Did Mike Brady Earn Enough To Afford His Lifestyle? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 07-20-2019, 03:39 AM

How realistic would it be to expect him to have a housekeeper, two cars, six kids? From what I've gathered, architects (at least back in the late '60s-early '70s made about $50,000 to $110,000 or so). $13,600 a year (then again, we're talking in 1969 dollars so that could be a king's ransom so to speak) really isn't a great salary in LA even if you're single. You can live comfortably but you won't be in the lap of luxury or anything. So it would be much less adequate if you had a stay at home wife and six kids to support.

Architecture is also apparently, a passion career. People who exceed in it tend to live and breathe it without expecting to earn the salary of other educated professionals, like doctors or lawyers.

Coffeecup · 07-20-2019, 10:10 AM

I had similar thoughts on how Ann Marie on That Girl could live on what she made. She never had a regular job, just part time jobs here and there. Maybe Don or her parents helped her out.With Laverne and Shirley they had a cellar type apartment and there were 2 girls there.

stevea · 07-20-2019, 10:43 AM

Maybe a rich aunt left Carol some money???? I never really thought about that with the Bradys, or Ann Marie. With Ann, now that I think about it, Lou owned a restaurant, so he probably helped out a lot. And if he ever got wind that Don did anything, he'd go thru the roof.

smittykins · 01-19-2021, 02:04 PM

Maybe Mike and Carol had insurance money from their late spouses. And wouldn’t the kids be receiving Social Security survivor’s benefits?

GentlemanJim · 01-19-2021, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

$13,600 a year (then again, we're talking in 1969 dollars so that could be a king's ransom so to speak) really isn't a great salary in LA even if you're single. You can live comfortably but you won't be in the lap of luxury or anything. So it would be much less adequate if you had a stay at home wife and six kids to support.
.

Perhaps he was depending upon future royalties from syndication? ...lol

I agree with you though, I've often wondered how those single, unemployed women on TAGS managed to live in such nice houses, while Gomer, who had a job, was forced to live in that back of a gas station.

CosmicCharlie · 01-20-2021, 12:32 AM

Parents / Grand Parents inheritance money - ?

even today many people I know can afford a home either by inheriting a house / that they sold to afford a newer one - or just plain CASH came their way

Gomer's family gave him ZIP but the other people on the show probably had a family home hand me down +-

with no mortgage take home pay goes a LONG Way

but I don't think the show / house value thing makes much sense overall, especially being in Cali ...

it's tv

fun fact: 100 -200 years ago in Europe the 1st born male traditionally got the entire family inheritance, and that's why MANY migrated to the USA for a better chance for financial success. Arranged marriages on paper were common for financial gain by both families (even Laverne's dad wanted it), and both spouses having a second love life (open marriage) was common and not scorned ... kinda sorta lol

PracTz · 01-26-2021, 12:40 AM

For all we were told, the First Mrs. Mike Brady may have been the heiress to a large fortune- and didn't update her will after she married him so he was the sole heir and used the monies for both Casas Brady!

Cbalducc · 01-26-2021, 12:07 PM

Very few TV characters make enough money to afford their lifestyle.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...ndsRentControl

Coffeecup · 03-09-2021, 12:20 PM

[QUOTE
I agree with you though, I've often wondered how those single, unemployed women on TAGS managed to live in such nice houses, while Gomer, who had a job, was forced to live in that back of a gas station.[/QUOTE]

Gomer it seems had it about right. He probably had a minimum wage job and kind Wally let him stay in the building. Not a place I want to stay, oily smells, but he stayed where he could afford and maybe gave Wally a small fee for the place. I wonder how his Marine pay was a few years later.

RetroGuy2000 · 03-09-2021, 01:16 PM

Yes, I think an architect could have supported six kids, a wife, and a housekeeper. In those days, families were larger, and if an architect couldn't support a family of six, there's no way a milkman could have supported a family of four.

There are many other sitcom families, however, whose finances must have been a mess. The Conners, for example, had their electricity turned off... but they could afford to go to Disney World?

Jim Clark · 03-11-2021, 01:46 AM

FWIW Leonard Schwartz in his book “Brady, Brady, Brady” says maid service was cheap back then. When he was a writer for Red Skelton in the 1950s with four kids, they could afford to hire a woman to come in and help with the laundry. Then again, no Hollywood producer will let facts interfere with telling a story.

hifijohn · 05-28-2021, 03:05 AM

Don't forget poor barney, he got a deputies salary but lived like a poor college kid.

hifijohn · 05-28-2021, 03:07 AM

Or Kramer on Seinfeld could afford a manhattan apartment nad didnt even have a job.

rusty spike · 05-28-2021, 01:29 PM

Mike moonlighted as a TV reporter.

Here he is in action from Barnaby Jones "Death Beat."

Tankeryanker · 05-28-2021, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Mike moonlighted as a TV reporter.

Here he is in action from Barnaby Jones "Death Beat."

He also became a doctor and worked on the show Nurse with mama Walton.

