Where did Mike and Carol meet? Is it ever discussed on the show?

Also, isn't it strange that beyond a couple of episodes in Season 1 there is almost little mention of "step kids" and the fact that the boys and girls weren't really sisters and brothers? I grew up in a similar situation (me and two real sisters versus - 3 step brothers - one step sister) and I can tell you we didn't simply all "forget" we were not blood. Plus whether it was intentional or not there was definitely favoritism.

It was never explained how Mike and Carol met. Sherwood Schwartz actually pitched the pilot script to ABC several years before the show actually went on the air. ABC liked the script, but wanted to expand it to be a 90-minute TV-movie. Sherwood said OK - the first hour would be about Mike and Carol meeting, dating, and getting engaged, with the last 30 minutes being the same as what eventually was filmed as the pilot (the wedding). But ABC didn't want this - they wanted the wedding portion to last 90 minutes. Sherwood said no and the project died for awhile. ABC finally commissioned the pilot film until a few years later, when the movie "Yours, Mine & Ours" became successful. By then, Sherwood was allowed to do it his way.

It is definitely unrealistic how the blended family forgot that they weren't biologically related after a few years (in one episode, Carol says that Greg gets his musical talent "from my side of the family" - yeah, right). TBB has received a lot of criticism over the years because of this idealized view of the stepfamily.

It was never explained how Mike and Carol met. Sherwood Schwartz actually pitched the pilot script to ABC several years before the show actually went on the air. ...It is definitely unrealistic how the blended family forgot that they weren't biologically related after a few years (in one episode, Carol says that Greg gets his musical talent "from my side of the family" - yeah, right). TBB has received a lot of criticism over the years because of this idealized view of the stepfamily.

Yeah... I think Sherwood said that's why he wrote the theme song the way he did...so that anyone who watched it would know that this was a blended family, without having to emphasize it too much in the scripts (other than a couple of episodes in the first season)...but yeah, it's doubful that a high percentage of blended families were able to 'blend' THAT easily.

Speaking of not acknowledging the step-family aspect, here's a quote from jumpttheshark under "The Bradys" dealing with that subject...this is a comment as to why "The Bradys" jumped the shark...

"They still didn't acknowledge the stepchild/stepparent/stepsibling thing, as they did in the original series. That means Nora and Tracy are only Mike's daughters-in-law, and Wally and Philip are only Carol's sons-in-law. Cindy introduced Nora and Tracy to her boss as her sisters-in-law, when in actually, they are not her ( and Marcia and Jan's) sisters-in-law (Nora's is Peter's and Bobby's sister-in-law, and Tracy is Greg's and Peter's). And the husbands--Wally is brother-in-law to Jan and Cindy, and Phillip is brother-in-law to Cindy and Jan (sic, "Jan" should be Marcia") --not to Greg, Peter and Bobby. And Nora called her faux mother-in-law "Mom." And the kids--Mickey and Jessica (Marcia's) are Jan's and Cindy's nephew and niece--not Greg, Peter and Bobby's, and are Carol's grandkids--not Mike's. Similarly, Kevin (Greg's son) is Mike's grandson and Peter and Bobby's nephew only."

Someone sure went to a lot of trouble to figure all THAT out! They did a good job, though! :)

Maybe Mike & Carol knew eachother for a long time. Meaning they knew eachothers previous spouses, and knew the each of their kids since they were infants. Than, after Carol's first husband and Mike's first wife both died, they fell in love and got married. Got a better idea?

Maybe they met at a Planned Parenthood Meeting.:crazy: :lol:

What do you mean?

No, they never said how Mike and Carol met. Did they have Parents Without Partners meetings back then??

No one's ever really tapped into the Brady backstory. Maybe someone should do a movie or play or something called "Before They Became the Brady Bunch". The script would explore how Mike and Carol met, how they each met the other's kids, and how the kids met each other. They could also explain how Mike's wife died and the REAL story of Carol's first husband!! I think someone should get on this!

Are the Schwartzes listening?? :lol:

No, they never said how Mike and Carol met. Did they have Parents Without Partners meetings back then??

No one's ever really tapped into the Brady backstory. Maybe someone should do a movie or play or something called "Before They Became the Brady Bunch". The script would explore how Mike and Carol met, how they each met the other's kids, and how the kids met each other. They could also explain how Mike's wife died and the REAL story of Carol's first husband!! I think someone should get on this!

Are the Schwartzes listening?? :lol:
A prequel!

Good idea.

It's funny how a lot of people say that they never mention the kids being stepsiblings after the first season. But there was actually one Season 5 episode which was in fact an attempted spin off called "Kelly's Kids" where they mention it. For some reason most people forget about the refference to them being a stepfamily in that one.

It's funny how a lot of people say that they never mention the kids being stepsiblings after the first season. But there was actually one Season 5 episode which was in fact an attempted spin off called "Kelly's Kids" where they mention it. For some reason most people forget about the refference to them being a stepfamily in that one.

Actually in "Kelly's Kids", the Kellys mentioned that Mike and Carol had adopted each other's kids, so they were one family, at least legally. Also, the girls gave up their last name from birth for Mike's last name, so that would be another likely sign of adoption, though kids often take their stepfather's last name if the stepfather raises them.

Actually in "Kelly's Kids", the Kellys mentioned that Mike and Carol had adopted each other's kids, so they were one family, at least legally. Also, the girls gave up their last name from birth for Mike's last name, so that would be another likely sign of adoption, though kids often take their stepfather's last name if the stepfather raises them.
This is very true. One of my very best friends was raised by her stepfather and she (along with her sisters) took his last name until she got married. Her father left the family when she was very young and she hasn't seen him since. My friend's stepdad loved his wife's girls as if they were his own, and she called him "Dad" until he passed away last year. So I agree with everything you wrote there! :)

It's funny how a lot of people say that they never mention the kids being stepsiblings after the first season.

I think the writers did it that way because they wanted to show that blended families could work and that this family was so close that the boys and girls not being related by blood didn't matter. Carol even said in "Every Boy Does It Once" that the only steps in the house were the ones that led upstairs.

God, you guys are jaded! I can't even begin to tell you how much my own stepfather and stepmother molded me, for good or ill, into the person I am today. I met these stepparents when I was about Peter's age in the first season and, yes, it's entirely possible for kids to "inherit" likes and abilities from their stepparents and extended "stepfamilies."

It's also not uncommon for fathers in such blended families to adopt the children of their wives, which, as I seem to recall, is exactly what Mike did with Marcia, Jan and Cindy.

Ergo, the adult Brady kids' spouses are, indeed, the in laws of Mike, Carol and all the other Bradys.

Just sayin'...

Maybe they met at a church get together, along with their previous spouses.

...
It is definitely unrealistic how the blended family forgot that they weren't biologically related after a few years (in one episode, Carol says that Greg gets his musical talent "from my side of the family" - yeah, right). TBB has received a lot of criticism over the years because of this idealized view of the stepfamily.

If you want a more realistic portrayal of a blended family watch Step By Step, if you can find it.