike Brady dying would have ruined the light comedy theme of the show.
Thanks to temperamental Bob Reed refusing to participate in the final episode, we were left with Mike Brady missing his oldest son's graduation‼️Bob said the hair tonic episode was unbelievable, Uncle Bob! What was unbelievable was Mike Brady missing his son's graduation‼️🇺🇲📺🎓
Mike's death would've painted the show into a corner, like killing-off Bobby Ewing on Dallas. Had the show continued for another season, they could've just said Mike was out of state working on an architectural project and left the door open for him to return later, if things worked out.
Mike working in another country might have been better to explain his absence from the show and maybe in every few episodes we could have seen a character having a one way phone conversation with Mike.
They were in last place by the 1980s just as ABC was in the late 1960s when the original show began and NBC was when they aired *The Brady Brides.* It seems whenever a network is in the dumper, they call on this show for a short-term boost in ratings.
It might have continued to be a "story of a lovely lady", but it wouldn't have been the same without the "man named Brady". If they had wanted to kill off a character, it should have been Cousin Oliver.
Interesting video. Glad they season ended when it did. It's ashamed that Robert Reed caused problems. Other than that the cast was great. Thank you. Melanie
I saw all episodes multiple times. My whole childhood, I only spoke the show's name out loud with even more of a parody I thought of, "The Bratty Batch." I just thought the real name sounded dorky.
Sometimes everything just plays put perfectly before they end it , another season with Mike passing would have probably been THE END for sure , along with running out of story lines
Yeah, if they had done a 6th season along with Mike getting killed off, they could have sent Greg to college, or he could have gone to the military. But I could understand killing off Robert Reeds' character since he didn't really like the part.
I think if there had been a 6tth season of Brady Bunch we might have had stories of Greg in college but at the same time Greg may not have been in every episode and the show could have explained his episode absence(s) by saying he was busy in college.
Plus with Greg in college the Brady Bunch if it had a season 6 could have had more interesting stories with Greg maybe getting a steady girlfriend.Also if Mike had died it could have been interesting to see Carol get a job and been a single parent at the same time.
Robert Reid was simply a difficult jerk. He never should have auditioned since he didn't like the role. So-called "serious" actors are just unpleasant to be around.
The kids demands were probably the deal breaker that got Schwartz to pull the plug. They could have fired Robert Reed but as another option, kept the Mike character by having him in some kind of accident at a job site for a building he was designing. Some kind of explosion or fire causing him to be burned and require reconstructive cosmetic surgery on his face, which also damaged his vocal cords, and thus substituting a new actor of similar body proportions. Perhaps cousin Oliver went with him, and was killed, but that would be a bit too dark for a sappy family sitcom in the 1970's.
They were going to replace David Cassidy if that show got another season because he had already turned in his two weeks notice. I heard somewhere they even had Rick Springfield lined up as a replacement.
I always thought the new Darren on Bewitched sucked. They should have ended the series when the old Darren Quit. The Brady bunch would have never worked without Reed.
You left out a bunch of stuff. Aside from Robert Reed being a tool on set that no one could work with, show producer Sherwood Schwartz also had a list of demands from the Brady kids. Among other things, they wanted their new musical group "The Brady Six" to perform a new song on every episode. Reportedly Barry Williams wanted an episode where Greg got into a fistfight with Mike, Christopher Knight wanted Peter to have a recurring girlfriend on the show, and Schwartz, knowing he had enough episodes in the can to get a syndication deal, simply rejected all these demands and killed the show after Season 5 ended. It WOULD have looked different in a "Season Six", but for far more than what you've mentioned here...
@@millerscuba1 Well Schwartz might have worried that if he gave into Christopher Knight wanting Peter getting a recurring girlfriend one of the young actress might have wanted a recurring boyfriend for her character.
