The Frequently Asked Questions list for alt.tv.brady-bunch The Brady Bunch FAQ list version 2.2 Last Modified 2/24/95 ------------------------ Major changes from previous versions: 1. I have renumbered the questions such that they are grouped by category. This makes it easier to read, and allows for infinite expansion and a more modular breakup of the list. 2. I have eliminated the episode guide, as I have seen a much more detailed list circulating. This move also reduces bandwidth and scrolling time. 3. I have attributed more information to sources. 4. I am trying to be less and less "cute" with the answers TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Background of the Bunch [1.1] What is The Brady Bunch? [1.2] How many spin-offs were there to the original BB? [1.X] Were there any "Lost Episodes" of BB? [1.3] What books are there about the Brady Bunch? [1.4] What is the "Brady Bunch Movie"? ------------------------------------------------------------ 2. The actors and actresses [2.1] Who was in the original BB cast? [2.2] Why wasn't Susan Olsen in "A Very Brady Xmas?" [2.3] Did the actress that played Marcia/Jan/Cindy later go on to perform in adult (X-rated) movies? [2.4] Did Robert Reed really die from AIDS? [2.5] Why did the four Brady men all have straight hair at the begining of the series, but curly hair at the end? [2.6] What other TV series / movies / stage performances have the Brady cast members appeared in? [2.7] Did Barry Williams really date his mother once? ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. The characters [3.1] Who are all the Brady characters? [3.2] Was Carol Brady originally a single mother? If not, what was the fate of her first marriage in which Marcia, Jan and Cindy came about? [3.3] Were Mike and Carol Brady the first TV couple to sleep in the same bed? [3.4] What became of Alice after the kids grew up? ------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Production [4.1] Was BB filmed in a real house? [4.2] If the Brady house is just a set, what was that house we saw in the establishing shots every day? [4.3] Where is this house located? [4.4] Where was that big amusement park they all went to? (where Jan almost lost Mike's blueprints) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Questions concerning the show's premises and logistics [5.2] In what city was The Brady Bunch set? [5.1] What technical/logistical errors were there in the series? [5.2] What errors/inconsistencies are there regarding the architecture and layout of the Brady house? [5.3] Why was there only one bathroom for six kids? [5.4] What restroom facilities were there for Alice? [5.5] Why wasn't there a toilet in the kids' bathroom? [5.6] Why did Mike say "The attic? That'd be great if Greg were 2 1/2 feet tall"? ------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Brady Miscellany [6.1] What is the connection between BB and Gilligan's Island? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1. BACKGROUND OF THE BUNCH [1.1] What is The Brady Bunch? The Brady Bunch was a Television series that ran on prime-time TV from 1969 to 1974. Its premise, delineated in its opening theme sone, was a single man with three boys who married a single woman with three girls, creating a blended family. The parents and the six kids live together with a housekeeper named Alice to sort of "referee" among them. The series dealt with a host of domestic and social issues. The overall feeling presented was one of happiness, laughter, and most importantly "Ozzie and Harriet"-type wholesome family values. (Note to readers: accepting entries for a better description here) ----------------------------- [1.2] How many spin-offs were there and what were they called? - Original Series: The Brady Bunch. 1969-1974. Five seasons: 116 episodes + the pilot. - The Brady Bunch Hour. 1977. A Donny-and-Marie-type variety show. Lasted 6 episodes. - The Brady Girls Get Married. 1981. Three part special. Double wedding for Marcia and Jan. - The Brady Brides. 1981. Series about Marcia and Jan and their new husbands. Lasted 6 episodes. - A Very Brady Christmas. 1988. Christmas special. Very high ratings. - The Bradys. 1989-90. Series about the grown Brady kids, and _their_ spouses and kids. Bobby was in a wheelchair from a racing accident, and Marcia became alcoholic. Lasted 6 episodes. (I think episodes are ordered in lots of 6.) - The Brady Kids. A Saturday morning cartoon about the kids only. Included the actual voices of their real-life counterparts. - The Brady Bunch Movie. See question 1.4 Incidentally, the "Kelly's Kids" episode, where a neighbor adopts 3 kids, (one Caucasian, one African-American and one Asian-American) was actually a pilot for a proposed spin-off series. The concept was resurrected in 1986 with "Together We Stand". ----------------------------- [1.3] Were there any "Lost Episodes" of The Brady Bunch? No. "Lost episodes," for the uninitiated, are those which were produced but never aired, or which for various technical or legal reasons didn't get sold into syndication with the rest of the series. "The Brady Bunch" was cancelled in March 