''The Brady Kids'' is an American

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

and a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

based on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

live-action

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' The Brady Bunch'', produced by

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and pr ...

in association with

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

. It aired on ABC from September 9, 1972, to October 6, 1973, and also spun off another Filmation series, '' Mission: Magic!'', starring Rick Springfield.

Background

In 1972, with the live action sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'' preparing for the start of its fourth season, show creator and executive producer Sherwood Schwartz approached Filmation about the creation of an animated series featuring the Brady Kids. Filmation agreed, and Lou Schiemer and Norm Prescott (who would later develop Schwartz properties ''

Gilligan's Planet ''Gilligan's Planet'' is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982–1983 season on CBS. It was the second animated spin-off of the sitcom '' Gilligan's Island'' (the f ...

'' and '' The New Adventures of Gilligan'') headed up the project.

Characters

The original show's six children ( Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick,

Christopher Knight Christopher or Chris Knight may refer to: Film and television *Christopher Knight (actor) (born 1957), American actor * Christopher Knight (filmmaker), blogger and filmmaker * Chris Knight (''Neighbours''), fictional character in the soap opera '' ...

Eve Plumb Eve Aline Plumb (born April 29, 1958) is an American actress, singer and painter. She is best known for portraying the middle daughter Jan Brady on the ABC sitcom ''The Brady Bunch''. A native of Southern California, Plumb began appearing in com ...

Mike Lookinland Michael Paul Lookinland (born December 19, 1960) is an American actor and cameraman. He is best known for his role as the youngest brother, Bobby Brady, on the ABC sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'' from 1969 to 1974, and its many sequels and spinoffs. ...

and

Susan Olsen Susan Marie Olsen (born August 14, 1961) is an American actress and former radio host. Olsen is known for her role as Cindy Brady, the youngest Brady child in the sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'' for the full run of the show, from 1969 to 1974. Early ...

) voiced their animated counterparts in the first season. As the series' title implies, the parents and Alice the housekeeper characters were omitted from the show. At the end of the first season, Filmation asked the kids to continue on their existing contracts for another five episodes in a second season. The kids' original answer was no, prodded on by their agent Harvey Shotz. Filmation threatened both to sue the children over breach of contract, and to continue the show without their voices. Lookinland, Plumb, and Olsen agreed to the extended Filmation contract. However, Williams, Knight, and McCormick didn't agree. Williams' and McCormick's voices were replaced by the children of producer Lou Schiemer (Lane and Erika Scheimer, respectively), while Knight's voice was replaced by David E. Smith. The animated series also added some animal characters. Marlon (voiced by

Larry Storch Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows such as Mr. Whoopee on ''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' and hi ...

) was an intelligent, red, talking

mynah The myna (; also spelled mynah) is a bird of the starling family (Sturnidae). This is a group of passerine birds which are native to southern Asia, especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Several species have been introduced to areas like ...

bird and also a wizard who used his magic to help the kids out of jams. Marlon was also notable for his method of flight: he spun his tail feathers like a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

rotor rather than using his wings, which were instead used as hands, often for grand gestures as he cast spells. The Bradys' dog from the live-action series, Tiger, was replaced by a dog named Mop Top (also voiced by Storch). There were also twin

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes us ...

cubs, Ping and Pong (voiced by Jane Webb), named after the game ping-pong. The pandas only spoke in a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

-like gibberish. There were three human characters created for this show: Chuck White (Storch) was a boastful, self-absorbed teenager (about Greg's age) who was not above cheating to get whatever he wanted, Fleetwood (Storch) was his easygoing sidekick and rounding out this trio was Babs (voiced by Webb), a cute redhead who was smitten with Greg. The three of them went to the same school as the Bradys, and Chuck was sometimes central to the plot as an antagonist.

The Bradys

* Greg Brady: Barry Williams (season 1), Lane Scheimer (season 2) * Marcia Brady: Maureen McCormick (season 1), Erika Scheimer (season 2) * Peter Brady:

(season 1), David E. Smith (season 2) *

Jan Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 1 ...

Bobby Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 Greg Brady rect 0 82 105 159 Jan Brady rect 108 82 211 15 ...

Cindy Brady File:The Brady Bunch.jpg, 300px, Characters of ''The Brady Bunch'' (Mouse over to identify) rect 0 0 105 79 #Marcia Brady, Marcia Brady rect 108 0 211 79 #Carol Brady, Carol Brady rect 216 0 320 79 #Greg Brady, Greg Brady rect 0 ...

Other characters

* Marlon:

* Ping and Pong: Jane Webb * Mop Top: Larry Storch * Chuck White: Larry Storch * Fleetwood: Larry Storch * Babs: Jane Webb

Crossover with DC comics

* Superman * Lois Lane * Wonder Woman

Production

While Schwartz originally intended to hand off full editorial control to Schiemer and Prescott, he eventually returned to become an active part of production, reviewing scripts and advising on creative input. Much of the animation for the series was copied over from another Filmation series, '' The Archie Show''. Walk cycles, profile pictures, and scenes where the Brady kids play in a band were all frame-by-frame replacements for looped frames originally seen of The Archies on ''The Archie Show''. Many of Mop Top's poses were copied from the Archies' character Hot Dog. Mop Top copied Hot Dog's design (from Archie) with the only difference being a pallette change. Fleetwood's poses and walk cycles were often copied from Rudy of '' Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids''. Originally aired as a one-hour segment on '' The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'', the pilot episode was split into two half-hour segments on ''The Brady Kids''. A total of 22 episodes were produced. Season 1 aired Saturday mornings from 10:30 to 11:00 AM, and season 2 aired Saturday mornings from 11:00 to 11:30 AM. Season 1 contained 17 episodes, and season 2 contained 5. Season 2 was specifically created by Filmation with the intent on 5 episodes to bring the total count of episodes to 22, the minimum required for syndication. Like most 1970s-era Saturday morning cartoon series as well as '' The Brady Bunch'' show itself, ''The Brady Kids'' contained an adult laugh track. The opening sequence featured the fourth season "grid" familiar to ''The Brady Bunch'' viewers, without the center column that is normally occupied by the adults (Mike, Carol and Alice). Near the end of the theme song (featuring new lyrics set to the original ''Brady Bunch'' theme with a 70's style beat), Marlon flies up and down the center, "magically" transforming the live-action children into their animated counterparts. Another intro features Marlon flying up and down the center of an empty blue background to reveal the Brady Kids.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1972)

Season 2 (1973)

Home media

On April 3, 2007, the two-part episodes "Jungle Bungle" were released as bonus features on ''The Brady Bunch: The Complete Series'' 21-disc

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

set by CBS and Paramount. On February 16, 2016, CBS Home Entertainment released ''The Brady Kids: The Complete Animated Series'' on DVD in Region 1. On June 4, 2019, the complete series was re-released on DVD by CBS/Paramount as a part of ''The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection'' to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original series.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brady Kids, The 1972 American television series debuts 1973 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming 1970s American animated television series American animated television spin-offs The Brady Bunch Television series by Filmation Television series by CBS Studios English-language television shows Animated musical groups Animated television series about children Television shows directed by Hal Sutherland