I would like to share a little trivia in connection with the Brady Bunch. It wasn't the ABC TV network that cancelled the series. It was Sherwood Schwartz who cancelled the series. I will explain this: ABC did order a sixth season of the series. However, when Sherwood Schwartz found out that the kid cast wanted half of the episodes of the sixth season to be musically themed, that is when he pulled the plug on the series because the music thing that was done for the last seasons was only meant to be temporary, not permanent. Not only that, if it did continue for one more season, another cut would've been Robbie Rist as Cousin Oliver as he wasn't catching on with viewers. That is the reason why Sherwood Schwartz pulled the plug on the series. In a sense, this was a good reason as when the ill fated "Brady Bunch Hour" came on a little over two seasons later, you can see why Schwartz pulled the plug on the original series as these kids weren't really very good vocalists. At the time, he simply felt that the kids let the whole music thing go to their heads and he felt that it was time to end the series. Chris Knight, who played Peter, also resigned from the series in the wake of this. I simply thought I'd share this. Thanks for uploading.
You are forgetting it was going up against Sanford and Son, which was a hot show at the time. That might have been another reason why Schwartz pulled the plug.
Jackie Mills, their manager, turned them against Schwartz and their parents against each other. Add that to Robert Reed getting increasingly frustrated with the perceived shortcomings of the scripts, and the show was falling apart at the seams. Adding Cousin Oliver to an environment like this was like throwing a lit match on a gasoline spill. You can see why Sherwood Schwartz wanted to make it up to Robbie Rist with another show, *Big John, Little John.* He had no business being shoehorned into this one, and they had to learn it the hard way.
@@RichardMcDowell-m8c it was the highest rated show on TV without a meathead. Even Susan Olsen admitted in a DVD commentary that she was watching it on Friday night instead of her own show.
@@RichardMcDowell-m8c No, Sherwood Schwartz pulled the plug because of the kid cast wanting over half of the sixth season, which again ABC did order, to be musically themed. I know this because it was in the liner notes for the 1993 CD compilation release "It's a Sunshine Day: The Best of the Brady Bunch." It had nothing to do with anyting other than that. Just a clarification.
@@Attmay Jackie Mills was not their manager, but their producer. He simply produced all four of the Brady Bunch albums, but wasn't their manager. Their manager/agent was Harvey Shotz, who prodded the kid cast into not agreeing to the extended contarct that Filmation presented to them to continue their cartoon spin-off "The Brady Kids" for a few more episodes in the following season. Only Mike Lookinland, Eve Plumb and Susan Olsen agreed, but Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick did not. As a result of this, Filmation had the Scheimer children, Lane and Erika, voice Greg and Marcia, while Chris Knight used the alias "David E. Smith" to hide that he also agreed to the extended contract in the following season. Not only that, the Brady records weren't really selling in the marketplace, which is the main reason why Schwartz ended the series when the kids wanted more musically themed episodes in the sixth season. IMHO, nobody can blame him for doing that, as when "The Brady Bunch Hour" premeired over two seasons later, that spin-off series was a ratings disaster, and is widely regarded as "One of THE worst spin-offs ever made". IMHO, I feel that Schwartz did the right thing when he chose to end the Brady Bunch as he was a smart guy and knew what's what. Just sharing my viewpoint.
Don't forget about that little dork, cousin Oliver, who moved in and killed the show 😅
@@michaelgendron He hadn't any other option. With Bobby & Cindy growing older & no longer being "Cute", Sherwood had to dig some kid up to play the part. May not have been the best choice, but, one could see The Show was on its way out once Cousin Oliver appeared. Bad rap on Him, as when similar shows experiencing the same scenario, it's always known as The Cousin Oliver Syndrome. He was most disappointed in this. I don't blame him...
I'm not too surprised. Robert Reed was known for being difficult on that show. It's sad how some actors can't embrace the roles that make them famous.
Agree, as the same with Esther Rolle on Good Times.
@@marcstevens8576 And Francis Bavier from the Andy Griffith show, she was also difficult on set.
Robert Reed did that show for the paycheck, and wanted to act in roles that were more interesting and challenging for him.
