If anyone says love they should be shot. Why was this kid cast on The Brady Bunch. I understand that when child actors age they cast younger kids to being back the "cuteness" of the show. What were they smoking when they hired this kid as the "cute" new kid? Of all the thousands of child actors they go and pick this one??

No wonder why his parents didn't bring him along on their archeological dig; they would have buried him and left him there.

Loved him

It happens all the time when a show gets old - Ricky on the Partridge Family, Seven on Married with Children, Arnold's new friend on Different Strokes, the list goes on. As much as I dislike Oliver, I can't say that he was worse than the others. It just never seems to work.

I liked an episode of the Simpsons where they brought in a new kid "Roy" to make fun of these situations.

I never unstood the reason for Oliver either.But I did not think he was as bad as some other new kids in other shows.

I never unstood the reason for Oliver either.But I did not think he was as bad as some other new kids in other shows.

Robbie Rist was a good actor and i thought he was VERY GOOD!! :wave:

I thought that Robbie was good as well and no I do not think that he ruined the show. The show was running its course and he was only in the last six episodes.

If anyone says love they should be shot. Why was this kid cast on The Brady Bunch. I understand that when child actors age they cast younger kids to being back the "cuteness" of the show. What were they smoking when they hired this kid as the "cute" new kid? Of all the thousands of child actors they go and pick this one??

No wonder why his parents didn't bring him along on their archeological dig; they would have buried him and left him there.


I have to agree with you James. Not that anyone should be shot because they like him. I simply couldn't stand him. By the time he got there I feel that this show had run its course, but he was the smoking gun. JMO ;)

It happens all the time when a show gets old - Ricky on the Partridge Family, Seven on Married with Children, Arnold's new friend on Different Strokes, the list goes on. As much as I dislike Oliver, I can't say that he was worse than the others. It just never seems to work.

I liked an episode of the Simpsons where they brought in a new kid "Roy" to make fun of these situations.

Yep. A definite sign that a show has jumped the shark.

I think that one thing that is pretty clear is the fact that the presence of Cousin Oliver was a desperate attempt to get some more time out of the show! One recent poster said that this type of situation never seems to work. I am not going to agree that it is never, by I will say that it is very seldom. In any event, of the six episodes that included Cousin Oliver, there is only one that I really liked. If you read my most recent post which is titled realization, you will know which episode I am talking about and how I think it compares to an episode of another series in which the circumstances are similar. What do other fans think of these two situations and my take on them?

Never liked Robbie Rist in anything that he was in...the kid was just a total dweeb.

Having said that, I would like to point out that, while it's easy to look back from 30+ years later and say that it was a stupid decision to bring "Oliver" aboard, the fact is, nobody was saying that at the time.

Those of us who watched the Brady Bunch during its original run certainly didn't go around saying "omg, this is the end of the show, it never works to bring in a new kid like this". We, of course, didn't have a Jump the Shark web site (in fact, Fonzie hadn't even jumped the shark yet), and "Married with Children" and "Different Strokes" weren't even a twinkle in anyone's eyes yet in 1974.

We also had no idea that "Oliver" was there to stay. We didn't have an episode guide to tell us how many episodes he was going to appear in. He was just there. He was obviously brought in to cause the kind of trouble that only a little kid can cause, in order to keep up the "slapstick" aspect of the show (in addition to making an attempt to attract a younger audience).

Even the cast had no idea that the show would be canceled, they finished up that season and fully expected to be back to work in the fall.

Even though Eve Plumb had blossomed into one of the all time TV "foxes" that last season, the fact is, the quality of the episodes had taken a considerable dive from even Season 4.

So no, I never liked Oliver, or anything else that Rist did, but as I said, nobody really thought much of it in 1974 when he made his debut. It was just another episode...albeit not a very good one.

The Brady Bunch would've been better off with Brandon Cruz playing their cousin Oliver.

Always A Brandon Cruz Fan,
Liz Crasten

I agree that Eve Plumb blossomed into a major fox. She still looks great today. :D

I thought it was good to see a different younger face on the show.

Speaking of Oliver (Rist), in the "My Sister, Benedict Arnold" episode, the character of Warren Mulaney, Greg's rival on the school basketball team, was played by an actor named "Gary Rist"... anyone know whether he might have been "Oliver's" real-life older brother?

I think I'll pick a third option about Cousin Oliver:

Indifference.

In spite of everyone blaming him for the demise of the show, I find him to be a far superior actor than the other kids, except maybe Eve Plumb. Look again at some of his scenes. He does wit, sarcasm, even depression, with hardly any effort.

He was 8 going on 28.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that the show failed in spite of him rather than because of him, but I don't think he had anything to do with the cancellation.

I think he was a symptom of the desperation in trying to keep the show going and it didn't work.

If there had been a sixth season, people wouldn't hate him so much, he might even have gotten his own square!