Customer Reviews

Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour

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The original "Brady Bunch" sitcom has been written about endlessly, but little attention has been paid to any of the subsequent spin-offs... until now, and it's a pretty incredible story! With its tacky sets and costumes, painful song and dance sequences, corny writing and camera-mugging galore, "The Brady Bunch Hour" is more reviled and beloved than any of the subsequent Brady incarnations. It's quite unusual for a show that filmed a grand total of nine episodes to be remembered over 30 years later, let alone be the subject of an entire book -- but the book is jam-packed with interesting info, interviews and remembrances, and tons of rare and never before seen pictures!

The book answers burning questions such as: Why wasn't Eve Plumb involved in the show and which famous socialite nearly replaced her? Which guest-star staggered through a taping drunk? Whose coochie did Chris Knight sneak a peek at? What happened to guest-star Lee Majors' steak? Which Brady became hostile with their co-stars during tapings? Which Brady was nearly reduced to tears by executive producer Marty Krofft? What did they fill the swimming pool with? Which Brady did Fake Jan sleep with... and which one did she WANT to sleep with? Why was Hollywood legend Natalie Wood at a taping? How do Paul Shaffer and Chevy Chase fit into the grand scheme of things? Which series regulars couldn't stand each other? What happened when series writer Bruce Vilanch asked to see guest-star Milton Berle's infamous endowment? Which Brady kid can be seen flipping the bird in an episode?

In addition to all of that, there's an episode guide that includes details on flubs and other things to look for, info on each of the guest stars and cast/crew's remembrances of them, production sketches, script excerpts and much more!

For any fans of The Brady Bunch and/or Sid & Marty Krofft, the book's a must-read!

I read this 300 page book in one sitting....I just couldn't put it down. This 'coffee table book' is also jam packed with great pictures. The side notes by Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady) really put it over the top.

If you have any interest in the Brady Bunch, Sid and Marty Krofft, or just TV show business in the 70s in general, this is the book to get. This is the story from start to finish on how the Brady Hour came to be, and how it faded away. I loved every minute of it.

"Love to Love You Bradys:..." was originally released in September, 2009 and was written by Susan Olsen who played Cindy on the original series. A coffee table book with some rare and fascinating pictures, this work details the behind-the-scenes events on "The Brady Bunch Hour" that aired for only nine episodes on ABC in late 1976/early 1977.

After a few members of the original "Brady Bunch" appeared on "The Donny and Marie Show", which sent that shows' Nielsen figures through the roof, "Donny and Marie's" shows' producers decided to spin-off the cast of "The Brady Bunch" into their very own weekly one hour variety show. Another fact that led to this decision was how popular "The Brady Bunch" was in syndication in 1976, even more popular than it was in its original netwrok airings.

Susan Olsen does a remarkable job detatiling the back-stabbing, the heartbreak, the problems, and the humungous egos that beset not only the members of the cast of "The Brady Bunch Hour", but it's producers and guest-stars. TV Guide stated in 2002 that "The Brady Bunch Hour" ranked as one of the five worst shows ever broadcast on American television. Susan doesn't shy away from this known fact: if anything she writes how bad the series was acted, how terrible the song choices were, and how rediculous the premise was in putting the Bradys in their own variety hour.

If your a fan of the Bradys or interested in anything to do with 1970's television, this is a fun read and a great walk down memory lane when disco was in, bell-bottom pants were the rage, and variety programming ruled network TV.

Whether you loved the Brady Bunch or are just a person who likes to read about how TV shows are made, this is a great book filled with an incredible amount of detail.

It's hard to believe that a short-lived, long-forgotten show like The Brady Bunch Variety Hour could be turned into a 300-page book, but they did it. And it's better than some of those old books about Mr. Ed or The Munsters, where someone not associated with the series gives a somewhat distant history. Included here are photos that have never been seen before, stories that have never been told in print before, and current interviews conducted with most of the cast members and production crew. In all it is one of the best ever written about the making of a TV show.