1974, several weeks after production for the last season was finished and well before actual production of the new season had begun. This is called "hiatus" in the business. It is unlikely that scripting had even been done, since producers are unlikely to spend money on material which had not been ordered. This is also the reason why there was no "farewell" episode of the Bunch. Generally, only shows which leave voluntarily and are not cancelled do farewell shows. The modern farewell show tradition began with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in 1977. This was three years post-Brady. Part of the speculation for this stems from the last few pages of "The Brady Bunch Book." which includes a list of "lost episodes." But these "episodes" (in which Jan became a Moonie and Mike & Carol became swingers, for example) are obvious parodies of the Bunch. (Thanks to Tony L. Hill for this information ----------------------------- [1.4] What books are there about the Brady Bunch? Here are four: - "The Brady Bunch Book," by Andrew J. Edelstein and Frank Lovece. Foreword by Florence Henderson. (268 pages, Warner Books, 1990) ISBN: 0-446-39137-9 The BB Book has a strong emphasis on real-life personalities. It has many trivia tidbits about the show as well as an episode guide. - "Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg," by Barry Williams with Chris Kreski. Foreword by Robert Reed. (286 pages, HarperPerennial, 1992) ISBN: 0-06-096588-6 Barry Williams, you may recall, was the actor that played Greg Brady. This book is sort of a memoir, describing Barry's experience with The Brady Bunch from many different angles. Williams also includes an episode guide peppered with lots of things he remembered from the productions. - "Bradymania!" by Elizabeth Moran. (240 pages, Bob Adams Inc., 1992) ISBN: 1-55850-154-1 A new edition of this book, with information about the movie, is due out in the spring of 1995. - "Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook," by Ann B. Davis with Ron Newcomer and Diane Smolen. Foreword by Sherwood Schwartz. (258 pages, Rutledge Hill Press, 1994). ISBN: 1-55853-307-9 This book contains recipes and trivia about the show. ----------------------------- [1.5] What is "The Brady Bunch Movie"? "The Brady Bunch Movie" is a feature film based on the original ABC series, with new actors in the familiar roles. Directed by Betty Thomas, the Paramount production started shooting on location in California's San Fernando Valley in July, 1994. Here is the main cast: Mike..................Gary Cole Carol.................Shelley Long Greg..................Christopher Barnes Peter.................Paul Suttera Bobby.................Jessie Lee Soffer Marcia................Christine Taylor Jan...................Jennifer Elise Cox Cindy ................Olivia Hack Alice.................Henriette Mantel Mr. Ditmeyer..........Michael McKean Mrs. Ditmeyer.........Jean Smart Set in the present day, in the BB Movie the Bradys act, dress and talk as if they were still living in the 1970s. Much of the film's humor involves the family's unwillingness to conform with modern culture, although the main plot is Larry Ditmeyer's attempt to force the Bradys from their home so that a shopping center can be built on the site. The script also draws many of its subplots and dialogue from episodes of the original series. The movie set for the Bradys' house was meticulously re-created from the original blueprints and a facade was built to resemble the familiar exterior, since the original house had been slightly modified. The film also features cameos by several original "Brady" cast members, including Barry Williams, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen and Ann B. Davis. Also appearing are Davy Jones and RuPaul. The movie was released on February 17, 1995. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. THE ACTORS AND THE ACTRESSES [2.1] Who was in the original BB cast? Character Actor Actor's real name --------- ----- ----------------- Mike..................Robert Reed..............John Robert Rietz Carol.................Florence Henderson Greg..................Barry Williams...........Barry William Blenkhorn Peter.................Christopher Knight Bobby.................Mike Lookinland Marcia................Maureen McCormick Jan...................Eve Plumb Cindy.................Susan Olsen Alice.................Ann B. Davis Oliver................Robbie Rist Sam (the butcher).....Allan Melvin (non-regular; appeared in only 8 episodes) ----------------------------- [2.2] Why didn't Susan Olsen play Cindy in "A Very Brady Christmas"? Rumors, rumors, she was _not_ dead. She was actually away on her honeymoon at the time. Jennifer Runyon stood in for her. But this was not the first time a Brady had a stand-in. In "The BB Hour", Geri Reischl played Jan in lieu of Eve Plumb. And in "The Bradys", Leah Ayres played Marcia in place of Maureen McCormick. The only reunion show in which everyone played their original role was "The Brady Girls Get Married". ----------------------------- [2.3] Did the actress that played Marcia/Jan/Cindy go on to perform in adult (X-rated) movies? The answer to this one is a plain and simple "No!". This does not mean that there wasn't a widespread urban legend to the contrary, though. Here are some possible reasons for the popularity of this "porn-star" rumor: 1) Because the Brady girls were "squeaky-clean" on the series, it amuses us to think that one of them could be making adult movies. 