What would you say was the Worst Brady Spin-off: The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Kids, The Brady Brides, or The Bradys?

It's hard to say -- somehow, the worse they are, the more I enjoy them. But technically, the variety show was just a total piece of junk. And the cartoon was the lowest form of assembly-line hack work. But as I said, for some reason I still find them a lot of fun to watch.

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

I'd say the Bradys. They took a more serious tone and it didn't work out at 1st. Then somebody got the idea of putting in a Laugh Track...only to have it in a show when Marcia was an Alcoholic; very funny http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/eek.gif

Ooh I feel the Anoiting! Time for DeDe!

The Brady Kids cartoon

Definitely The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. It was total garbage.

Take care,
Tanya.

Originally posted by readymade
Definitely The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. It was total garbage.

Take care,
Tanya.

Ditto...

"The Bradys" is in my opinion the worst of all the spin-offs. Actually I don't think any of the other spin-offs were that bad though. And I really loved "The Brady Brides."

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE VARIETY HOUR WAS!!!!

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE VARIETY HOUR WAS!!!!


On January 23,1977, the Original Cast of the Brady Bunch returned to ABC to do a Variety Show except for Eve Plumb. The Bradys did sketch comedy, sung, and danced for 60 minutes every week until ABC saw how horrible the ratings were and cancelled the show on May 25, 1977.

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE VARIETY HOUR WAS!!!!


The Brady Bunch Variety Hour was an hour-long (obviously) "variety" show which ran from Jan-May 1977.

Originally, the idea was to run the show every 5th week in the ABC Sunday Night time slot then held by "Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew". However, it bounced around to various days and times, sometimes making it difficult to find... (although that was NOT the reason the show failed)...

A total of eight episodes were produced. They were bad...really, really bad...

The show featured really bad 'comedy' skits and really, really bad musical numbers... like the Bradys 'singing' "The Hustle"...(la la la lala la la la la, la la la la la lala la la, la la la lala la la la la, la la la lala la la la la, la la la lala la la la la, la la la lala la la la la...)you get the idea... (The Hustle sucked as a song anyway, and the Bradys just made it worse)...

Perhaps some other posters can remember other 'musical' numbers they did...one is on the tip of my tongue, but i can't remember it...

Florence also sang Streisand's "The Way We Were" to close one episode...bad...really bad...

Barry Williams hoped to use this show to accelerate his singing career... didn't quite work out that way...He and Florence were really the only ones with real musical talent (I guess Marcia was good too, but she didn't seem to be actively pursuing a singing career).

All of the Bradys (as well as Alice) participated with the exception of Eve Plumb, who simply (and wisely) chose not to participate... she has no regrets about that decision. Geri Reischl played "Jan" (she is referred to as "fake Jan" in these forums)... she was very attractive, and had long straight blonde hair like Eve did, but obviously it wasn't the same...and I'm sure the kids felt a little strange about having another Jan around...

In this series, it was explained that Mike gave up his architect career in order to manage the variety show, and the family sold their home and moved to a house on the beach...very un-Brady like

Don't get me wrong... if you ever get a chance to see this show, it's definitely worth watching, because it's soooo bad! So definitely check it out if and when it's ever on again, or if you have a chance to rent a DVD (I wouldn't recommend buying it)...

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour was an hour-long (obviously) "variety" show which ran from Jan-May 1977.

Originally, the idea was to run the show every 5th week in the ABC Sunday Night time slot then held by "Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew". However, it bounced around to various days and times, sometimes making it difficult to find... (although that was NOT the reason the show failed)...

A total of eight episodes were produced. They were bad...really, really bad...

The show featured really bad 'comedy' skits and really, really bad musical numbers... like the Bradys 'singing' "The Hustle"...(la la la lala la la la la, la la la la la lala la la, la la la lala la la la la, la la la lala la la la la, la la la lala la la la la, la la la lala la la la la...)you get the idea... (The Hustle sucked as a song anyway, and the Bradys just made it worse)...

Perhaps some other posters can remember other 'musical' numbers they did...one is on the tip of my tongue, but i can't remember it...

Florence also sang Streisand's "The Way We Were" to close one episode...bad...really bad...

