Family Fridays: The Brady 500 (1990)

 Following the success of "A Very Brady Christmas" in 1988, CBS brought back The Bradys as a winter replacement series in February 1990. As we documented when reviewing the series, the network mistakenly assumed viewers would gravitate to the franchise, 9 years after The Brady Brides tanked on NBC. Yes, it was on a Friday night, but viewer tastes had changed in the 16 years since the original series had ended.

I remember sitting in the kitchen, watching the show on a battery powered TV, since the parents weren't interested.

As you already know, Maureen McCormick decided not to return, though she's changed her tune in recent years, so Leah Ayres was cast as Marcia. Greg (Barry Williams) had gotten married in the last film to Nora (Caryn Richman, ex-The New Gidget), and, as we'll see by the end, Bobby (Mike Lookinland) becomes the 4th Brady sibling to walk down the aisle.........

Sherwood Schwartz & CBS executives thought bringing in MTV doll Martha Quinn would pull in the youth demo, since she had her own show on MTV, airing 4 nights a week at that point. However, she was savaged by critics, undeservedly.

Rating: A-.