2) Lots of boys and men were sexually attracted to the Brady girls, and this rumor provided a sort of vicarious fantasy fulfillment. (Several recent postings on alt.tv.brady-bunch would seem to bear this out) 3) Many other child actors and actresses got into trouble as they grew up. 4) Some of the Brady girls did in fact play the part of promiscuous females on subsequent made-for-TV movies and/or as guest stars on TV series. 5) Some adult strip-clubs like to name their dancers "Marilyn Monroe" or after some other female sex-symbol (to give class and/or wangle higher tips from gullible patrons who believe them). Perhaps one day some club announced "...and here's Marcia Brady!!" and people caught on. 6) A certain nude GIF image was seen circulating around the Net. There are rumors that this picture is of Marcia Brady taken during the filming of the latter part of the original series. The model in the picture, however, actually only bears a very faint resemblance to Marcia -- mostly by the hairstyle, since her eyes are closed and her head is tilted back -- so there is no evidence that it is actually a shot of Maureen McCormick. (One netter speculates that the picture was actually Marcia's face carefully spliced onto another body -- not a far-fetched possibility with today's computers.) (see also alt.folklore.urban for further discussions of urban legends) ----------------------------- [2.4] Did Robert Reed really die of AIDS? No. Reed died at 10 p.m. on May 12, 1992, at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California. He was 59. According to his death certificate, the cause was colon lymphoma (colon cancer), which he had been suffering from for six months. The death certificate also notes that Reed was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, although the document makes clear that the immediate cause of death was the lymphoma. No autopsy was performed and Reed was not embalmed. He was cremated under the direction of Cabot & Sons Mortuary in Pasadena and his ashes were returned to his family. (Thanks to David Brady for this information) ----------------------------- [2.5] Why did all four Brady men have black straight hair at the beginning of the series, but have curly hair at the end? Did they get perms? I'll begin this answer with an anonymous post: > Just saw the Hawaii episode (well part 1 of 3) and I > noticed something I hadn't noticed before.... > In the begining, when Mike brings home the box of airline > tickets and anounces the trip to Hawaii, his hair is straight > as an arrow. Next scene, getting off the plane..... > Put your hands togrther and give a warm welcome to > Mike "My hair is gigantic" Brady. Did he get a perm > on the plane? Because I have never seen such service > on domestic flights!!! > >-Johnny Bravo The official story is that Robert Reed never had a perm, just let his hair go to its naturally curly state when he realized that there was no way to keep it straight in the Hawaiian humidity. Then Barry Williams and Christopher Knight said "Us, too!" thus the groovy Brady-men 'fro." My feeling has always been that they tried to get the men to look nice and neat in the beginning, probably because a) straight hair was the style at the time, and/or b) to contrast with the shaggy, long-haired hippies of the late 1960's. But as the boys grew older, their hair simply got stubborn and refused to hold still under that black liquid which kept it flat and straight. (Barry Williams discusses this phenonmenon in more detail in his book) Speaking of hair, Carol's "Bubble-do" in the first several episodes was really a wig. The flip-do came later. ----------------------------- [2.6] What other TV series / movies / stage performances have the Brady cast members appeared in? Far too many to list here, although subsequent appearances were largely limited to made-for-TV movies and guest shots on the likes of Love Boat and Fantasy Island. "The Brady Bunch Book" has a nearly comprehensive filmography for each Brady cast member. Some BB cast members appeared in commercials. Here is a partial list: Florence Henderson ........... Wesson Oil, Tang Maureen McCormick ............ Living Barbie, Starburst Fruit Chews Christopher Knight ........... Kellogg's Frosted Rice Ann B. Davis ................. Miracle White laundry spray ----------------------------- [2.7] Did Barry Williams really date his mother once? I should certainly *hope* not!!! :^) Now, if you're asking if Barry Williams dated the woman who _played_the_part_ of his mother on TV, that's a different story. Williams has an entire chapter in his book "Growing up Brady" describing his one-time date with Florence Henderson. He also describes his other romantic interludes involving the members of the cast -- including one between himself and Maureen McCormick (his TV sister, Marcia). