The New Brady Bunch is an live-action series created by the original creator of the Brady Bunch‘s son, Lloyd Schwartz. It ran from March 20th, 2001 til May 30th, 2008 on TBS. The show had a spin-off called Marcia and Jan.
| The New Brady Bunch | |
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| Television show information | |
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Genre |
Live-Action |
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Created by |
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Based on |
The Brady Bunch by Sherwood Schwartz |
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Starring |
Shelley Long |
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Theme music composer |
Frank DeVol (archive music/mixed) |
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Opening theme |
The Brady Bunch by The New Brady Kids |
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Country of |
United States |
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Original |
English |
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No. of seasons |
6 |
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No. of episodes |
230 (18 specials) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
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Production |
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Distributor |
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| Broadcast | |
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Original |
Comedy Central |
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Original release |
March 20, 2001 to May 30, 2008 |
Synopsis[]
America’s favorite family of the 70s are back in the 21st century with a brand new look with more enhanced technology. Step-siblings Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, Cindy, and their parents Mike and Carol and housekeeper Alice live in the fictional town of Longoria Hillside, California. While they use their imaginations anywhere they go such as the mall, school, and the malt shop.
Characters[]
Main[]
- Gregory ”Greg” Brady (played by Christopher Daniel Barnes) - Greg is an Emerald Isles High School student who plays football, plays guitar, surfs, and aspires to be a singer. He is the leader and often self-centered and bossy towards his siblings to the point where he is a jerk.
- Marcia Denise Brady (played by Christine Taylor) - Marcia is the oldest Brady daughter. Marcia is portrayed as a mature and popular girl at Emerald Isles High School. Her popularity is an ongoing source of contempt for her younger sister Jan. She is a big fan of Davy Jones, and groovy Dezi Arnaz Jr. She is seen as girly and ditzy. She is seen as a narcissist and a bully towards Jan.
- Peterson ”Peter” Brady (played by Frankie Muniz) - Peter is the clumsiest of the bunch, he sometimes gets overexcited and acts impulsively before thinking. Peter is anything but dull. He may not be too great at fixing bikes or making ice-cream sundaes, but he builds a mean model volcano. He's also a great detective and a pretty good reporter. Peter even proves himself to be a fine actor by playing Benedict Arnold in the school play, a role he later lives to regret. Nevertheless, he is a fun-loving boy. In the later seasons, Peter is into girls. Even dating his long time friend Holly in the final season.
- Janet ”Jan” Brady (played by Tara Strong) - Jan is the middle Brady daughter. Storylines which involve Jan often feature her jealousy of her seemingly more popular older sister Marcia, or her awkward position as the middle child. In addition, Jan is insecure about having freckles and wearing glasses, embarrassed about the fact she does not have a boyfriend (she invents a fictional boyfriend named "George Glass" in an effort to save her reputation), She later falls in love with the wealthy Philip Covington. She is often tired of Marcia bullying her, so she finally stands up to Marcia.
- Robert ”Bobby” Brady (played by Freddie Highmore) - Bobby is a precocious and often overlooked kid and he is a whimsical dreamer, fantasizing about having various adventurous lifestyles, such as being a race car driver, a cowboy, and an astronaut.
- Cynthia ”Cindy” Brady (played by Dakota Fanning) - Cindy is a little girl and naive, but occasionally precocious little girl, who was most often seen wearing her hair in corkscrew curls or braids and had a pronounced lisp.
- Caroline ”Carol” Brady (neé Martin/Tyler) (played by Shelley Long) - Carol is a liberated woman. Although she chooses to be a stay-at-home mom, she is anything but a housewife. She's a freelance writer, a sculptor, a political activist, and a singer. She also organizes plays and PTA events while keeping dinner on the table. Some of her favorite things are a large terra-cotta vase, dangly earrings, and singing in church.
- Michael ”Mike” Brady (voiced by Gary Cole) - Mike is a highly qualified and well-respected architect, although he has had his share of failures. Mike was one of the staff architects with his firm.
- Alice Nelson (voiced by Laraine Newman) - Alice is the Brady Family's housekeeper and friend. She has an ongoing relationship with Sam the butcher, and says multiple times that she wants to marry him. She lives at the Brady House. She is very wisecracking.
Supporting[]
The Tyler Family[]
The Brady’s imperfect neighbors consisting of:
- Donna-Mae Tyler (played by Dolly Parton) - A head-strong woman from Tennessee who is raising 2 kids. She often is either seen with Carol or with her family
- William “Billy” Tyler (played by Jess Harnell) - A songwriter who works with the Brady children with recording their songs.
- Raquelle “Quel” Tyler (played by Mae Whitman) - A feisty tomboy who likes to knit. She is one of Marcia‘s friends.
- Daniel “Danny” Tyler (played by Jesse McCartney) - A rebellious and troubled young kid.
Marcia’s Friends[]
- Loraine Thomas (played by Autumn Reeser) - Marcia’s friend who TBD (hinted as lesbian)
- Wally Logan (played by Matthew Lillard) - Marcia’s wacky friend who becomes her boyfriend.
- Charlie Anderson (played by Justin Long) - Marcia’s nerdy friend who TBD
- Ashleigh Summers (played by Rachael MacFarlane) - A cheery and cheeky girl who likes TBD
Jan’s Friends[]
- Amanda Wilcox (played by Pamela Adlon Segall) - An aspiring actress who thinks of herself as a beautiful singer.
- Makayla Andrews (played by Kaley Cuoco) - A fashionable girl who is known for making the coolest outfits for the Bradys.
- Phillip Covington III (played by Freddie Prinze, Jr) - A wealthy kid who is cold-hearted and a jerk towards Jan , later warming up to her and dating each other.
Episodes[]
Main article: List of The New Brady Bunch episodes
Production[]
After the success of The Brady Bunch Movie and it’s sequel A Very Brady Sequel, Paramount originally announced that they’ll will be co-producing with its two sister companies Viacom and Nickelodeon to create an a version of The Brady Bunch. Production started in 1997, with over 90,000+ auditions for the roles of the children, Christine Taylor, Christopher Barnes, Shelley Long and, Gary Cole reprised their roles of Marcia, Greg, Mike and, Carol. With the rest of the kids and Alice replaced. In 1999 and 2000, 2 straight to VHS films were made as pilots for the show. They were called “Night on Emerald City” and “Longoria Hillside Gala” both made their theatrical releases with two short films before them from South Park and the Millwin Street Kids. Night on Emerald City was a box office smash. However, Longoria Hillside Gala was critically praised but was a box office bomb. Unfortunately, Nickelodeon didn’t picked up the show. Until TBS picked up the show and filmed the pilot in September of 2000.
Spin-off series[]
Main article: Marcia and Jan
Marcia and Jan, is a reboot of the short-lived series The Brady Brides. Where the two eldest Brady girls move out the house and get married. The two girls start a business together.