‘The Brady Bunch’ Cast Reveal the Surprising Reason They Don’t Have Any Show Mementoes

Lauren Novak May 15, 2:38 pm

During a recent reunion at the Chocolate Expo at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., The Brady Bunch stars Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland and Susan Olsen opened up about their time on the show — and why they were left empty-handed when the series ended.

During the fan question segment, they were asked if they took anything interesting from the set when the show wrapped. They explained that at the conclusion of the fifth season, before the series was fully canceled, the cast members didn’t know whether the show would return for an additional season. Many of them thought they were just on hiatus and would be coming back for a sixth year, so they didn’t bother taking any mementoes from the set.

Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland attend the 74th Primetime Emmys at Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California

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Williams explained during the panel, “We all were under five-year contracts. So the five years had run. For there to be another season, there would’ve had to be in new negotiations.” Olsen added, “And we would’ve had to be paid.”

He continued, “We stopped shooting in February. They would’ve had to start up again in June. There’s a little window in there to do some negotiations. So I think we broke thinking maybe we would know rather quickly if we’re picked up or not because they’d have to start negotiations. It was probably a month or two when we probably found out that we weren’t being picked up. And so you’re not even around one another, it just … It’s gone. It dissipates. There’s no real, formal exit or time to feel.”

Christopher Knight and Barry Williams of A Very Brady Renovation speak during the Discovery segment of the Summer 2019 Television Critics Association Press Tour 2019 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 25, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California

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However, cast members did previously admit to taking two funny items from other moments in the show’s run. In 2019, Maureen McCormick admitted in an interview on The Rachael Ray Show that she had asked a member of the prop team if she could have a wooden Santa that was used for A Very Brady Christmas. “I took something, which is very un-Brady-like,” the actress confessed, She said that she still puts it out every Christmas in her home. Williams shared that “I waltzed off the set with the Hawaiian tiki,” from the show’s infamous Hawaii episodes. However, Williams has an innocent explanation for how he ended up with this piece of TV history: “I happened to be wearing it and forgot to take it off.”

What would you have taken from the set of the show?