the brady group
THE BRADY BUNCH – THE MEAT CUTTER BALL
1. A very Brady delivery
2. Color coding
3 carols
4. The French Connection
5. Fun Brady Trivia
6. Brady for infinity
7. Six Degrees of Bacon Brady Sunday
8. The Recycled Brady Group
1. A very Brady delivery
The idea for the show came about when creator/producer Sherwood Schwartz discovered that 20-30% of all families had at least one child from a previous marriage. He sat down and wrote a 30 minute pilot episode. In it, a man with three boys marries a woman with three girls, and in the end they all go on their honeymoon together.
2. Color coding
When it came time to cast the show, the powers that be decided it would make things simpler if the kids had the same hair color as their respective parents. The problem here was that the casting for the boys started first, which means that in order to cover their bases they had to have 3 blonde girls, 3 brunette girls, 3 blonde boys, and 3 brunette boys.
3 carols
The role of Carol was originally going to go to Joyce Bulifant from the “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” But then Florence Henderson nailed her screen test. So she was Florence, which meant all the girls were going to be blonde. It would have been a much more interesting show if they had been brunettes. Brunettes always seem much more naughty.
4. The French Connection
A very interesting twist, future Academy Award-winning acting legend Gene Hackman was originally cast as architect father Mike Brady. But Paramount Studios felt that Hackman was too unknown at the time and that he had never done television. Mr. Hackman may well have dodged a bullet with that decision.
The part eventually went to Robert Reed, who did not want the role. He had been trying out 3 different series for Paramount and this was his least favorite. Over the years, Reed had many disagreements with the show, ultimately not appearing in the final episode.
5. Fun Brady Trivia
Test Your Noodle Against the Brady Trivia Machine:
A. What was Jan allergic to?
B. Where was Alice’s room?
C. What was Greg’s stage name?
D. Which rock star went to Marcia’s prom?
E. Which regular character from “WKRP” in Cincinnati” appeared on the show?
F. What world record did Bobby and Cindy try to break?
G. Who had tonsillitis?
H. Where was Carol from?
I. What color did the hair tonic change Greg’s hair to?
J. Who found the tiki in Hawaii?
Additional trivia if you can identify the subtitle of this newsletter: The Meat Cutters Ball.
Scroll to the bottom of this text to see the responses.
6. Brady for infinity
The show was never a success while it was on the air. However, once it was cancelled, it went straight into repeat syndication. The show played as gangbusters. Since then, the Brady Bunch has been broadcasting continuously somewhere in the world.
7. Six Degrees of Bacon Brady Sunday
Six Brady’s plus one makes Alice and a home insanely functional. All the stars starred along with many other stars who may return to the infamous “Footloose” tornado. Florence Henderson, however, seemed to move more around Hollywood, bumping shoulders with those who bumped shoulders with others who bumped shoulders with Kevin Bacon.
Florence Henderson was in “Naked Gun 33 1/3” with Julie Hagerty. Julie Hagerty was in “Lost in America” with Albert Brooks. Albert Brooks was on “Broadcast News” with Joan Cusack. Joan Cusack was in “Working Girl” with Alec Baldwin. Alec Baldwin was in “She’s Having a Baby” with Kevin Bacon.
Okay, try this one: Florence Henderson was in “Shakes the Clown” with Bobcat Goldthwait (if you haven’t seen her in this movie, then you don’t really know Florence Henderson). Bobcat Goldthwait was in “Police Academy 2” with Steve Guttenberg. Steve Guttenberg was in “Diner” with Kevin Bacon.
Okay, one more: Florence was in “Holy Man” with Kelly Preston. Kelly Preston was in “Jerry Maguire” with Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise was in “A Few Good Men” with Kevin Bacon.
Yes.
8. The Recycled Brady Group
Following the repeated success the original show found in syndication, several spin-offs were devised.
The Brady Bunch Hour launched in 1976 as a “Donny and Marie Show”-style variety series with the cast of Brady hosting the lineup. It survived to produce 8 hour-long episodes.
In 1981, the network resurrected the original series as the mature “The Brady Brides.” It was the last time the entire original cast came together for a common cause. The premise this time was that Marcia and Jan are marrying two completely different types of men and the four of them share a house together. It lasted 10 episodes.
In 1988, “A Very Brady Christmas” was the highest-rated television movie of the year. Everyone was present except Susan Olsen. Instead, the character of Cindy was played by actress Jennifer Runyon.
In 1990, “The Bradys” debuted. This was a sincere attempt to bring back the spirit of the original but packaged with a smarter ’90s angle. Maureen McCormick wasn’t among them, her character of Marcia was played by Leah Ayres. The overly serious situations the once-bouncy Brady characters found themselves in proved to be a poor combination. The show lasted only a month.
With the support of the fans, the Bradys will live forever!
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Brady Fun Trivia Answers:
A. Tiger flea powder
B. Next to the kitchen
C. Johnny Bravo
D. Davy Jones
E. Gordon Salto
F. The see-saw record
G. Cindy and Carol did it
H. Swampscott, Massachusetts.
I.orange
J.Bobby
The Meat Cutters Ball was the event Alice missed when she sprained her ankle.
Congratulations if you answered more than 3 of these correctly. These questions are for professionals and serious fans of Brady!
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