Four of the original cast members fromThe Brady Bunch have addressed a question about the show’s plot that has gone unanswered for decades.
The revelation was made on The Real Brady Bros podcast, which follows Christopher Knight, 67, and Barry Williams, 70, who played middle son Peter and oldest son Greg, respectively, as they rewatch the original series.
Appearing on the April 22 episode were Susan Olsen, who played youngest daughter Cindy, and Mike Lookinland, who played youngest son Bobby. The four on-screen siblings quickly got into one of the show’s unspoken plot lines: Carol Brady’s first husband.
The group discussed the show’s pilot episode, entitled “The Honeymoon,” which showed the dynamics of bringing the two families together. In the episode, which originally aired September 26, 1969, Carol Martin (played by the late Florence Henderson) wed Mike Brady (played by the late Robert Reed). Viewers learned that the boys’ mother, Mike Brady’s previous wife, had died.
But the show never discussed what happened to Carol’s ex-husband.
“There was a whole discrepancy in the basis of the show, in the concept of the show that the network fought [the series’ creator] Sherwood Schwartz on, and that is the premise was a widower with three sons and a divorcee with three daughters,” Williams divulged. “And the network felt that a divorcee created too many problems for the series.”
Among those problems were the custody arrangement between Carol and her ex-husband and the explanation for their divorce.
“We’re playing to a very conservative country,” Williams noted. “So they wanted Carol to be a widow.”
But she wasn’t exactly a widow.
“Sherwood never changed it, but they agreed to disagree, and it was left unhandled, which is why you never see in our pilot episode Carol’s ex-husband,” Williams continued.
The ambiguity of Carol’s situation did create some confusion. Carol’s parents are known as the Tylers, but her married name was Martin. And though there was never an adoption episode of The Brady Bunch, Carol and her three girls all took the Brady name after her wedding to Mike.
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Knight pointed out that the series doesn’t even reference Mr. Martin.
Still, the original Brady Bunch series ran for five seasons, with the final episode airing on March 8, 1974. Several spin-offs included the 1972 animated series, The Brady Kids, and the 1976 variety show The Brady Bunch Hour. There was also the 1981 sitcom The Brady Brides and the 1990 sequel and continuation of the original series, The Bradys. Several made-for-TV movies and specials also followed.
Then there were two films; the first was The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995, which was followed up in 1996 with A Very Brady Sequel.
Interestingly, the plot for the 1996 film — which included original creator Schwartz as a producer — involved Carol’s “long-lost husband,” Roy Martin.
