The dark truth about The Brady Bunch.

The Brady Bunch Had The Wildest Cast In Sitcom History
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Not So Family-Friendly Facts About The Brady Bunch Cast: Nine Stars Who Lived In A Bubble
Mar 19
INTERESTING
Byron Fast
It Wasn't All So Square
As far as TV goes, there was nothing squarer than the 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch . But behind the scenes was quite a different story. Forbidden secrets, angry feuds, and legendary on-set hookups fueled the drama. And when the show ended after five seasons, like a virus, it would not let go of these actors.
It followed them into every aspect of their lives, as they clumsily, and often embarrassingly, tried to create a world outside The Brady Bunch .
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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1. It All Started With A Fact
In the late 1960s, TV producer Sherwood Schwarz came across an article that said that almost a third of all households in America had “a child or children from a previous marriage”. With that simple fact, Schwarz dreamed up a sitcom called The Brady Bunch . He knew he needed six child actors and three adults to round out the cast.
He had no idea how his little show would dominate—for good and for bad—all of their lives forever.
Nicolj, Wikimedia Commons
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2. It Was A Hair Color Lottery
After 264 interviews of child actors, Schwarz narrowed it down to 12 kids. They hadn't cast the parents yet, and they knew they wanted one parent to be blonde and one to be brunette. So, on hold, they had sets of blonde and brunette boys and girls to match their respective parents. When they finally cast the parents, six child actors got a call that would change their lives.
But there was one problem.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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3. He Wasn’t Quite Right
When the producers chose a blonde mother and a brunette father, they hired children who matched that pattern. There was one problem. The producers really wanted Mike Lookinland for the role of the youngest boy, but his fair hair didn't match. To keep Lookinland, they decide to dye and straighten his hair. In some episodes, you can see the dye running down his face,
There was one cast member who really needed the work.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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4. He Grew Up Poor
Middle brother actor Christopher Knight really needed this job on The Brady Bunch . His father was a stage actor, but the family struggled financially. At one point, Dad toyed with the idea of feeding Knight and his brother on “alternating days”. Knight later said that he resented his parents pushing him into show business and using him as a “meal ticket”.
To round out the Brady family, they needed to cast an outsider.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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5. They Almost Lost Her
Also important to  The Brady Bunch cast was Alice, the housekeeper. Schwarz knew he wanted Ann B Davis , but she had already agreed to a series of stand-up comedy gigs in Seattle. They were so sure that Davis was the right one that they bought out her entire contract for the stand-up tour.
For many of us, it’s hard to imagine the Brady household without Davis as Alice, but she did not feel prepared for the role.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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6. She Had No Experience
While Alice, the housekeeper, was great with kids, Davis, the actor, had no experience with them at all. Davis never married, and of course, people speculated about her orientation. She eventually came out with the shocking truth. An early affair with a married man had turned her off relationships.
The casting of the Brady dad also had its snags.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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7. He Was Not Right In The Head
The story goes that Robert Reed got the role of the Brady dad because he wasn’t too handsome. Jeffrey Hunter wanted the part, but they thought he was too attractive to be believable as a suburban dad. Still, creator Schwarz had a problem with Reed. He thought his head was too small.
Schwarz was about to find out that Reed may have had a small head, but his ego was huge.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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8. It Was Beneath Him
Reed had experience as a Shakespearean actor, so he often thought that the plot lines of the episodes of The Brady Bunch were beneath him. Reed soon became excessively annoying around the set, as he didn’t hold back on giving constant notes about the script.
On one occasion, he went way overboard.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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9. He Couldn’t Fake It
Reed was constantly making script suggestions. Some of them were good, and some were just plain crazy. In one scene, the family is making strawberry jam, and Reed had to say he loved the smell of strawberries. Reed’s research had told him that when you cook strawberries, they have no smell, so he made them change the line.
Reed certainly sounds annoying, and one cast member in particular had a problem with him.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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10. She Got Revenge
Ann B Davis did not appreciate Reed’s complaints. She thought they all should be thankful for having a career in acting. She had to hold back her anger when Reed would not let his character slip on an egg, as it didn’t seem real. When Reed actually slipped on the egg, Davis got her reward.
But one of Reed’s complaints saved some Brady lives.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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11. He Prevented A Tragedy
When The Brady Bunch went to a theme park, Reed had a complaint. Since they had attached a camera to a roller coaster, Reed wouldn’t allow his TV kids to ride it until they tested it. When they eventually tested the roller coaster, the camera flew off. If the kids had been there, they would have been in serious trouble.
Reed was a hero, but most days he was just miserable.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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12. The Dad Had A Secret
To many viewers, Reed’s Mike Brady was the perfect dad. Unfortunately, Reed often was in a bad mood when the cameras stopped rolling. Most of the cast knew the truth but didn't speak about it. Reed was gay, and keeping it a secret was making him miserable.
Reed dealt with his suffering in typical Hollywood fashion.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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13. He Drank His Sorrows Away
Reed was miserable for two reasons. He was unhappy working on a silly sitcom, and he was keeping his gay life a secret. At some point, he took to having a liquid lunch and acting while inebriated. But Reed was careful. Because the child actors left early, they never saw their TV dad slurring his words.
But Dad wasn’t the only one in an altered state.
Screenshot from The Brady Bunch, Paramount Television (1969-1974)
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14. He Acted High
Sometimes Barry Williams, who played Greg, tried to be like your average non-famous teenager. On one day off, he and some friends decided to really enjoy themselves and smoked some green stuff. To his horror…

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