Barry Williams hoped to use this show to accelerate his singing career... didn't quite work out that way...He and Florence were really the only ones with real musical talent (I guess Marcia was good too, but she didn't seem to be actively pursuing a singing career).

All of the Bradys participated with the exception of Eve Plumb, who simply (and wisely) chose not to participate... she has no regrets about that decision. Geri Reischl played "Jan" (she is referred to as "fake Jan" in these forums)... she was very attractive, and had long straight blonde hair like Eve did, but obviously it wasn't the same...and I'm sure the kids felt a little strange about having another Jan around...

In this series, it was explained that Mike gave up his architect career in order to manage the variety show, and the family sold their home and moved to a house on the beach...very un-Brady like

Don't get me wrong... if you ever get a chance to see this show, it's definitely worth watching, because it's soooo bad! So definitely check it out if and when it's ever on again, or if you have a chance to rent a DVD (I wouldn't recommend buying it)...



The Question was already answered. What was the point of repeating everything I already said???

The Question was already answered. What was the point of repeating everything I already said???


I started typing my answer before your reply was posted, got interrupted, and then finished up my typing..by that time, your reply had already posted... I wasn't "repeating" anything... i was answering the post...u just completed your entry before i did, that's all...

I started typing my answer before your reply was posted, got interrupted, and then finished up my typing..by that time, your reply had already posted... I wasn't "repeating" anything... i was answering the post...u just completed your entry before i did, that's all...

OH Ok

OH Ok


we cool now? :wave:

we cool now? :wave:



Yeah we cool-lol

I never saw the The Variety show so my vote goes to the Brady's.

I want to see the variety show :)

Has anyone seen The brady 500? thats an awesome made for TV movie!!!!

I loved the Variety Hour although it was not the greatest. I find my self singing "BabyFace" and doing the Brady choreography. I also loved "Attitude Dancin" and I dance off that too. Their version of "Do the Hustle was off the chain. Hard to believe me, a twenty somethin' black man dancing to the segments of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour. LOL.

I loved the Variety Hour although it was not the greatest. I find my self singing "BabyFace" and doing the Brady choreography. I also loved "Attitude Dancin" and I dance off that too. Their version of "Do the Hustle was off the chain. Hard to believe me, a twenty somethin' black man dancing to the segments of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour. LOL.

Baby Face!!! That's IT!!!

In a previous post on this thread, I was trying to remember the name of another song the Bradys did, besides "The Hustle" (it was the long post to answer the question, what was the variety hour)...


OMG, Baby Face...that was horrrendous!!! But thanks for reminding me anyway! :wave:

And yeah, that stupid "choreography"... they just waved their hands back and forth in front of them (in synch, mind you).... aaarrrrrgggghhhh!
Eve Plumb must be sooooo glad she didn't get involved in that show!

"The Bradys" HAD to be the worst one, hands down!!! :mad:

and the 2nd worst one was the variety show, followed by that idiotic cartoon series with that cheap, "wooden" animation!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Baby Face!!! That's IT!!!

In a previous post on this thread, I was trying to remember the name of another song the Bradys did, besides "The Hustle" (it was the long post to answer the question, what was the variety hour)...


OMG, Baby Face...that was horrrendous!!! But thanks for reminding me anyway! :wave:

And yeah, that stupid "choreography"... they just waved their hands back and forth in front of them (in synch, mind you).... aaarrrrrgggghhhh!
Eve Plumb must be sooooo glad she didn't get involved in that show!


I know some stuff was corny, but yet, it was catchy. They did medleys in between the song "babyface" such as the song "I love to love you, baby", "The Sound of Philadelphia"(Soul Train Theme) "You got me where you want me". I caught on to it. Bob Reed almost missed a beat in the choreography when he was dancing to "Baby Face", LOL.

Susan Olsen knew it was corny. When show was proposed and it was said that Eve was doing other things and was not able to participate, Susan muttered, "I think we can all find something better to do than this". Florence Henderson overheard her say that and gave her a really dirty look. That had to be funny.

As far as "The Brady's" goes, I know Sherwood meant well, but he could've done much better. Don't ya think?

