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Florence Henderson provided a calming effect on Robert Reed during tense moments on the set of The Brady Bunch
The two were close, on and off the screen.
For a family that seemingly has no problems that last longer than the runtime of an episode, The Brady Bunch seemed to have a lot of stressful moments behind the scenes. Many of these boiled down to a tense relationship between Robert Reed and series creator Sherwood Schwartz, who often butted heads over the tone of the series.
Reed was constantly worried that The Brady Bunch was too silly at times, while Schwartz was pleased with the environment that had been built on the series, and saw nothing wrong with a bit of fun every now and again. Situations became so stressful, that Reed actually refused to appear in what would be known as the final episode of The Brady Bunch.
We can see it from both sides: Reed was a serious actor who wasn't entirely aware of how comedic The Brady Bunch was going to be before he signed onto the series. Meanwhile, Schwartz wanted to inject a bit of camaraderie and silliness into a 1960s and 1970s society that was sorely lacking. At the end of the day, it seems to come down to conflicting tastes. But while that feels like a simplified explanation, it didn't mean that things were any less stressful on set.
Thankfully, Florence Henderson was often right alongside Reed during the filming of The Brady Bunch. During an interview with the Ashbury Park Press, Henderson explained that she was able to provide a calming effect on Reed when moments were tense.
"He and I were always great friends," she said. "I could always get Bob to calm down, kind of smooth things over."
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Henderson also maintained that while Reed might have gained a reputation for being difficult to work with, he was simply a passionate actor. "I don't think he ever did things with great malice," she said. "I just think that was Bob's way of doing things, and I accepted him that way."
So, by providing acceptance and understanding, Henderson was able to make good on The Brady Bunch's values and make things a little bit brighter for those around her.
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16 Comments
There's no such place as "Ashbury Park"; it's ASBURY Park, New Jersey.
In the case of television, however, most actors see ONLY a pilot...often written more than a year before ANY other scripts are written. (You'd be wasting your time if the pilot didn't get picked up...,)
In this case, it's fairly-well-documented that Robert Reed did the BB pilot to fulfil his contract with Paramount nearly a year before the show ever premiered. So he had ONLY read the pilot, at that point. But yes...even the pilot is filled with the very slapstick scene of the boys chasing the dog chasing the cat through the wedding ceremony, and eventually Mike Brady (Reed) ending up on the ground with his face all covered in cake!!
He DID think the pilot script was silly...and the pilot was horrible!! He figured the show would NEVER get off the ground...but, of course, it did....and he was stuck...
Ask for Henderson.
Florence Henderson.
Robert Reed said that BB creator/EP Sherwood Schwartz would wrap up his silly sitcoms in the language of sociological experimentation, and would convince you that what you thought sounded silly would really be an interesting comment on society. In this case, divorce, second-marriages, and blended families. MANY "experts' have still tried to deconstruct what Gilligan's Island was "about" - the societal pressures faced by different classes being forced to live together in harmony without any modern conveniences... OR was it just a show about trying to make things out of coconuts and falling out of trees???