Other Brady Children

September 10th, 2017 by Proprietor

Once the Brady Bunch ended and went into syndication, there had been several attempts to relaunch the show or do sequels. When the various children grew older, and ran into problems faced by childhood actors, sometimes it was not possible to get them to appear in the various Brady Spinoffs.

The Brady Kids cartoon show had all the children voice their respective parts, except for part of season 2, when Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Christopher Knight (Peter), and Barry Williams (Greg) dropped out. Marcia was voiced by Erika Scheimer, Peter was voiced by Keith Sutherland, and Greg was voiced by Lane Scheimer. The cartoon was ended after the second season.

Then came the Brady Bunch Variety Hour. Eve Plumb (Jan) decided to not do the show, and was replaced by Geri Reischl. Though she was referred to as Jan, it was not the same.

When it came to sequel type spinoffs, the Brady Girls Get Married movie was interesting. Jan and Marcia had graduate college, Jan was marrying a professor she had met and dated, and had become an architect. Marcia was working at some job, maybe she went back and took over Haskell’s Ice Cream Parlor, and was not going to let her younger sister beat her to the marriage punch. So Marcia meets a guy, who perpetually loses his job, and the Brady girls have a double wedding. This spins off into the Brady Brides television show. Though focused on the two oldest daughters, all the original cast shows up at one point. Curiously, no Cousin Oliver. No Kelly Family for that matter. The show lasted six episodes went into production limbo and was cancelled.

Then came The Very Brady Christmas movie. Mike and Carol were empty nesters, the Brady House was just a place they lived in, and Alice no longer was housekeeper. Cindy was replaced by Jennifer Runyon for the movie spinoff, since Susan Olsen was not available for the filming. Mike and Carol were planning a major trip, then decided to bring all the children back. Cindy had a major issue, people always took her for granted. She was graduating college, and planning a ski trip, but pretty much was ordered to come to the Brady House. Alice returns, because Sam cheated on her. The movie reignites the Brady fire.

The Bradys was the final spinoff. An attempt to make an hour drama out of a half hour sitcom. Bobby becomes paralyzed, and wheelchair bound. Marcia, was not played by Maureen McCormick, but actress Leah Ayres, and ends up with a drinking problem. Guess realizing she could have been a major trophy wife if she weren’t so competitive finally dawned on her. Peter ends up in an abusive relationship. Mike goes into politics. The Brady House is bulldozed for a highway project. Jan and hubby unable to conceive adopt a Korean Girl. Yep. The show lasted six episodes, sometimes the episodes are paired together as a movie.

There were other Brady children through the spinoffs, and yes the parody movies had to be recast with new actors, but the original six Barry Williams (Greg), Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Christopher Knight (Peter), Eve Plumb (Jan), Mike Lookinland (Bobby), and Susan Olsen (Cindy) will always be the Brady Bunch.

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