Reed was a jerk
@@collegeman1988He was under contract to Paramount as he was also on *Mannix,* which started while Desilu was still a thing.
Cousin Oliver looks like John Denver
@@mikeconnolly3299 Instead of complaining about him being cast as "Oliver" these days (which I don't blame him for doing). Once Denver passed, He should have been banging on the doors of producers to star in a film about him. It would have at least given him an escape from the roll of Oliver. Hell, they made one about Bob Crane that was more successful than Bob was,,,,,
Sadly, the fifth season lacked the quality of the previous four. It was the right time to cancel the series (just MHO).
Both "Mike" and "Ginger" were Schwartz's thorns in the side.
Add “Lovey Howell” to that. Natalie Schaefer was known to have thrown fits over scripts that she thought were ridiculous.
@SamWesting I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.
@@SamWesting So she thought SOME of the Gilligan's Island scripts WEREN'T ridiculous??? LOL
@@mm_xx8827 Most of the eps centered around Gilligan unwittingly screwing up efforts for the castaways to get rescued. But when this got stale, Schwartz had the writers coming up with really outlandish plots, like the mad professor swapping people’s brains into each other’s bodies…or the dream where Lovey was Cinderella. Some eps were sillier than others, if you were paying attention.
Natalie Schaefer had appeared in a “BB” episode: the one where Cindy thought she was going to be the next Shirley Temple.
Some of us first learned about Robert Reed's frustration in Barry Williams' book. Guess who wrote the foreword? Barry said that while Reed had problems with his role, he adored the kids. That included buying them cameras and taking them on a trip. Florence Henderson wrote that he asked her to tell the kids about his illness.
In spite of everything, Robert Reed did every reunion project. He especially enjoyed the awful variety show. Yet he wasn't very good at singing and dancing. The Schwartzes not being involved might have helped his mood too. He got out of another project to do The Brady Girls Get Married. No one was giving them away except him. He, along with some other cast members, appeared on the NBC sitcom Day by Day. One of the show's actors, Christopher Daniel Barnes, would play Greg in the two Brady Bunch feature films.
Next was A Very Brady Christmas. The tension with the Schwartzes got bad again during the Bradys drama series. Another factor may have been his illness. He would be the first cast member to die.
It's sad that he wasn't happier. Some of his concerns were legitimate. My mom agreed with him that cooked strawberries don't give off a scent. In their book, Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz acknowledged that even with all the problems, he did a good job playing Mike Brady.
I'm glad that the sixth season never happened. Did the parents adopt one another's children? We know the girls used the Brady name. But were they still legally Martins? Mike's death would have given his relatives a claim on custody. Greg may have already been 18. Carol might have needed to get a job, just like Shirley Partridge. What about Alice and Cousin Oliver? We'll never know.
In the backdoor pilot BB episode "Kelly's Kids", Mike & Carol's childless friends, the Kellys, adopt a boy & then adopt his 2 orphanage friends of different races. The Kellys mentioned that the Bradys had adopted each other's kids, so they knew how to go about doing that.
I've read that in the later shows, Florence Henderson insisted that Carol have a job, which is why she got into real estate.
The idea of killing off Mike Brady went farther with the more dramatic sequel series, THE BRADYS. After 2 movies & 2 hour-long episodes, THE BRADYS was cancelled. There were scripts written, but not produced, where Mike would be killed off in a helicopter crash, and Carol would become a widow. Fortunately (IMO) this series was cancelled before Mike Brady was killed off. Robert Reed died just 2 years after this cancellation.
The boys were full brothers and the girls were full sisters, but they were really step siblings, but treated each other like brothers and sisters and referred to their opposite genders as brother and sister and the girls took on the name Brady when their mom married the boys’ dad and even referred to them as mom and dad!
Had a bit of a thing for Marcia - and, in case you might have wondered why I had a thing for a teenager, I myself was one at the time - in fact, she was probably a bit older than me!
@@orangehornet57 Do know Alice married Sam The Butcher, but, as of Cousin Oliver, no clue...