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. THE CHARACTERS [3.1] Who were all the characters? < E-mail me a description of your favorite Brady character (TV character, not real-life actor or actress). The best description for each will be placed here and credited for posterity. You will also win a dream date with your favorite Brady -- uhhhhh, hold your horses a minute, let's not overdo it. :) Entries will be judged by accuracy, completeness, and tastefulness> ----------------------------- [3.2] Was Carol Brady originally a single mother? If not, what was the fate of her first marriage in which Marcia, Jan, and Cindy came about? Although we did learn in "the Honeymoon" that Mike's first wife had died, we never found out about Carol's first husband. However, Sherwood Schwartz, the producer, has stated several times that Carol was divorced. But until Mary Tyler Moore came 2 years later, divorce was too controversial to mention on TV. This leads to other questions, though. According to someone whose name I accidentally deleted: "If Carol was divorced, what about the girls' father? He would have had visitation. And why didn't the girls ever talk about their father? Did he move to the moon, or what? Also, why didn't the boys ever talk about their biological mother?" The answer is simply that if these things did happen, they occurred on a day when the show was not aired. ----------------------------- [3.3] Were Mike and Carol the first TV couple to share a bed? Contrary to popular belief (and at least one trivia book), they were not the first. Although many TV parents slept in twin beds in those days (ie: June and Ward Cleaver, and even Fred and Wilma Flintstone!), Mr. and Mrs. Brady were beat to the double bed by a number of other TV couples. They included: Herman and Lilly ...... "The Muensters" The Nelsons ........... "Ozzie and Harriet" (Thanks to Sandra L. Griffin" for identfying Ozzie and Harriet as the first TV couple with a true means for having children :) ) Speculation on the net has included the "Green Acres" couple as well, but this has not been confirmed. ----------------------------- [3.4] What became of Alice after the kids grew up? According to the spin-off series, Alice Nelson eventually married the butcher, Sam Franklin. (Yes, they had last names. We heard Alice's surname on TV when she won the sweepstakes, for example.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. PRODUCTION [4.1] Was BB filmed in a real house? No. The home you see on TV was just a set constructed inside Stage 5 on Paramount Studios' Hollywood lot. But the "first floor," from the backyard to the front door and including the staircase, were all connected. The children's bedrooms and hall, Alice's room, Mike and Carol's bedroom and the seldom-seen laundry room were independent sets. Pssst: Notice that you never see the foreground of the bedrooms or the living room (except maybe in close-ups). Rarely see ceilings, either. And just try someday to draw a blueprint of the place. The kids' bedrooms are over nothing! ----------------------------- [4.2] If the Brady House is just a set, what was that house we saw in the establishing shots every day? That was a real house, which was chosen solely by its appearance and surroundings to represent the Brady's no-place-like-home ambience. It is in California's San Fernando Valley (near Los Angeles). According to a recent L.A. newspaper article, the house is still there -- but is less recognizable because of 25 years of plant growth and a fence installed around the front yard to discourage sight-seers. There is some disagreement as to whether the house is located in Studio City or North Hollywood. Ironically, that house has only one floor. So an extra window was _nailed_ on to simulate the presence of an upstairs. That prop window, BTW, had lights in it for use when establishing an evening scene. Watch for it! ----------------------------- [4.3] Where is this house located? It's at 11222 Dilling St. in the San Fernando Valley. But if you must make a pilgrimage, keep in mind that there are people living there today. And please, PLEASE, for heaven's sake, DO NOT try to peek in the living room window in hopes of catching a glimpse of the inside of the Brady's home. You won't see the living room that you saw on TV (it was all just a studio set; see previous question 4.1) but you might see a criminal charge for trespassing and voyeurism. This was probably why the owners of the house built a fence around the front yard. People on the net have commented that the vista surrounding the house rings more of a bell than the house itself, so you really don't need to get too close to it anyway. ----------------------------- [4.4] Where was that big amusement park they all went to? (where Jan lost Mike's blueprints) The park is called King's Island, and it is indeed near (but not in) Cincinnati, Ohio. The episode "The Cincinnati Kids" was filmed in 1973, the year after KI was first opened. Many of the rides seen on the show have long since been