That is not to say it doesn't have its weaknesses. Foremost is Susan Olsen's name on the cover as co-author, when all she really does is a few longer commentaries on different aspects of the show (her comments are easily the most annoying of any Brady cast member because all she does is complain repeatedly about how "tacky" the series was). There was too much Susan and not enough quotes from other living cast members. There are also a couple of minor errors in the text along the way. Then there's the aspect of failing to explain what happened during the taping of the pilot--the author devotes chapters to what leads up to the taping, but virtually nothing to the taping itself. So we are not told how the Osmonds interacted with the Bradys or who flubbed lines or any of the interesting details that come with taping a TV episode.

We do, however, find out a lot about costumes, set design, co-stars, script writing and other behind-the-scene details. Just when you think it's too much, the book shifts a different direction and gives you guest star information or an episode guide. Everyone involved should be really proud of the book--it's amazingly designed and the photos alone are worth buying it if you are a Brady fan.

I came by this book honestly; I swap books with my friend. I would have never had any inclination to buy this book. That said, I approached it with more than a little trepidation figuring that 5 minutes would be enough time to leave it in a pile of rejects. Surprisingly, I read the whole book and liked it despite a cover that crawls with '70's tackiness and probably requires sunglasses for extended viewing.
The Brady Bunch Variety Hour was a fortunately short lived attempt to cash in on the popular sitcom that had expired a couple of years earlier. It was inspired by the popular but equally cheesy Donnie and Marie Show. Whatever gave this show's creators the idea that the motley Brady crew would perform well in a comedy/musical format is anyone's guess. This program even had a Busby Berkeley troupe performing aquatic routines. Guest stars rotated from show to show and they included Lee Majors, Milton Berle, Vincent Price, Farrah Fawcett, Tony Randall, Red Fox and even the cast of What's Happening.
This book is packed with a running commentary composed of impressions/memories of cast and crew members regarding the show, its guests, production issues, and a myriad of other issues. Virtually all the stories have a humorous edge and were oddly interesting considering just how bad this show actually was. The book also introduces lesser known participants of this fun fest and also has updates on what they are doing now. There is plenty of trivia and peculiar facts. Of the original cast, only Eve Plumb failed to reprise her role. In the process of chosing a 'fake' Jan Brady, Paris Hilton's mother Kathy Richards was in the running for the role which was eventually assumed by an actress named Geri Reischl. Who would have thought!
I'm not sure if any of the information imparted was terribly significant in terms of brodcasting history, but all the poking fun at this bad (really bad) show and its clones was a lot of fun.

This was OK. I most appreciated the sections devoted to the insights offered by Susan Olsen at various points in the story, and each cast member's opinion of the show and how they feel about it -- both then and now. Also, Geri "Fake Jan" Reischl's reminisces on her experiences are interesting. I am missing a great deal of personal experience with the show; I saw maybe 2 episodes and remember precious little of those. By the time this was broadcast I had outgrown the Bradys and was not really into variety shows so I had no real interest in keeping up with the show. It was a curiosity I was interested in looking at for a bit, but I remember being fairly embarrassed about it on behalf the cast members, and wondered at the time if they were aware of just how awful it was. But there is a great deal of detail written about the rest of the show that I just didn't care about and I ended up skipping over a good bit of it. I have no interest whatever in the "Krofftettes," as the chorus-girl swimmers were called. I ended up completely skipping almost that entire chapter. Also, the details of recording the shows and the various visual and audio arts that went into the show were only slightly interesting. I skipped over much of that, also. But take away those chapters and there is precious little else here. A die-hard Brady fan will enjoy this, but if you aren't a huge fan of the Bradys or in the minute production details of putting together a musical variety show, then this will bore you more than entertain you. I bought the Kindle edition of this, and the photos just didn't come out well at all; the quality of the vast majority of the photos is just terrible. Hopefully, they're better in the hard copy of the book.