@@arthurvasey Mine was Jan in later years.
I love these hoity-toity “Shakespearean” actors who have trouble doing what they’re told to do but evidently have no problem cashing their paychecks.
It got its sixth season, thanks to Sid and Marty Krofft. It was "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour".
@@14DaveHunter ...and there was "The Bradys" short-lived series in about 1989.
I heard had there been a 6th season, Carol would have had an illicit secret relationship with Greg.
I did not know he was drinking 😳 on set. Yes, he was very unhappy. But he loved those 6 kids and they him. I am glad there was not another season with him having died 😢
Sherwood Schwartz created a show in 1986 called “Together We Stand” based on a Brady Bunch episode called “Kelly’s Kids” about an ethnically blended family. It was retooled due to low ratings after 5-6 episodes and Star Elliott Gould would leave. The show was renamed “Nothing Is Easy” and Gould’s character was killed off. The show was ultimately canceled after a few more episodes.
But Elliott Gould would make commercials in the 90’s referencing the show by talking about Natasha Bobo who “co-starred in a TV Series with me. He neglects to say it was only for about 5-6 episodes…
Thanks for the info. Before that, wasn't "Kelly's Kids" initially supposed to be a spinoff show in the 70s, boosted by "The Brady Bunch" airing (or recently aired) at the time?
@@bobdavis4848 It was supposed to be, but never happened. I don't even know if there was a pilot ever filmed, or not. I remember the kids coloring in The Three Muskateers. Ken Berry was perfect as the dad in the guest role, and would have been great in a series like that.
@@censorshipsucks9493 Thanks, yes I remember there was a definite plan but that it fell apart. I wonder if there were skittish advertisers. That's "The Three Musketeers." I agree about Ken Berry.
It's too bad Robbie Rist was hired as Cousin Oliver, because he was all wrong for the show.
Agree 100%
Robbie was in the pilot of Galactica 1980 as Dr. Zee.
I never understood Cousin Oliver hate. He was just as corny as the rest of the show, he fit in fine. He wasn't necessary to add, but he didn't make it any worse either.
He was the Brady's "Jump the Shark" moment.
He was great as Mike Brady! Sorry for what he went through in life.
What bugs me is that years later Schwartz said that Mike,and Carol, or at least one of them, was divorced. I call bullshit, and he was trying to rewrite history. If one, or both of them were divorced then where were the ex spouses, and the visitation rights. Everyone always assumed they were both widowed.
they were widowed.
@@middleagenerd I just re watched the pilot. He was widowed, but no mention of what happened to her husband.
It makes me glad they didn't have it because it just wouldn't be the same without Mike Brady! Robert Reed really loved all those kids so much that he took them to New York and London at his own expense.
I am glad that they did not have a sixth season. It would have spoiled the reruns knowing what was going to happen. Even with Newhart, it puts a little bit of a damper on the show knowing that what you are watching turns out to be just a dream.
They actually played the last Brady Bunch episode the other day. Greg had orange hair and no Robert Reed. Heard he went ballistic and had to be tossed by security
I think the idea of killing off Mike was Sherwood Schwartz thinking out loud some years down the road. According to the documentary movie, "Growing Up Brady", which he had a hand in, it wasn't the network that pulled the plug on the show, but Schwartz himself. While Reed's difficulties may have had something to do with it, it was more an issue with the kids. They had all retained the same new manager, and he had convinced them that they were the stars, and they began making, wild and unreasonable demands. He realized he couldn't make a show like that and shut it down.
If they killed off mike i wonder how the reunion shows or movie would have been
Plus he was a semi regular on the Mannix series during the same time.
I'm glad the show ended at season 5, although I somewhat enjoyed the reunions (esp. A Very Brady Christmas). I'm glad they ended up NOT killing off Mike Brady; that would have been much too sad a development for the show. They could have recast the role, but I'm not sure how that would have gone over. Suffice it to say that the show had pretty much run its course after 5 seasons.