removed, but "The Racer" roller coaster -- the one we saw them all ride on -- is still there. "Growing up Brady" has a whole chapter devoted to this episode. Williams describes how the cast escaped serious injury from a loose film camera while shooting the roller-coaster sequence. FWIW, a Partridge Family episode was filmed there, too. BTW, that park is now called "Paramount's Kings Island", as it was bought by Paramount pictures in late 1992. A new roller coaster there is called "Top Gun" after the movie. Yet Paramount is the same company that did the Brady Bunch. Kind of makes you wonder. (see also rec.roller-coaster under PKI or "Beast" references) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE SHOW'S PREMISES AND LOGISTICS [5.1] Were there any technical or logistical errors in the series? Several, though some are kind of hard to pick up out. Here are some famous ones: - In "What Goes Up...", when they get a trampoline, Greg says to Jan, as she's about to jump on it, "Let's see you try it, Eve." (Jan was played by _Eve_ Plumb!) - In the episode where Bobby appears on a kiddie TV show, they leave in a blue convertible, but return in the brown station wagon. - In one episode (which needs identification here), Carol somehow changes her outfit when walking from the living room to the dining room. Some of these and other errors are described in by Barry Williams himself in "Growing up Brady". There are lots of more subtle errors, too. According to Chris Mulvihill The Mailslot/mailbox. In various episodes, there is a mailbox (fine I have a mailbox too.) In others there is a mailslot (also fine many well-adjusted people have mailslots) the problem is from what I know about the house, the mailslot led into a wall. The mailslot was on the left hand side of the front door on the wall. where would this lead to? A closet? Here's an error I picked up once for those of you who need proof that the Brady house was really just a set. In "What goes up", there is a scene where Bobby accidentally lets his pet bird loose in the house from the the top of the steps. As the camera follows the bird's flight path, the pitch-black ceiling of the soundstage can be seen for a split second. (You might need a single-frame capable VCR to see this, though.) ----------------------------- [5.2] What errors/inconsistencies are there regarding the architecture and layout of the Brady house? Quite a few, it seems. Many of them stem from the fact that the house seen from the outside was not consistent from the interior -- since, afterall, they were not the same structures. According to Keith Ammann : On 21 Feb 1995, DJ Cheezy Whiz wrote: > ... I couldn't help notice that the interior of their (Bradys') house never > matched the exterior. The interior was always larger and more spacious than > you would surmise from the exterior shot (perhaps due to some spacial > anomaly?) and the room layout seemed different. Yep ... it always seemed to me that all the upstairs bedrooms HAD to be cantilevered off the side of the house instead of over the kitchen, which wouldn't have been deep enough anyway if they WERE over it. And to think Mr. Brady was supposed to have been an architect ... :-) Someone else stated recently that the area of the house with Alice's bedroom and the laundry room actually altered its appearance during the course of the series. ----------------------------- [5.2] In what city was The Brady Bunch set? The show was set somewhere in southern California. My best guess is one of the Los Angeles suburbs but not the city itself. There was really nothing, other than the southern locale and California license plates, in the original series to suggest a location. In "A Very Brady Christmas," they used Los Angeles International Airport and its famous Theme Building as the setting of the airport, and the "Miracle on 34th Street" scene used Los Angeles city street signs. In "The Bradys," Mike was elected to the city council, but nowhere was it stated which city, so it could be Burbank or Riverside or Covina or Torrance or Fountain Valley or possibly 200 others. The BB Variety Show, OTOH, was set in Malibu, with Greg's bachelor pad in Santa Monica. However, this cannot be considered canonical since that spin-off was not produced by the original creators. ----------------------------- [5.2] Why was there only one bathroom for six kids? And eventually, six _teenage_ kids at that! Maybe Mike wasn't such a good architect afterall. Speaking of restrooms, a common question is: how many bathrooms were there in that house? Let's see, there was... -- The ever-popular kids' restroom, -- The bathroom in the parents' bedroom (we saw Mike go back there once to get some after-shave off the shelf for Greg's hot date), -- The powder room (?) behind the stairs. Although the door was always there, we didn't learn what it was for until "A Very Brady Xmas." Note: In The BB Movie, a neighbor character stated that there was only one bathroom for nine people. Given the evidence listed above, perhaps we should assume he was just being sarcastic. That character also said he "...never did see a toilet" (see question 