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Originally, Robert Reed thought ''The Brady Bunch'' would last thirteen weeks before getting cancelled
No one knew how successful "The Brady Bunch'' would become, least of all Robert Reed.
No one has a magic crystal ball that can tell what sorts of things will rise and sweep the nation with their popularity. Even if there were, if a crystal ball told you a few years back that mom jeans were going to come back in style, you probably never would have believed them, but look at us now. The point here is that what catches the public's attention is strange and ever-changing, and there's no guarantee as to what will agree with everyone's taste.
Case in point: Robert Reed was already a successful actor by the time he signed on to do the pilot of The Brady Bunch. But according to Growing Up Brady, I Was a Teenage Greg, written by The Brady Bunch's Barry Williams, Reed had no idea that The Brady Bunch would be as successful as it became.
The book hears a direct quote from Reed, who recounted his experience joining the show. You might wonder why Reed even agreed to sign on to the pilot if he had such little faith in the series. Reed stated, "Sherwood and I met over dinner in his office, and basically, he fooled me."
Reed continued, "When he discussed The Brady Bunch with me, it was all in sociological terms. You know, there was 'a need to discover these figures in American life,' and all about 'families put asunder,' and blah blah blah, and how he'd gotten the idea for doing a show about putting two of these families together, and that it would be in a general comic context, but that it would also 'represent American life to American people.' So I thought, 'Well, gee, that sounds pretty good to me.'"
However, when Reed was presented with the first episode's script, he was baffled. He said, "I couldn't believe what I was reading! I mean, it's Gilligan all over again, with just as much insanity, and I quickly said, 'NO!'"
Reed eventually did come around to the series, as we're all aware. However, even after officially becoming a Brady, he confessed that he didn't necessarily think the show would make it off the ground and see an episode beyond the pilot. He said, "My private feeling was that it'll never get off the ground — take the money and go."
He continued, "So we did the pilot, and of course it was terrible, so I was absolutely stunned when it got picked up. And even then, I thought, 'It can't last more than thirteen weeks.' And it went on forever, which shows you what I know."
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5 Comments
As most big fans know, it was never ranked in the top 30 of the Nielsen Ratings...you wouldn't survive 5 seasons today with those kinds of ratings... But it was a different time - it was the original ABC TGIF if you will...and the demographics were pretty good - remember, there just weren't THAT many shows aimed squarely at kids the way the BB was. (And to a lesser extent, the Partridge Family and Nanny and the Professor. ALL TGIF...)
The "success" came much later, with reruns, syndication, reunions good and bad (let's not argue about TBBVH 🙄), and (horrible) movies! Oh yeah...also a stage show, and reality/makeover show!
But we all still loves us some BB!!
Keep On...
