‘Brady Bunch’: Barry Williams Shares Secret of Show’s Appeal 50 Years Later
What To Know
- Barry Williams attributes The Brady Bunch‘s enduring appeal to its portrayal of an ideal, functioning family with strong morals and timeless values like honesty and good intentions.
- The show, which originally aired from 1969 to 1974, continues to attract new generations of viewers through streaming platforms and syndication.
- Williams shared that he let his own children discover The Brady Bunch independently rather than introducing it to them himself.
The Brady Bunch star Barry Williams — who played the oldest son, Greg Brady, in the iconic ’70s sitcom — recently opened up about the show’s timeless appeal more than 50 years after it ended.
During an interview with Women’s Weekly published on February 10, Williams, 71, revealed the secret to The Brady Bunch’s enduring appeal as fans continue to watch it on streaming platforms and in syndication.
“This was a show asking, if there was a functioning family, what would it look like?” Williams explained. “And so there’s kind of that idealistic role model for people to see, okay, that’s a functioning family. The dad is helpful, and mom listens to the kids, and the kids, they have arguments but try to get along.”
He continued, “In fact, the whole show is about how do you get along? Coming from different places, the girls meeting the boys and the parents getting married, how do you make that work? And so we were ‘all for one and one for all. We had very good morals. I think in timeless kinds of morality, where honesty, truthfulness, good-naturedness, good intention, you know, wins out.”
Barry Williams, Susan Olsen, Eve Plumb, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland in ‘The Brady Bunch’ (Everett Collection)
The Brady Bunch aired for five seasons on ABC from 1969 to 1974. In addition to Williams, the show starred Christopher Knight as Peter, Mike Lookinland as Bobby, Maureen McCormick as Marcia, Eve Plumb as Jan, Susan Olsen as Cindy, Robert Reed as Mike, Florence Henderson as Carol, and Ann B. Davis as Alice.
Williams was most recently a contestant on Season 12 of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Australia. Unfortunately, the former child actor became the third celebrity eliminated from the reality competition series in the February 9 episode.
Recently, Williams also revealed that he never showed his kids The Brady Bunch, and instead, allowed them to discover the show on their own.
The Brady Bunch, streaming on Pluto TV and Paramount+