10 Shocking Facts About “The Brady Bunch” You Didn’t Know

“The Brady Bunch” remains a beloved television classic cherished by many, thanks to its endearing portrayal of lovable and realistic family problems that everyone encounters in everyday life. Whether it’s the chaotic family vacation in Hawaii or the countless sibling squabbles, the show resonates with audiences of all ages that offers something for everyone to connect with on a personal level.

In this article, we will offer you some less-known facts about this show that you might miss. Keep scrolling down to learn more.

1. The show’s concept is a newspaper statistic

“It’s very rare that a writer knows exactly where his ideas come from,” producer Sherwood Schwartz shared. “However, in the case of The Brady Bunch, I know exactly what inspired that show. It was just a four-line filler piece in the Los Angeles Times. Just a statistic. It said that year, 1965, 31 percent of all marriages involved people who had a child or children from a previous marriage. It was just a statistic, but to me it indicated a remarkable sociological change in our country. Thirty-one percent is approximately one-third of all marriages. That’s a huge statistic.”

2. Hair color played a factor in casting the Brady kids

During the casting process of the six Brady kids, the show’s creator, Schwartz, wanted to have a mix of hair colors among them. He aimed to have a total of 12 child actors ready: three with blonde hair, three with brunette hair, and three with dark hair, for both boys and girls.

Mike Lookinland, naturally a strawberry blonde, was Schwartz’s first choice for Bobby. However, when Robert Reed, who had brown hair, was cast as the dad, Lookinland had to dye his hair various colors to appear darker under the studio lights. Susan Olsen, who played Cindy, was naturally blonde but not light enough for the producers. To achieve the desired look, her hair was regularly bleached. Unfortunately, this caused Olsen’s hair to fall out during season two. When Olsen brought this issue to Schwartz’s attention, he ordered the staff to stop altering Cindy’s hair.

3. Gene Hackman could have portrayed Mike Brandy

In “Brady, Brady, Brady, Schwartz recalled “there were a number of men I wanted to interview, including Gene Hackman” for the role of Mike Brady. Paramount said no to Gene Hackman for an interview because he had a very low TVQ. For those who didn’t know, TVQ is a survey used by executives to gauge how familiar audiences are with performers and their work.

Eventually, the role went to Robert Reed. One of the reasons for this decision was that Reed was already contracted to work with Paramount. Additionally, his co-starring role on the popular legal drama series “The Defenders” gave him a certain level of recognition and appeal, adding to his marquee value. “The year after The Brady Bunch debuted, unknown Gene Hackman with no TVQ starred in The French Connection and won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and has been a major star ever since,” added Schwartz.

4. Florence Henderson wasn’t present when filming began on the first six episodes

It is reported that during that time, Henderson was busy wrapping up her work on another project. The actress had worn a wig during the show’s first season because her hair had been cut short for her recent starring role in an off-Broadway revival of South Pacific. she was even filming scenes for the movie Song of Norway in Denmark when she received the exciting news that The Brady Bunch pilot had been sold.

“And so they started the show without me,” Henderson told NPR in 2014. “They did six episodes without me and then I filled in when I got back to
the States.”

5. Six kids shared one bathroom with no toilet

If you were sharp-eyed while watching The Brady Bunch, you might have noticed something peculiar about the bathroom shared by the Brady kids: it didn’t have a toilet. Back in those days, television networks had strict rules that prohibited showing a porcelain toilet bowl onscreen. To avoid the hassle and expense of maneuvering tricky camera angles, the show’s producers made a deliberate decision to omit a toilet altogether from the kids’ bathroom.

6. Alice was suspected to be on a hunger strike

Alice was often seen bustling around the kitchen, cooking for the Brady family in their vibrant orange and avocado-green kitchen. Did you ever notice that she never seemed to eat anything herself? That may explain why she managed fine without her own bathroom. Perhaps her focus was solely on keeping the Brady household running smoothly.

7. Maureen’s character, Marcia, really did take a football to the nose

During the filming of a crucial football scene in “The Subject Was Noses,” Christopher Knight, who played Peter, couldn’t hit the target. So, Lloyd Schwartz, the producer, stepped in and threw a perfect spiral off-screen, hitting Maureen’s nose with the football in just one take.

8. “Tiger”, the dog family, actually died after filming “Katchoo” episode

After a day of filming the “Katchoo” episode, Tiger, the family dog, was let out for exercise on the Paramount lot. Sadly, an inattentive driver accidentally hit and Tiger died. The trainer, in a frantic search, combed through animal shelters overnight to find a dog resembling Tiger. They found one that looked similar, but the new dog didn’t cooperate well on set. He didn’t follow directions and was scared of the noise and lights.

During a heartfelt scene where the boys bid the dog farewell, the director had to find a way to make the replacement dog stay in place. They resorted to nailing the dog’s collar to the floor so he wouldn’t move. Despite the challenges, they managed to complete the scene.

9. The show never became a huge hit

“The Brady Bunch” didn’t achieve massive ratings success during its initial airing. It even never cracked the Top 30 shows. However, it did well enough to last for five seasons, providing Paramount with a substantial number of episodes for syndication. These syndicated reruns were frequently aired in the late afternoon, which increased its visibility among a younger audience and gave it more opportunities for exposure.

10. Susan Olsen said she was caught between Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb

Sibling rivalry is common as kids grow up, and even the Brady Bunch siblings had their share of it. Jan (Eve Plumb) often felt jealous of her seemingly perfect older sister, Marcia. (Maureen McCormick). This rivalry didn’t just stay on-screen; there were alleged tensions between the actors too. In a 2020 interview with news.com.au, Susan Olsen, who played Cindy, said that Eve Plumb and Maureen McCormick never really got along.

“I think it’s kind of petty,” Olsen said (via People). “From day one with these two I have always been in the middle, and now it’s at the point where there isn’t even a desire to communicate through me.”

In fact, drama between Plumb and McCormick seems to revolve around McCormick’s claim that there was more than just a kiss between the two actors. But, we can’t know exactly what happened.