I really like the t-shirt that you are wearing in this video. Please tell me where I could get one of them.
I really liked Mike.......he was a good Brady dad. I heard Hughe Beaumont on Leave it to Beaver was a drunk also.......oh well, God rest both their souls.
I have read about Robert's relationship with the child actors before. I heard he hated working with kids but understood that Hollywood can be cruel and often acted as their protector.
I can't imagine this sixth season concept working, because the show was already about second marriages. Granted we never saw Mike or Carole before their wedding, we know they had lives and spouses previously. I think replacing either one would have ruined the show. Plus a sixth season would have featured Cousin Oliver.
I also heard that if they did a Season 6, not only were they considering killing off Mike Brady, but the writers also considered bringing back Mr. Martin, Carol's first husband. Since it was never established that Carol was a widow or a divorcee it was going to be written that Mr. Martin had amnesia or something.
I thought Mr. Martin was lost at sea on the S.S. Minnow? (according to the A Very Brady Sequel movie) 😂
And then there would have been no spin-offs... same with Gilligan's island if theyd gotten rid of Ginger.
I knew about a lot of this from a TV special about the show. Reed was written out of the final ep when Greg graduated, but he reportedly watched off-camera. Who knows if they would've booted Robbie Rist as well. The formula of bringing in younger kids when the regulars aged up was never a good idea. Oliver never landed.
I'm glad the six season never happened. The show with Mike gone would have killed the series. Each member of the cast was important to the show.
I think Sherwood Schwartz should have had a 6th season and simply put up with Robert Reed, double life and all, because he was too iconic and a father figure to too many Americans children
Greg Brady graduated from high school. Does that mean Cousin Oliver would have been promoted to a regular status since Greg would have gone to college?
They would've totally had to redo the credits. As it was, the theme song lyric "the youngest one in curls" stopped making sense when Cindy got braids. Somehow, that hairstyle carried over to the movies in the 90s.
I thought the show was canceled once they brought in the insufferable cousin Oliver
What is this photo? at 2:23 that’s not Eve “Jan”
It's Fake Jan from the variety show.
I remember seeing Reed on Mannix, It was a lowering to his acting talents.
He also played a villain on Wonder Woman after the Brady Bunch.
Well Robert Reed was also on Murder She Wrote.
He was well known and much respected from his role in The Defenders, a Northwestern graduate and "serious" actor. His side is he was misled about the nature of the show as he expected a much more nuanced take on the burgeoning generation gap occurring in the late 60's in a blended, modern family. What he go was cheap. physical comedy ala Gilligan. Don't know why he was surprised. It was Sherwood Schwartz after all!
So many actors would give almost anything for the chance Robert Reed got. Such ungratefulness for not just going along for the ride of the series run. Mike Brady dying would have ruined the light comedy theme of the show.
Thanks to temperamental Bob Reed refusing to participate in the final episode, we were left with Mike Brady missing his oldest son's graduation‼️Bob said the hair tonic episode was unbelievable, Uncle Bob! What was unbelievable was Mike Brady missing his son's graduation‼️🇺🇲📺🎓
Nowadays many people dye their hair some unnatural color.
@Attmay Everyday, Sherwood the trendsetter‼️🇺🇲📺
Mike's death would've painted the show into a corner, like killing-off Bobby Ewing on Dallas. Had the show continued for another season, they could've just said Mike was out of state working on an architectural project and left the door open for him to return later, if things worked out.
Mike working in another country might have been better to explain his absence from the show and maybe in every few episodes we could have seen a character having a one way phone conversation with Mike.
It would have made more sense to simply re-cast the role a la Darren on "Bewitched".
i was surprised CBS gave the Brady a shot in A Very Brady Christmas
They were in last place by the 1980s just as ABC was in the late 1960s when the original show began and NBC was when they aired *The Brady Brides.* It seems whenever a network is in the dumper, they call on this show for a short-term boost in ratings.
It might have continued to be a "story of a lovely lady", but it wouldn't have been the same without the "man named Brady". If they had wanted to kill off a character, it should have been Cousin Oliver.
