‘The Brady Bunch’ Wasn’t Originally About the Brady Kids

Dan Clarendon June 30, 11:26 am

THE BRADY BUNCH, Barry Williams, Susan Olsen, Eve Plumb, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, 1969-74 — Everett Collection

When it was first conceived, The Brady Bunch was the story of a lovely lady — who was bringing up three very lovely girls — and the the story of a man named Brady — who was busy with three boys of his own. And as one of the show’s original writers revealed, it was only after the first season aired that producers realized the Brady kids, rather than their parents, were the real stars of the show.

Lloyd Schwartz, son of Brady Bunch creator Sherwood Schwartz and a writer and producer on the show, shed light on that origin story on the podcast The Real Brady Bros in 2022, per People.

“We began the show with a family unit, and then it evolved,” Lloyd said. “It was originally supposed to be about the parents, and the kids were there — six kids were there — and then we realized that the kids couldn’t [not] affect the parents. … They were involved in their own lives, and the parents could be there to help them. And so that’s how our show evolved, but it was originally going to be about the parents. But that’s why in the second year we changed the song: ‘So that’s how we became the Brady Bunch.’”

In the Season 1 version of the theme song — originally performed by the Peppermint Trolley Company — the lyric goes, “That’s the way they became the Brady Bunch.” In subsequent seasons, the Brady kids sang the theme, starting with the male actors in Season 2 and then all the younger actors in Season 3 and onward, Genius notes.

On the podcast, The Brady Bunch’s Christopher Knight, the actor behind middle son Peter, said the 1970s sitcom was unique in giving equal respect to both Brady generations

“A lot of times the shows are kind of one-sided,” he said. “It’s from the parents’ point of view and the children are irritants, or it’s from the the kids’ point of view and the parents are, you know, idiots, or played for for the comic purpose. I think the reason that our show works, and it works for kids growing up, is because it’s respectful to them. In fact, it’s also respectful to the parents.”