The Brady Bunch Variety Show

A tie between The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and The Bradys.

All of the spin-offs were bad. I think The Brady Bunch sitcom could have easily gone on for another 2 or 3 seasons. It was still going strong after 5 seasons. I don't think it was cancelled due to bad ratings, if I recall it had something to do with Robert Reed not wanting to do the shows anymore. Instead of hiring another actor or writing Reed out of the show, it was decided to just cancel the show completely. Too bad, a few more seasons would have been nice.

Without a doubt it was the variety hour...watching it was so painful, I use to watch it and quickly change the channel when someone walked in the room. It was like watching a car accident and marveling at the blood splatter!
I was in my teens..I loved the original show (the first 3 seasons anyway) and I wanted so much for the show to be good!
A very close second would be the Brady's cartoon! Does anyone notoce that they used the same sketchings from the Archies when the cartoon characters "performed"?

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour was pure pain. The cartoon was no great shakes either. Never saw The Brady Brides or The Bradys.

I rememeber reading (or hearing) somewhere that Robert Reed really liked doing the Variety Hour, since he liked to perform. I agree that was probably the worst one of the bunch, although I haven't seen much of the Brady Kids shows. I liked the Brady Brides, I remember watching it when it was first run, and was able to see it again a few years ago on cable (Lifetime I think).

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour was pure pain. The cartoon was no great shakes either. Never saw The Brady Brides or The Bradys.



The Highlight of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour was Robert Reed dancing, the lowlight was-The comedy sketches

For what it's worth, I still think the Brady Bunch Variety Hour was light years better than Pink Lady & Jeff. :eek:

the variety show, followed by "The Bradys" (or whatever that hour long show was called)

the worst brady spin-off would have been KELLY'S KIDS if ABC picked up the series.this was a cheap imatation of all in the family.alothough mrs.payne was more racist the archie bunker,

For what it's worth, I still think the Brady Bunch Variety Hour was light years better than Pink Lady & Jeff. :eek:

Oh yeah, definitely better. Pink Lady and Jeff didn't do anything for me.

For me the worst Brady spinoff was The Brady Brides

Oh yeah, definitely better. Pink Lady and Jeff didn't do anything for me.

For me the worst Brady spinoff was The Brady Brides



I have 3 eps of that crappy show-lol

I have 3 eps of that crappy show-lol
Which one? The Brady Brides or Pink Lady & Jeff?? :lol:

Which one? The Brady Brides or Pink Lady & Jeff?? :lol:


Brady Brides

I didn't like The Brady's it was too serious, they should have stuck to the original format. I loved the Brady Brides, imo it was the closest to the original series. I also didn't mind the BB Variety hour, once you made it past the fake Jan, lol.

I didn't care too much for the Variety Show. I have all the spinoffs on DVD and watch them maybe once a year. I can sit through any of the other incarnations but have never been able to get through a full episode of the Variety Show. That's interesting for me because I have fond memories of it when I was a kid. Then again, I remember having chicken pox quite fondly too 'cause I got to stay home and watch reruns of That Girl. However, I don't want to revisit that either. :)

It seems to me that every few years the Brady clan would do a reunion of some sort (and one member would always hold out...why I am not sure as that was never consistant) and it would be great to see them because we were all curious how they looked. The 'special' would get huge ratings and then they'd make the mistake of confusing nostalgia with reality and turn it into a new series that would die off in a month or two.

That is why the original series stands the test of time. While it is not gripping television, at its best it did teach some good lessons and values. At its worst it was science fiction in suburbia yet still enjoyable because we all grew up on it.

The one thing that bummed me about 'The Brady's is that Maureen didn't play Marcia. As wild as the plot device was of Marcia becoming an alcoholic, it would've been interesting to see how Maureen played it...it may have rang a little bit more true for me.

Oh well...I get to watch her lose weight later this month. I think she is still a very attractive lady.

I have 3 eps of that crappy show-lol

lol...I'd rather watch their variety show. Brady Brides was dumb.

The BB Variety Hour is true train-wreck TV.

The BB Variety Hour is true train-wreck TV.


