8 other shows Sherwood Schwartz wrote and produced

It's hard enough to create one beloved television show, but Schwartz managed to do the impossible.

Image: Everett Collection

It's hard enough to create one beloved television show, but Sherwood Schwartz managed to do the impossible. The legend created two beloved series, Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, that have continuously been on the air since they originally wrapped nearly half a century ago. 

With such massive success, it's easy to let his legacy be defined by those two programs. But being the creative soul that he was, Schwartz created, produced and wrote for several other TV series that often go overlooked. 

Here are eight other shows you might not have known the legend was a part of.

Do you remember any of these?

1. I Married Joan (1953)

Schwartz wrote a few episodes of the situation comedy I Married Joan in 1953. The sitcom featured Jim Backus, who would go on to portray "The Millionaire" on Gilligan's Island

Image: CBS

2. The Red Skelton Hour (1956-1962)

Schwartz won his only Primetime Emmy Award in 1961 as the head writer for The Red Skelton Hour. The series won the award for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, an award Schwartz earned with his brother, Al. 

Image: CBS

3. It's About Time (1966)

Coming off the success of Gilligan's Island, Schwartz created this time-traveling sitcom about two astronauts who accidentally travel back in time. 

Image: Everett Collection

4. Dusty's Trail (1973-1974)

Critics called it "the Western Gilligan's Island." Schwartz reunited with Bob Denver to create Dusty's Trail, a sitcom about a group of seven travelers in the late 19th century — a wagon master, his little buddy, a rich banker and his wife, an intellectual, a dance-hall girl, and a farm girl — who are separated from their wagon train while heading west. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

Image: Metromedia Producers Corporation

5. Big John, Little John (1976)

Schwartz jumped from primetime to Saturday mornings with Big John, Little John, a situation comedy about a man who accidentally turns into a 12-year-old boy after drinking from the fountain of youth. After a short run on The Brady Bunch, Robbie Rist returned to portray the role of Little John.

Image: CBS

6. Harper Valley PTA (1981-1982)

First it was a song, then it was a movie. Finally, in 1981, Schwartz turned Harper Valley PTA into a sitcom featuring television legend Barbara Eden. 

Image: NBCUniversal

7. Together We Stand (1986-1987)

This series, about a married couple who adopts three kids from different walks of life, was a do-over of an intended spin-off from The Brady Bunch. The season five episode "Kelly's Kids," featuring Ken Berry in the lead, served as a backdoor pilot for a new comedy, but the show was never picked up. More than a decade later, Schwartz launched same concept with Elliott Gould. It lasted one season.

Image: Universal Television

8. The Bradys (1990)

Although Schwartz created, produced and wrote for several TV shows beyond than The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, he never strayed too far from the characters most familiar to audiences. Schwartz brought back a grown Brady gang with the new series The Bradys in the early 1990s, but the show only lasted six episodes. 

Image: CBS

We talked to Schwartz's daughter!

Hope Juber, the daughter of the TV legend, told us about her time on The Brady Bunch. Here's what we learned. READ MORE

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4 Comments

LynCarceo 27 months ago
The middle Brady brother (in the photo) looks like The captain in The Orville. I know it's not, but they look similar.
MichaelP 34 months ago
Gilligan's Island + Petticoat Junction + F-Troop = Dusty's Trail!!!
JeffBaker 40 months ago
"Big John..." is on DVD! For a 70s kids show it's still funny! Like a 60s fantasy sitcom.
RedSamRackham 40 months ago
* It's About Time should've ended with NYC "Car 54" police officer Gunther Toody waking up from a dream. "Ooh ooh, Lucille! I just dreamed I was a cave man and there were these 2 astronauts who time travelled!" ☺
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