5.x) ----------------------------- [5.3] What restroom facilities were there for Alice? Speculation on the Net says that Alice had her own bathroom as well; otherwise, in order to take a shower she'd have to go upstairs and either compete for the already overcrowded kids' bathroom, or use the one in Mike and Carol's bedroom (not a likely situation for the help to use the owners' facilities). But either way, we never did see a commode for Alice. Here are two more possibilities: -- The powder room located behind the stairs was actually a full-bath with a shower and/or bathtub. It was used primarily by Alice, though others might have had permission to use it in times of desperation (ie: when late for a date and fourth in line for the regular kids' bathroom). -- That extra full-bath had a separate entrance which led directly from Alice's bedroom. This is not as far-fetched as it sounds, since Alice's room was located off the laundry room, which would be in just the right proximity to the bathroom behind the stairs. This is also consistent with the architectural style: every other bedroom in the house had direct access to a bathroom. (except when Greg lived in the attic, of course.) Evidence for the latter theory was actually provided in The BB Movie! It is in the scene where we see Alice emerge from the main-level bathroom while donning recreational garments. Since we knew that she and Sam were in her bedroom at the time, there must have been a direct connection between Alice's room and that restroom. ----------------------------- [5.4] Why wasn't there a toilet in the kids' bathroom? The best explanation is this: the Brady Bunch, as well as all TV of the time, was supposed to portray an immaculate image of the family. Despite the fact that having a toilet obviuosly does not make one "immoral", a commode would still serve as a reminder that the Brady kids are, well, human. Think about it, how many other TV shows had toilets in them back then? Or even bathrooms? This leads to one other question: How did the Brady kids answer calls to nature? Sorry, I don't know the answer to this one either. Maybe they used an outhouse out behind the carport. :) But actually, there was a toilet in there -- we just couldnt see it. In "My Brother's Keeper", Bobby yells to Peter "The bathroom's on _my_ side of no-mans land!!" He then walks into the john off-camera, and we hear a toilet flush. But this was a later episode, after Archie Bunker had made TV flushing popular. ----------------------------- [5.5] Why did Mike say: "The attic? That'd be great if Greg were 2 1/2 feet tall"? Mike uttered this line in "Our Son, the Man" in reference to a separate bedroom for Greg. Only problem is, Greg did in fact move to the attic 2 years later in "A Room at the Top". There are several possible explanations for this continuity error: 1) Schwartz decided that the idea of a bachelor pad for Greg outweighed an insignificant story constraint. 2) Mike knew that the attic was big enough, but had collectibles or adult magazines stashed up there that he didn't want Greg to get his mitts on. 3) After some storm damage or a tree fell on the house, the roof was partially rebuilt, raising the clearance of the rafters in the process. 4) All the junk stored up in the attic (which was cleaned out the day Greg moved in) made it impractical for a taller person to live up there. Other theories state that the house was actually built by M.C. Escher (thanks, Chris Mulvihill) or Greg shrunk to a height of 2 1/2 feet in the interim. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. BRADY MISCELLANY [6.1] What is the connection between BB and Gilligan's Island? The connection between the two shows is at least fivefold: 1) Sherwood Schwartz is the creator and producer of both. 2) In "The Snooperstar", Penelope Fletcher is played by Natalie Schaefer, alias Mrs. Howell. Jim Backus, a.k.a. Thurston Howell III, appears twice on BB: as Zacchariah (the swindling gold prospector) in "Ghost Town USA", and as Mike's Boss (Mr. Matthews) in "The Hustler". 3) In "The Brady Girls Get Married", when Mike was asked if he was busy, he replied: "No. Unless you consider watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island to be important." 4) There were BB and GI episodes which both used the same device: a magic trick is performed in which a volunteer steps into a booth to disappear, and, once inside, sneaks out the secret door and hides, causing a stir. 5) The Brady Bunch Movie had two references to GI. Both involved Holly, Peter's love interest in the film. The lines were: -- HOLLY: Peter is cute ... in a Gilligan sort of way. -- PETER: (After Holly plants a lingering smooch on Pete's lips) "Wow, you're better than Ginger and Mary Ann combined!" ----------------------- Got any additions/corrections/gripes/queries/comments? Write me. ---- Michael E. Kotler | ELMER FUDD: Well whaddya know. One bulwit weft! mekotl@planetx.bloomu.edu| BUGS BUNNY: One bullet left? Hey laughing boy!... Bloomsburg University | DAFFY DUCK: (while holding a discharged rifle Bloomsburg, PA, USA | aimed between his eyes) _I_ know, _I_ KNOW!!