Brady Bunch Variety Hour had the same problem as All Variety Shows rom the 70's, the Best part was the singing and dancing and the Worst Part was comedy

:trio I nervery did see The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

The Brady Brides.

I like the Brady Brides. The Variety Hour....eehhhh. The Bradys could have been interesting, but it seemed like SS just slapped scripts together. Not cool.

After watching a few episodes of The Kids when TV Land reran them as part of "Super Retro Satur-daze"--I cringed.

I still would rather own all of the other spinoffs on DVD (and that includes the 6 or so episodes of the Variety Hour I don't have) than to see The Kids again.

I was not a big fan of The Bradys (I was 13 @ the time), but I think the biggest mistake was SS wrote it. If you want to do drama, you need to get a head writer who knows the characters but also knows how to write the genre. SS was a comedy writer. It was like there was a new crisis in each ep that got solved in a hour. Marcia's a lush? An hour later, she goes on radio talking about kicking it. Doesn't work.

TB could have succeeded, but SS screwed it up.

What also hurt The Bradys was the timeslot. Had CBS scheduled it at 9pm eastern instead of at 8pm, it would have worked. The competition at 8 was Full House, the exact type of sitcom the Brady Bunch was in its heyday.

I think CBS should have stuck to its plan of just doing the occasional Brady movie like it first planned......the idea to do a series was short sighted.

What also hurt The Bradys was the timeslot. Had CBS scheduled it at 9pm eastern instead of at 8pm, it would have worked. The competition at 8 was Full House, the exact type of sitcom the Brady Bunch was in its heyday.

I think CBS should have stuck to its plan of just doing the occasional Brady movie like it first planned......the idea to do a series was short sighted.

I read an interview BW did years ago about TB. He said Brady 500 lost the 8-9 time slot, but kicked butt in the 9-10. Why CBS didn't read into that, I don't know.

Yep........cause the final rating for Brady 500 (or The Bradys 2 hour premiere) was like a 12.5.....that first hour dragged what would have been easily another Brady Christmas high rating event down.

I was not a big fan of The Bradys (I was 13 @ the time), but I think the biggest mistake was SS wrote it. ... Marcia's a lush? An hour later, she goes on radio talking about kicking it. Doesn't work.

TB could have succeeded, but SS screwed it up.

Question: What's a lush?

I was not a big fan of The Bradys (I was 13 @ the time), but I think the biggest mistake was SS wrote it. If you want to do drama, you need to get a head writer who knows the characters but also knows how to write the genre. SS was a comedy writer. It was like there was a new crisis in each ep that got solved in a hour. Marcia's a lush? An hour later, she goes on radio talking about kicking it. Doesn't work.

TB could have succeeded, but SS screwed it up.i think if robert reed were still around to read this post he would agree with you 100 percent

Question: What's a lush?
Another name for Alcoholic. BTW, does anyone know why Maureen McCormick was not in The Bradys?

Maureen, at the time, did not want to commit to another Brady series, since she was a new mom at the time. (Between Brady Xmas and The Bradys, she had Natalie--she was VERY pregnant for the Day By Day Brady spoof). She had originally agreed to do the CBS TV movies, but when CBS announced it was going to do a series instead, she backed out.

Maureen, at the time, did not want to commit to another Brady series, since she was a new mom at the time. (Between Brady Xmas and The Bradys, she had Natalie--she was VERY pregnant for the Day By Day Brady spoof). She had originally agreed to do the CBS TV movies, but when CBS announced it was going to do a series instead, she backed out.
:yeahthat Plus, according to her new book, she didn't like the scripts.

:yeahthat Plus, according to her new book, she didn't like the scripts.

Ohhhh, I so do not blame her. Probably could smell them before she turned the pages!

i think if robert reed were still around to read this post he would agree with you 100 percent

Thank you. I mean, for the series, Wally was made to be some idiot who couldn't hold a job. Peter's fiancee was a insensitive twit who put business over Peter. Marcia was some lump who had no ambition to do anything over than pout over her life and chug a lug of JB when she felt like a loser (as she was portrayed and written in TB, she was). The series could have been great. But SS got greedy and made it plot driven. Good drama and dramedy is character driven! SS was a idiot who wanted more milk out of the cow.