Interesting video. Glad they season ended when it did. It's ashamed that Robert Reed caused problems. Other than that the cast was great. Thank you. Melanie
I love the parady name of this show when it was saterized in MAD magazine:
The Bratty Bunch
I saw all episodes multiple times. My whole childhood, I only spoke the show's name out loud with even more of a parody I thought of, "The Bratty Batch." I just thought the real name sounded dorky.
Sometimes everything just plays put perfectly before they end it , another season with Mike passing would have probably been THE END for sure , along with running out of story lines
Yeah, if they had done a 6th season along with Mike getting killed off, they could have sent Greg to college, or he could have gone to the military. But I could understand killing off Robert Reeds' character since he didn't really like the part.
I think if there had been a 6tth season of Brady Bunch we might have had stories of Greg in college but at the same time Greg may not have been in every episode and the show could have explained his episode absence(s) by saying he was busy in college.
The Vietnam war was over, so they would not have had to deal with the possibility of him being drafted.
It broke my heart when they canceled it... I was 9... these days, meh...
Plus with Greg in college the Brady Bunch if it had a season 6 could have had more interesting stories with Greg maybe getting a steady girlfriend.Also if Mike had died it could have been interesting to see Carol get a job and been a single parent at the same time.
Good Times used the killing off the father technique a few years later and it really hurt that show.
That's because they resented an interview John Amos gave to Ebony Magazine calling JJ a bad influence.
I figured it was Must See TV but I didn't think much of it then or now🤷🏼♂️. 🤓😎✌🏼
The Real Brady Bros podcast with Barry Williams and Christopher Knight has a lot of inside scoop on al things Brady. Check it out if you're a BB fan!
Robert Reid was simply a difficult jerk. He never should have auditioned since he didn't like the role. So-called "serious" actors are just unpleasant to be around.
So Robert Reed was the William Frawley of the Brady Bunch??!!!
Gene Hackman was up to play Mike Brady in season 6
@@raymondcanessa7208 He should have from the start, as Reed didn't really have any sense of humor on the show.
@@marcstevens8576then he would have thrown away an Oscar because he would have been unavailable for *The French Connection.*
The kids demands were probably the deal breaker that got Schwartz to pull the plug. They could have fired Robert Reed but as another option, kept the Mike character by having him in some kind of accident at a job site for a building he was designing. Some kind of explosion or fire causing him to be burned and require reconstructive cosmetic surgery on his face, which also damaged his vocal cords, and thus substituting a new actor of similar body proportions. Perhaps cousin Oliver went with him, and was killed, but that would be a bit too dark for a sappy family sitcom in the 1970's.
Soap operas do that all the time.
Ironic Robert Reed did Brady bunch variety hour and the short 5 episode the Brady's.
Eight Is Enough season 2...
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Partridge Family. Missing Father.
They were going to replace David Cassidy if that show got another season because he had already turned in his two weeks notice. I heard somewhere they even had Rick Springfield lined up as a replacement.
I love the show but it is sad that Robert Reed was so unhappy on it. Thanks Bob.
Ending after five seasons was a blessing in disguise to anybody who endured the Sam and Maggie years of *Diff'rent Strokes.*
I always thought the new Darren on Bewitched sucked. They should have ended the series when the old Darren Quit. The Brady bunch would have never worked without Reed.
Dick York said in an interview that he was glad the series continued, because it allowed the cast and crew to work for three more years.
@Heavenlydaz. Dick York didn't quit. He was invalided out. Difference.
To me,the 4th season was the best!
You left out a bunch of stuff. Aside from Robert Reed being a tool on set that no one could work with, show producer Sherwood Schwartz also had a list of demands from the Brady kids. Among other things, they wanted their new musical group "The Brady Six" to perform a new song on every episode. Reportedly Barry Williams wanted an episode where Greg got into a fistfight with Mike, Christopher Knight wanted Peter to have a recurring girlfriend on the show, and Schwartz, knowing he had enough episodes in the can to get a syndication deal, simply rejected all these demands and killed the show after Season 5 ended. It WOULD have looked different in a "Season Six", but for far more than what you've mentioned here...
