Why Did John Ritter Once Pull a Gun in ‘The Brady Bunch’s Living Room?
The Brady Bunch home is one of the most iconic home sets in TV history — one so iconic, it seems like it would be silly to try to reuse it in another show. But Hollywood is budget-conscious, and after the Bradys were evicted from their digs after the shows cancellation in March 1974, the set was quickly recycled for a very different show — an episode of the detective drama Mannix featuring a young John Ritter, years before he got his big break in Three’s Company.
The 1975 episode titled “Hardball” starred Ritter as Cliff Elgin. The Brady Bunch‘s sunken living room, staircase and den, complete with the show’s signature carpeting, were all on display, giving the detective drama a surprisingly domestic feel — which felt especially strange when Ritter pulled a gun right in the middle of the Bradys living room.
That was not the only time Mannix dropped by the Bradys’ place. Both shows were in production at the same time, so the set was reused more than once. In season four, Jo Van Fleet‘s character, Alexandra Pulvarenti, is shown living there, and in the season seven finale, viewers even catch sight of the orange-hued kitchen.
Sharing sets was simply a practical move for the studio at the time, and Mannix was not alone. An episode of Mission: Impossible also wandered into the Brady living room, although the iconic staircase is nowhere to be seen.
The Brady house even played a role outside of scripted TV. In 1974, it became the backdrop for a public service commercial called Let’s Call It Quits, starring Happy Days parents Tom Bosley and Marion Ross. The anti-smoking spot featured the two urging viewers to give up cigarettes, but fans could not help but notice that the setting was unmistakably the Bradys’ living room. Perhaps that was intentional — after all, Mike and Carol never lit up.
Though the Brady house was obviously a set, the home used for external shots of the house has been renovated to match the Brady home’s interior as depicted on the show. Tickets to tour the interior of the house are available for November 2025.
Remind 
1970s Fall TV
September 2023
Take a trip back to the ’70s by looking at the TV Guide Magazine Fall Preview primetime lineups.
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