Gary Cole Says Original ‘Brady Bunch’ Cast’s Approval of 1995 Movie ‘Meant a Lot’ (Exclusive)
What To Know
- The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) reimagined the classic TV family as ’70s-era characters navigating the cynical 1990s.
- Gary Cole, who played Mike Brady, credits the film’s success to its balance of parody and sweetness.
- Cole received positive feedback from original cast members for his performance.
In 1995, the Bradys made their way to the big screen with The Brady Bunch Movie, but not in the glossy, straightforward adaptation most people were expecting. Instead, director Betty Thomas delivered a satirical, meta-comedy that dropped the entire Brady family into the mid-’90s while they continued to behave, dress, and speak as if it were still “the Me Decade.”
The result wasn’t just an adaptation, it was a playful culture clash, with the squeaky-clean Bradys navigating a world of grunge teens, cynical neighbors, and ’90s problems armed only with sunshine, courtesy, and a lot of polyester.
Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection.
The Brady Bunch Movie was a surprise hit, not just because it parodied the original show, but because it understood it. Every catchphrase, every wholesome lesson, every bit of Brady-brand earnestness was treated as both a joke and a love letter, making it one of the smartest TV-to-film reimaginings of the decade.
The follow-up, 1996’s A Very Brady Sequel, continued the joke by doubling down on the absurdity, cementing the franchise’s place as a cult comedy series that knew exactly how far to push the joke without ever losing the affection behind it.
TV Insider sat down with Gary Cole, who played patriarch Mike Brady in both films, to talk about his experiences. “I remember bad hair. Polyester. High platform shoes. And a lot of laughing,” recalled the actor.
Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.
“It was really well put together, to me. I think the reason it worked, it was kind of a send-up, but it was a send-up with some sweetness attached to it. It was a tip of the cap to a show that was a big success and meant a lot to a lot of people. And yet one of the funniest things about it — to me — was the idea that worked well was that the Bradys were caught in a time warp and never advanced from the ’70s and everyone else moved into the ’90s.”
“But what’s funny now is that someone said to me is they watched it, but even the people that regarded the Bradys as weird are also now [in] a time capsule because it’s so ’90s if you look at that movie. So they’re just as dated as the Bradys,” laughed Cole.
Cole knew the importance of the Bradys to pop culture, though when it aired, he admitted there was one particular Brady that caught his attention. “When it came on the air, it was 1969, so I was in junior high school, and it was Friday night, which was significant. So I had one foot out the door on Friday nights, like most of my friends did,” said the actor. “So I was not in a situation where I was sitting around with my family, because I was beyond that. We were all too cool to do that then. But I do remember all my friends talking about Marcia, for obvious reasons, when you’re a teenage boy.”
When asked about his experience with the Bradys themselves, Cole said, “I worked with Barry [Williams], and Florence Henderson was in the ending of the first Brady Bunch [Movie].” And as for feedback? “I ran into Maureen McCormick at an event, at one point, and she actually said that I did a good job, which meant a lot to me.”
— Additional reporting by Meredith Jacobs
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