Eve Plumb said she and The Brady Bunch cast lost touch after the series ended

The actress reunited with them for The Brady Girls Get Married.

The acting business isn't just red carpets, flashing cameras and interviews. It's an industry filled with ups and downs that can make or break anyone. After the Brady Bunch ended, Eve Plumb and the rest of the cast had to deal with a lot. It took a lot of work to get producers and viewers to see the actors outside their most prominent roles.

Some went through a drought before they found their next parts. Fans worldwide wanted the series to be revived, which happened — with a little twist.

Sherwood Schwartz revived the classic family series into a special called The Brady Girls Get Married, which served as the pilot for The Brady Brides, in 1981. The original cast, including Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, and the children, returned. Yet, instead of focusing on the entire family, Eve Plumb (Jan Brady) and Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady) were the main focus.

"Naturally, I was surprised when they approached me to play Jan again," Plumb said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in '81. "I debated with myself whether I should or shouldn't. But it was such a new and contemporary idea that I decided to go ahead."

The only regulars for The Brady Brides were Plumb and McCormick, although Henderson and Davis could be seen dropping in occasionally.

Plumb added, "It's about two young married couples who can't afford to buy or rent houses on their own, so they decide to share a house. The fact that the wives are sisters made it all more interesting."

Both sisters had careers; Jan was an architect like their father, and Marcia was a fashion designer.

It's no secret that the cast considered themselves family while working on the Brady Bunch, but they lost touch for a while, according to Plumb. "Acting is a funny business. When you're doing a series, everyone is like family. You become really close. Then when the show is over, you go your separate ways. When you work together, it's like picking up the threads of friendship right where you left off."

Plumb is right, acting is a funny business, and it's a lot to handle if you let it control you. However, the Brady family could still be seen reuniting with each other even decades after the show ended.

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30 Comments

AgingDisgracefully 12 months ago
Do YOU keep in touch will all your former co-workers?
I actually do. I made many friends in my years of work and I think it’s important to keep in touch with the people you connect with.
ALL? Probably not.
But you're right.
"Hello in There" is a good thing and a good song by a good guy.
Moverfan 12 months ago
I watched The Brady Girls Get Married and The Brady Brides (and the variety show and The Bradys and the Brady Kids cartoon...loved the little pandas). Now, will somebody tell me why I can remember that Marcia's husband Wally designed toys, but I can't remember what Jan's husband Philip did? (He was just a bit of a socially-conscious stuck-up teit, I remember...but just a bit.)
Bdhgirl Moverfan 12 months ago
He was a scientist maybe a professor? I do remember he was studying the migrating habits of the Grey Leged Goose.
Mblack Moverfan 12 months ago
Wally was in the Christmas movie. But he stuck out because Jerry Houser had been in Summer of 42.
bradyguy Moverfan 12 months ago
Actually, Wally SOLD toys...he didn't design them.

Yes. Philip was a college professor. BTW...what's a "teit"?
Moverfan bradyguy 11 months ago
It was supposed to be "twit"--there are days when my keyboard decides it doesn't like me...
Moverfan Mblack 11 months ago
Didn't know that. Of course, I was in grade school when Summer Of '42 came out and I've never seen it...
daDoctah 12 months ago
I wonder if Tina Louise kept in touch with her co-stars after Gilligan's Island wrapped.
harlow1313 daDoctah 12 months ago
One thing is certain, not anymore...
Pacificsun 12 months ago
From when they united for the HGTV Remodel she seemed to be the one who was most aloof. Or had less in common with each other. At the time (even before the remodel) she explained that she turned to different interests, and was very happy with her own career. It seems like she was the one who opted out of Hollywood. And no worries, glad she found her alternative.
bradyguy Pacificsun 12 months ago
I don't think Plumb ever "opted out of Hollywood". All six of those kids were tremendously type-cast and had some difficulty getting roles after the BB. More accurately, Hollywood opted out of the Brady kids. But, in actuality, Plumb has had the longest, and most successful career in film and TV, of all the kids. The roles have often been small...but she has been a working actress for the nearly 50 years since the BB ended.
Pacificsun bradyguy 12 months ago
If you mean prolific by what wiki provides (in the link below).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Plumb#Film

I wouldn't say she ended up being typecast. Any more than her own natural personality offered anyway. Which is the same that can be said for many "working actors" who trade on their personality, to satisfy what a Producer expects, and is looking for in his/her project. Doing so, saves a Producer time and money and reliability. So the concept of typecasting can also be misunderstood.

No, she wasn't sitting home.

I guess what caught my attention [attached in the image below] is regarding her avocation for (and perhaps in an Art Gallery commercial sense) painting. Which her costars mentioned. And what she revealed in interviews. I also noticed her acumen in Real Estate, having begun at the young age of 11 (no doubt as a wise investment of her earnings from the Industry) and then parlaying her success upwards through some significant transactions.

Keeping in mind that with dual residences (East and West Coast) also suggests dual commercial interests, per availability, and access. As well as choosing to decline a 5 year contract (or option) regarding the BB Variety Hour. Again, no doubt a wise decision, when there is other certainty regarding a person's opportunities, and interests.

Nothing suggested is negative towards her, just informational and relative to the assumption. I'm sure she was making very competitive and strategic decisions.

LoveMETV22 12 months ago

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In the banner picture they use for " The Brady Bunch" why does it look like their all doing needlepoint?"
Sway LoveMETV22 12 months ago
It does!
Andybandit 12 months ago
That is too bad, that Eve didn't keep in touch with the Brady Bunch cast members.
WordsmithWorks 12 months ago
Of all the Brady alum, Plumb seemed least interested in keeping the show and its iterations alive.
bradyguy WordsmithWorks 12 months ago
Really?? Because she only missed ONE of them...
15inchBlackandWhite 12 months ago
She turned down her chance to be part of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour.
Yes, do you know who took her place?
bradyguy cperrynaples 12 months ago
Most big BB fans do. We celebreate her every January 2nd. (Bit of a thinker, that one...) Her name is Geri Reischl, and she was a very talented young singer when she was cast. BUT...did you know that one of the last OTHER girls considered for the role was Paris Hilton's aunt???
Runeshaper 12 months ago
It's cool that they got the chance to get back together (-:
spockrocks Runeshaper 12 months ago
Sort of…
daDoctah 12 months ago
They took her off the family newsletter when she begged off from the variety show.
Mblack 12 months ago
That's what happens when you.miss a reunion.
LoveMETV22 12 months ago

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cperrynaples LoveMETV22 12 months ago
Machete, Machete, Machete! That was a great commercial! Remember when the touch football player was Betty White?
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