Description: The Brady Bunch was first seen in September 1969, Friday nights on ABC. The series was created by Sherwood Schwartz the same person who had created Gilligan's Island, 5 years earlier. In this series, Michael Paul Brady marries Carol Ann Tyler Martin and they combine their families. Mike had three sons from a previous marriage and Carol had three daughters also from a previous marriage. Mike's previous wife had died and the fate of Carol's previous husband was never explained. However, creator Sherwood Schwartz, originally intended Carol to have been divorced, but ABC balked at that idea. So thus we have two parents (Mike and Carol),six kids (Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby & Cindy), one housekeeper (Alice), and the family dog (Tiger), all living under one roof. Thus setting the scene for one of the most popular family sitcoms of all-time. The first season revolved mainly around the family adjusting to living together. The following seasons then revolved mainly around the six kids growing up and going through puberty and childhood adolescents. Other notable characters included, Sam Franklin, who was Alice's steady boyfriend, appeared several times throughout the 5-year run. In the final season, the character of Oliver, Carol's nephew was introduced mainly to add some of the cuteness back into the show since Cindy and Bobby had outgrown that stage. The series ended it's run in 1974, but the Brady family was far from gone. Two years prior, a animated cartoon, The Brady Kids had been created and aired Saturday mornings. In 1977, a variety show, The Brady Bunch Hour was created but lasted after only a handful of episodes. In 1981, NBC decided to break apart the reunion movie, The Brady Girls Get Married into a weekly series called, The Brady Brides. That too failed. Then the Brady Bunch was revived yet again in 1988, with the CBS TV-movie, A Very Brady Christmas. The movie was the highest rated TV movie of the year and forever cemented The Brady Bunch's immortality in pop culture. To date, the last spin-off aired in 1990 as a weekly hour-long drama called, The Bradys. In 1989, most of the cast returned to their roles on an episode of the short lived, series, Day by Day. The episode was called A Very Brady Episode. Interesting enough, Christopher Daniel Barnes starred in the series and would later portray Greg in the 1995 feature film, The Brady Bunch Movie and a year later in A Very Brady Sequel. Spin-offs: The Brady Kids, The Brady Bunch Hour, The Brady Brides and The Bradys ABC Broadcast History September 1969-September 1970----Fridays----8:00 p.m. September 1970-September 1971----Fridays----7:30 p.m. September 1971-August 1974----Fridays----8:00 p.m. Nielsen Ratings: (Top 30 or Better) Never hit the top 30 First Telecast: September 26, 1969 Last Telecast: August 31, 1974 Episodes: 117 Color Episodes Theme Song: "The Brady Bunch" Written by: Frank DeVol and Sherwood Schwartz Sung by: The Peppermint Trolley Company (Season 1) and The Brady Kids (Seasons 2-5) Here's a story of a lovely lady, Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, The youngest one in curls. It's a story, of a man named Brady, Who was busy with three boys of his own. They were four men, living all together, Yet they were all alone. 'Till the one day when the lady met this fellow, And they knew they we're much more than a hunch. That this group must somehow form a family. That's the way (we)* all became the Brady Bunch. The Brady Bunch, The Brady Bunch. That's the way (we)* became the Brady Bunch. *they instead of we during Season 1 only.