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Sherwood Schwartz's 1969 sitcom "The Brady Bunch" was progressive and retrogressive at the same time. On the one hand, it vaunted the virtues of remarrying and finding new families, showing that step-siblings and second spouses could produce as harmonious a domestic unit as more traditional nuclear families. On the other hand, the characters were clean-cut and virtuous to a cartoonish degree, only expressing the blandest sorts of domestic turmoil. It's easy to be harmonious when every member of the family is scrupulous and clean. The show was more about mild, silly pet peeves than about legitimately hard-hitting clashes of character. 

Of course, "hard-hitting" was not Schwartz's métier. He was a writer of high-concept, light-hearted comedies. This was, after all, the "Gilligan's Island" guy. He wasn't about to skew into Neil Labute family dramas with "The Brady Bunch." 

And "The Brady Bunch" was huge. It lasted a gangbusters 117 episodes over its five seasons,...

The Brady Bunch revival was reportedly canceled due to hate speech by one of its original stars. Aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974, the iconic sitcom follows the misadventures of a blended family, consisting of three boys and three girls, after a widower and a widow marry. Though it was never a ratings hit nor a critical success during its original run, the series gained popularity in syndication, spawning several Brady Bunch spin-offs, including The Brady Bunch Hour, The Brady Girls Get Married, The Brady Brides, and The Bradys.

Now, a Brady Bunch revival was reportedly canceled due to Cindy Brady actor Susan Olsen's hate speech. Though she recently claimed on her Walk Away Campaign podcast that CBS canceled the revival due to her political opinions, a new Variety report reveals that it was canceled because of Olsen's hate speech, including homophobic slurs, which earlier had led to her being fired from a radio job.

Cindy Brady actor Susan Olsen recently claimed on the “Walk Away Campaign” podcast (via Vanity Fair) that CBS killed a revival of “The Brady Bunch” due to her support of Donald Trump and her controversial stances on hot button issues like Covid vaccines and the LGBTQ+ community — but that’s not the whole story, insiders note. For one thing, the show was set up at CBS Studios and hadn’t even been pitched to networks or streamers yet. More importantly, sources note that it was scrapped due to hate speech by Olsen, including homophobic slurs that had previously gotten her fired from a radio gig.

The updated Brady project was considered two years ago, but it’s unclear whether even a script had been written. The project never got past those early stages when Olsen’s behavior stopped it from moving forward. The series would have picked up with the Brady Bunch children as adults.

Anyone who grew up in the 1970s can tell you the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls, and a man named Brady, who was busy with three boys of his own. Of course, one day, the lady met this fellow, and the rest is TV history. When Carol Martin (Florence Henderson) married Mike Brady (Robert Reed), all six of their children came together, along with their trusty maid Alice (Ann B. Davis), to become the sitcom family known as "The Brady Bunch."

"The Brady Bunch" is one of the most beloved and memorable sitcoms of all time. The adolescent antics of Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher McKnight), Bobby (Mike Lookinland), Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen) made for plenty of comedy and drama as the bunch dealt with the trials and tribulations of a blended family, sibling rivalries, growing up,...

It would be very hard to pick out a single cultural artifact that somehow manages to embody all of Seventies pop culture, but the Brady Bunch’s short-lived variety show would certainly be a strong contender. For those who weren’t watching ABC between November 1976 and May 1977, The Brady Bunch Hour featured the cast of the original show staging elaborate song-and-dance routines mixed in with comedy segments and even domestic scenes of the family in a new home. In a bizarre twist, they did the whole thing in character as...

Florence Henderson was known for her iconic role as everyone’s favorite TV mom, Carol Brady, on The Brady Bunch — but the star, who died Thursday at the age of 82, didn’t initially want to audition for the part.

Prior to scoring the leading role that would propel her to international stardom on the 1969 sitcom, Henderson had a successful career on the Broadway stage — appearing in Wish You Were Here (1952), Fanny (1954), The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963) and South Pacific (1967).

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts graduate was living in New York City when the audition for The Brady Bunch...

Florence Henderson has died at age 82. The beloved actress, who was best known for her role as matriarch Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch, passed away from heart failure on Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in La. Her manager Kayla Pressman confirmed the sad news in a statement to AP, saying that "family and friends had surrounded [Florence's] hospital bedside" and that she is survived by her children Barbara, Joseph, Robert, and Lizzie, their respective spouses, and five grandchildren. In addition to starring in every episode of The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974, Florence also had guest roles in a handful of TV and movies and made history as the first woman to host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1962. After the Brady Bunch ended their five-year run, Florence revived her role as Carol Brady in multiple spinoffs and specials: The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Girls Get Married, The Brady Brides,...

Brady Bunch star Florence Henderson died on Thursday, Et confirms. She was 82.

According to Henderson's rep, the actress died from heart failure, surrounded by her four children.

Flashback: 'The Brady Bunch Movie' Turns 20! On Set With the Grooviest Cast of '94

Henderson was best known and beloved by many for her role as Carol Brady, matriarch of the Brady Bunch. The show premiered in 1969, and Henderson appeared on every episode of the series' five seasons, as well as in spinoffs The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Girls Get Married, The Brady Brides, The Bradys and The Brady Bunch Movie.

In 2010, she competed on Dancing With the Stars, eliminated fifth with partner Corky Ballas. Henderson also hosted her own talk show, The Florence Henderson Show, and cooking show, Who's Cooking with Florence Henderson, in recent years.

Maureen McCormick, who played Henderson's TV daughter, Marcia, was convinced by Henderson to compete on this season of [link...

Florence Henderson, best known for her iconic role as matriarch Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch, has died. She was 82.

The actress died surrounded by family and friends, her manager, Kayla Pressman, said in a statement to the AP late Thursday. The cause of death was heart failure.

In addition to The Brady Bunch, which ran from 1969 to 1974, Henderson appeared in offshoots The Brady Bunch Hour (1977), The Brady Brides (1981), The Bradys (1990) and the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas (1988). She also made a cameo in 1995’s The Brady Bunch Movie as the mother of Shelley Long’s Carol.

Henderson gained...

Florence Henderson, widely known for her role as The Brady Bunch matriarch Carol Brady, has died. She was 82.

Henderson died surrounded by friends and family, the actress’ manager Kayla Pressman said in a statement to the Associated Press on Thursday.

Born in Dale, Indiana to farmer Joseph Henderson and his wife Elizabeth, Henderson was the youngest of 10 children.

After graduating from Indiana’s St. Frances School in 1951, Henderson went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. In January 1956, she married Ira Bernstein, whom she shared four children with —Barbara, Joseph, Bob and Elizabeth...

The creator of Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch

In the 1960s, no one had his finger closer to the pulse of the great American television-watching public than Sherwood Schwartz, who has died aged 94. Schwartz created both Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, two shows that defied critical opprobrium to become hits, and through endless sequels and repeats in syndication have become icons of their era.

Looking back, it is possible to find some cultural weight in each. Gilligan, which, as its theme song, co-written by Schwartz, explained, was the tale of seven people on a "three-hour cruise" who wind up cast away on a lost island, was sold to the CBS network as "a microcosm, but a funny microcosm", and it made its debut in 1964.

As played by Bob Denver, the clumsy first mate Gilligan might be seen, when the show debuted in 1964, as a prototype hippie, interacting with...