The further trials and tribulations of the extended Brady family, with the children all grown up and married and with children of their own.
The popularity of The Brady Bunch reruns continued during the 1980s, prompting producer Sherwood Schwartz to launch a reunion for the show’s 20-year anniversary. In December 1988 came A Very Brady Christmas, a two-hour TV movie for CBS with all the original cast members that drew the highest ratings for a made-for-television film that season.
Encouraged with the numbers, CBS ordered a new Brady series for the 1989-90 season.
After life as two sitcoms and a variety show, The Bradys took on the family drama format.
Mike was now a city councilman; Carol was a real estate salesperson; Marcia – now married to Wally Logan – ran the ‘Party Girls’ catering business; Jan was an architect and married to Philip; Cindy hosted the KBLA radio show ‘Cindy at Sunrise’; Greg was an obstetrician; Bobby was a race car driver; and Peter was his father’s assistant.
Other Regulars included Greg’s wife, Nora; Marcia’s children, Jessica and Mickey; Bobby’s wife, Tracy; Jan’s adopted Korean daughter, Patty; and good old Alice, the perennial housekeeper.
All the cast members were back except for Maureen McCormick. Actress Leah Ayers took over the role of Marcia.
The Bradys was originally planned as a two-hour telemovie”. CBS then wanted to stretch it into a ten-episode series, but didn’t have enough scripts. Eventually, Sherwood Schwartz divided the movie script into five hour-long episodes.
Unlike the lighthearted Brady Bunch of the 1970s, the older Brady’s faced a number of personal crises, including Bobby being paralysed from the waist down in a racing accident and Marcia struggling with alcoholism.
Critics denounced the new Friday night series, calling it a poor version of the successful yuppie drama thirtysomething. And the network didn’t help things by adding a canned laugh track to the poorly received and downbeat drama, hoping to lighten it up.
Schwartz wanted the show to air at a later hour so it could deal with more adult issues, but CBS yanked The Bradys three months after its February 1990 debut.
Sadly, Robert Reed was the first of the original cast members to pass away. He died on 12 May 1992 of AIDS and cancer complications.
Carol Brady
Florence Henderson Mike Brady
Robert Reed Jan Martin Brady Covington
Eve Plumb Marcia Brady Logan
Leah Ayres Cindy Martin Brady
Susan Olsen Dr Greg Brady
Barry Williams Peter Brady
Christopher Knight Bobby Brady
Mike Lookinland Alice Nelson
Ann B. Davis Nora Brady
Caryn Richman Wally Logan
Jerry Houser Philip Covington III
Ron Kuhlman Tracy Brady
Martha Quinn Gary Greenberg
Ken Michelman Jessica Logan
Jaclyn Bernstein Mickey Logan
Michael Melby Kevin Brady
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