Peter getting a recurring girlfriend shouldn't have been an outrageous demand. That actually would've made sense for a plot point.
@@millerscuba1 Well Schwartz might have worried that if he gave into Christopher Knight wanting Peter getting a recurring girlfriend one of the young actress might have wanted a recurring boyfriend for her character.
Lloyd Schwartz got fired from *What's Happening!!* and *Alice.*
The love the parades.
Robert reed missed the last few episodes of the final season
Just the last ONE, no more.
I would like to share a little trivia in connection with the Brady Bunch.
It wasn't the ABC TV network that cancelled the series. It was Sherwood Schwartz who cancelled the series. I will explain this:
ABC did order a sixth season of the series. However, when Sherwood Schwartz found out that the kid cast wanted half of the episodes of the sixth season to be musically themed, that is when he pulled the plug on the series because the music thing that was done for the last seasons was only meant to be temporary, not permanent. Not only that, if it did continue for one more season, another cut would've been Robbie Rist as Cousin Oliver as he wasn't catching on with viewers. That is the reason why Sherwood Schwartz pulled the plug on the series. In a sense, this was a good reason as when the ill fated "Brady Bunch Hour" came on a little over two seasons later, you can see why Schwartz pulled the plug on the original series as these kids weren't really very good vocalists. At the time, he simply felt that the kids let the whole music thing go to their heads and he felt that it was time to end the series. Chris Knight, who played Peter, also resigned from the series in the wake of this.
I simply thought I'd share this. Thanks for uploading.
You are forgetting it was going up against Sanford and Son, which was a hot show at the time. That might have been another reason why Schwartz pulled the plug.
Jackie Mills, their manager, turned them against Schwartz and their parents against each other. Add that to Robert Reed getting increasingly frustrated with the perceived shortcomings of the scripts, and the show was falling apart at the seams. Adding Cousin Oliver to an environment like this was like throwing a lit match on a gasoline spill. You can see why Sherwood Schwartz wanted to make it up to Robbie Rist with another show, *Big John, Little John.* He had no business being shoehorned into this one, and they had to learn it the hard way.
@@RichardMcDowell-m8c it was the highest rated show on TV without a meathead. Even Susan Olsen admitted in a DVD commentary that she was watching it on Friday night instead of her own show.
@@RichardMcDowell-m8c No, Sherwood Schwartz pulled the plug because of the kid cast wanting over half of the sixth season, which again ABC did order, to be musically themed. I know this because it was in the liner notes for the 1993 CD compilation release "It's a Sunshine Day: The Best of the Brady Bunch." It had nothing to do with anyting other than that. Just a clarification.
@@Attmay Jackie Mills was not their manager, but their producer. He simply produced all four of the Brady Bunch albums, but wasn't their manager. Their manager/agent was Harvey Shotz, who prodded the kid cast into not agreeing to the extended contarct that Filmation presented to them to continue their cartoon spin-off "The Brady Kids" for a few more episodes in the following season. Only Mike Lookinland, Eve Plumb and Susan Olsen agreed, but Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick did not. As a result of this, Filmation had the Scheimer children, Lane and Erika, voice Greg and Marcia, while Chris Knight used the alias "David E. Smith" to hide that he also agreed to the extended contract in the following season. Not only that, the Brady records weren't really selling in the marketplace, which is the main reason why Schwartz ended the series when the kids wanted more musically themed episodes in the sixth season. IMHO, nobody can blame him for doing that, as when "The Brady Bunch Hour" premeired over two seasons later, that spin-off series was a ratings disaster, and is widely regarded as "One of THE worst spin-offs ever made". IMHO, I feel that Schwartz did the right thing when he chose to end the Brady Bunch as he was a smart guy and knew what's what. Just sharing my viewpoint.
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