I just realized something kinda werid...

In the New Leave It To Beaver, I heard that they had June Cleaver run for the city council seat?

Now in 'The Bradys' Mike wins a seat on the city council.

Ohhhh, I so do not blame her. Probably could smell them before she turned the pages!
I wouldn't doubt it. :lol:

Maureen was on "Win Lose or Draw" and when Bert Convy asked her about any new Brady projects she said yea.....two new movies.....Brady 500 and Bradys On The Move. She genuinely seemed excited, but I guess, when she saw that they wanted Marcia to be a drunk, she balked.

Maureen was on "Win Lose or Draw" and when Bert Convy asked her about any new Brady projects she said yea.....two new movies.....Brady 500 and Bradys On The Move. She genuinely seemed excited, but I guess, when she saw that they wanted Marcia to be a drunk, she balked.

Obvioulsy she didn't like the idea of Marcia being drunk and I don't blame her.

'Brady's on the Move?' When was that?

I am going to have to say that "Brady's on the Move" is something that I have never heard of either. I second the motion of getting an answer to when this was!

I am going to have to say that "Brady's on the Move" is something that I have never heard of either. I second the motion of getting an answer to when this was!
I third that motion!!

You know, I was just thinking about this for some reason. Maureen's history with substance abuse was well known to the cast and crew of the Brady shows by 1990. Personally, I think it was a bit insensitive of the Schwartzes to make Marcia an alcoholic (the role still WAS intended for Maureen and it was only in the 11th hour that Leah Ayres was brought in) knowing Maureen's issues. It just seems to me it would hit a little too close to home. When Maureen wrote in her book that the script "was absolutely awful", I wonder if she meant that storyline in particular or if she meant the project as a whole.

Besides, as already mentioned, Maureen had recently given birth and wanted to stay home with her daughter. I can't say I blame her!! Thanks to YouTube, I have now seen some episodes of The Bradys (and The Brady Brides, which both Maureen and Eve were a part of) and I have to take back what I said about the Variety Hour. I think the Variety Hour was much more entertaining than the later shows!! (I know, that's not saying much. :lol:)

I was reading the title of this thread and it occurred to me than even the worst Brady spin-off is better than almost anything that 's currently on TV. Personally I've found something to enjoy about every Brady spin-off so for me there really is no worst one. And Monika you're right, it was insensitive for them to give Marcia that alcoholic storyline on the Brady's since by that time they would have been well aware of Maureen's real life substance abuse issues. So it's probably for the best that Leah Ayers played the part instead of Maureen.

Obvioulsy she didn't like the idea of Marcia being drunk and I don't blame her.

'Brady's on the Move?' When was that?
I don't blame her, either!! :eek:

Obvioulsy she didn't like the idea of Marcia being drunk and I don't blame her.

'Brady's on the Move?' When was that?
Apparently episodes #2 and #3 of the 1990 series "The Brady's" were combined to make a movie which was entitled "Brady's on the Move". I imagine this was meant to be a companion piece to "The Brady 500" which incidentally also served as the two hour premiere for "The Brady's".

And the 3rd tv movie was called Bradys: Big Kids, Big Problems.

And the 3rd tv movie was called Bradys: Big Kids, Big Problems.
I think that would've been a much better title for The Bradys!! :eek: :lol:

I am pretty sure that it was somewhere on this thread in which someone mentioned having watched episodes of the spin-off show known as "The Bradys" on "Youtube". However, I spent a good chunk of time this every evening looking for them. I could not find them anywhere! Does anyone know if they got taken down as a result of syndication rights or something? If they are, in fact, still up there, what exactly do I have to punch in to see them?

I am pretty sure that it was somewhere on this thread in which someone mentioned having watched episodes of the spin-off show known as "The Bradys" on "Youtube". However, I spent a good chunk of time this every evening looking for them. I could not find them anywhere! Does anyone know if they got taken down as a result of syndication rights or something? If they are, in fact, still up there, what exactly do I have to punch in to see them?
That was a long time ago that I saw them on YouTube - months ago. I guess they must have been taken down some time ago. :(