07-20-2019, 03:39 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,028	Did Mike Brady Earn Enough To Afford His Lifestyle? How realistic would it be to expect him to have a housekeeper, two cars, six kids? From what I've gathered, architects (at least back in the late '60s-early '70s made about $50,000 to $110,000 or so). $13,600 a year (then again, we're talking in 1969 dollars so that could be a king's ransom so to speak) really isn't a great salary in LA even if you're single. You can live comfortably but you won't be in the lap of luxury or anything. So it would be much less adequate if you had a stay at home wife and six kids to support. Architecture is also apparently, a passion career. People who exceed in it tend to live and breathe it without expecting to earn the salary of other educated professionals, like doctors or lawyers.

03-09-2021, 01:16 PM	#10
RetroGuy2000 Julie,Julie Anne,&Felice 4Ever Forum Star Join Date: Dec 27, 2013 Posts: 16,914	Yes, I think an architect could have supported six kids, a wife, and a housekeeper. In those days, families were larger, and if an architect couldn't support a family of six, there's no way a milkman could have supported a family of four. There are many other sitcom families, however, whose finances must have been a mess. The Conners, for example, had their electricity turned off... but they could afford to go to Disney World?
	__________________ The Facts of Life's "Lost Girls" Tribute to Julie Piekarski, Eastland Girl Join "The Group", Sitcoms Online's Facts of Life group!

05-28-2021, 01:29 PM	#14
rusty spike Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 08, 2015 Location: Southwest Posts: 1,124	Mike moonlighted as a TV reporter. Here he is in action from Barnaby Jones "Death Beat." Attached Images

07-20-2019, 10:10 AM	#2
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,181	I had similar thoughts on how Ann Marie on That Girl could live on what she made. She never had a regular job, just part time jobs here and there. Maybe Don or her parents helped her out.With Laverne and Shirley they had a cellar type apartment and there were 2 girls there.

07-20-2019, 10:43 AM	#3
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,390	Maybe a rich aunt left Carol some money???? I never really thought about that with the Bradys, or Ann Marie. With Ann, now that I think about it, Lou owned a restaurant, so he probably helped out a lot. And if he ever got wind that Don did anything, he'd go thru the roof.

01-19-2021, 02:04 PM	#4
smittykins Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 15, 2017 Location: Seneca Falls, NY Posts: 77	Maybe Mike and Carol had insurance money from their late spouses. And wouldn’t the kids be receiving Social Security survivor’s benefits?

01-20-2021, 12:32 AM	#6
CosmicCharlie Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 14, 2019 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 2,421	Parents / Grand Parents inheritance money - ? even today many people I know can afford a home either by inheriting a house / that they sold to afford a newer one - or just plain CASH came their way Gomer's family gave him ZIP but the other people on the show probably had a family home hand me down +- with no mortgage take home pay goes a LONG Way but I don't think the show / house value thing makes much sense overall, especially being in Cali ... it's tv fun fact: 100 -200 years ago in Europe the 1st born male traditionally got the entire family inheritance, and that's why MANY migrated to the USA for a better chance for financial success. Arranged marriages on paper were common for financial gain by both families (even Laverne's dad wanted it), and both spouses having a second love life (open marriage) was common and not scorned ... kinda sorta lol

01-26-2021, 12:40 AM	#7
PracTz Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2002 Location: United States of America [Happily Living in the 20th Century] Posts: 2,711	For all we were told, the First Mrs. Mike Brady may have been the heiress to a large fortune- and didn't update her will after she married him so he was the sole heir and used the monies for both Casas Brady!

01-26-2021, 12:07 PM	#8
Cbalducc Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 09, 2020 Location: Mississippi Posts: 139	Very few TV characters make enough money to afford their lifestyle. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...ndsRentControl

03-09-2021, 12:20 PM	#9
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,181	[QUOTE I agree with you though, I've often wondered how those single, unemployed women on TAGS managed to live in such nice houses, while Gomer, who had a job, was forced to live in that back of a gas station.[/QUOTE] Gomer it seems had it about right. He probably had a minimum wage job and kind Wally let him stay in the building. Not a place I want to stay, oily smells, but he stayed where he could afford and maybe gave Wally a small fee for the place. I wonder how his Marine pay was a few years later.

03-11-2021, 01:46 AM	#11
Jim Clark Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 11, 2021 Location: New York Posts: 9	FWIW Leonard Schwartz in his book “Brady, Brady, Brady” says maid service was cheap back then. When he was a writer for Red Skelton in the 1950s with four kids, they could afford to hire a woman to come in and help with the laundry. Then again, no Hollywood producer will let facts interfere with telling a story.

05-28-2021, 03:05 AM	#12
hifijohn Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 07, 2013 Posts: 209	Don't forget poor barney, he got a deputies salary but lived like a poor college kid.

05-28-2021, 03:07 AM	#13
hifijohn Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 07, 2013 Posts: 209	Or Kramer on Seinfeld could afford a manhattan apartment nad didnt even have a job.