So much fun to read. I bought the dvd a couple years ago being an avid Brady fan, and watched our pillar Mike Brady sing disco songs and try to dance. It was horrible. Then I bought this book (being an avid Brady fan) and now watching the show is way more interesting, seeing all the goofs that didn't get edited (Greg totally taking a spill in a roller skating scene, fake Jan gradually losing her hair bow throughout the number then it's back in, etc.). I thought the portion in the book dedicated to the Kroftettes would be drawn out and boring, but they come across as being some of the hardest working people in show biz at the time doubling as dancers and enduring that swimming pool and all that entailed. Even if you've seen the show and agreed with TV Guide that it should be in the top 10 of worst TV shows of all time, if you're a Brady fan, you'll love getting the inside scoop on the actors who played the characters you love.

I remember back when I was ten and saw an ad for an upcoming Brady Bunch special to air right after Thanksgiving 1976. I was so excited for it, even though there would be a different Jan. The original show had been off the air for two years and now they were coming back with the kids grown up. I watched the special and liked it (remember this was the period of Donny & Marie when this kind of variety show was in). Then two months later, the show came back as an irregularly scheduled series. I believe I saw every episode. They weren't bad (at least not then). Over the years it has become known as one of the worst shows ever. Nick at Night re-aired the pilot back in the early-90s and it just wasn't what I remembered. But it was fun to see what I once thought of as entertainment. But it was still The Bradys!

Now over thirty years later comes this book about the show - everything there is to know. Susan Olsen (Cindy) even contributes her own thoughts about this series. This has to be one of the best books ever written about a show (and there were only nine installments!). It is loaded with photos - most in color. Some are tiny screen shots but that's better than nothing. Some information is repeated once or twice, but pretty much everyone involved was interviewed over the past few years. Robert Reed's quotes are of course from a number of years ago, as are Florence Henderson's. I read this book cover to cover and learned so much about this little known show. Usually there is anything from a paragraph to a couple of pages devoted to the Variety Hour in other Brady books, so this blew me away. Included in the detailed episode guide are the actual episode clippings and the ads from TV GUIDE - I remembered them immediately, especially the initial special's. I knew absolutely nothing about "Fake Jan" until now and you may be surprised to know that she is actually proud of that moniker. There is even a chapter devoted to the dancers/swimmers - everything you ever wanted to know and maybe didn't. I don't want to give everything away but if you are a Brady Fan, then you MUST MUST MUST get this book. I hesitated at first because the show wasn't that great but I now have new respect for this bizarre chapter in the Brady saga. Susan Olsen mentions that many people have blamed the actors for the show being so bad, but after reading this book, you will learn how hard they really worked and they did the best job they could. It was the show itself that didn't work - no fault of the actors.

I highly recommend this book. Any Brady fan will love it. Kudos to the authors!!! If any of the authors (including Susan Olsen) reads this review, I am very impressed with what you have given to the fans. Thank you.

I was thrilled when this book came out and I picked it up immediately. The Brady Bunch Variety Hour is a rarely discussed so-bad-it's-good train wreck. Olsen does a reasonable job telling the "story", although I'm certain the other two authors actually wrote the thing. Unfortunately the book becomes bogged down by long, unnecessary descriptions of the Krofftettes (the swimmers/dancers on the show). Let's be honest, the reason anyone is purchasing this book is to read anecdotes about the main Brady cast (and there are a few good ones). However, Olsen inexplicably eschews in-depth interviews with her former cast mates in favor of focusing a good third of the book on the then-faceless/nameless swimmers/dancers. Sure they put in a lot of hard work to achieve the water follies, but do we really care? I know I don't and I ended up skipping most of this part of the book including the "Where are they now" section (Who cares?). I'm only able to speculate that Olsen had a difficult time getting her former cast mates to discuss this arguably awful moment in their lives. Despite the obvious padding of the Krofftettes (just skip the middle section of the book), this is a fun read about an awful show and I'm happy the story has finally been told. When will all the episodes exist on DVD?

Very few books grab my attention these days but i found this book to be full of rich television history in the makeing of an era gone by that we will never see again. Much research was done in this book and is a great tribute to our generation.