In the fifty years since The Brady Bunch was originally on television, the sitcom has found many homes in syndication on cable and as a part of streaming services like Hulu. Tons of people know the story of the lovely lady and the man named Brady with their combined six children.
The series still has a big fandom and has been meaningful to viewers who grew up in big families as well as those who wished they had brothers and sisters like the Bradys. Fans of the groovy sitcom should check out this collection of other funny shows through the decades.
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family (1970-1974) is an obvious companion to The Brady Bunch. Both shows ran in the early 1970s on ABC, featured lots of children, and had those children sing. The Partridge Family was much more focused on the musical aspect with the whole family actually being a band, whereas the Brady kids treated their musical talents more as a hobby throughout the series. It is also interesting to note that the Partridges are seen playing instruments to accompany themselves, but the Bradys focus more on dancing along.
Petticoat Junction
Before the “rural purge” of American television, farmland sitcoms were everywhere. Networks worked to get away from these in the 1970s, but the ’60s were full of them. Petticoat Junction (a spin-off of The Beverly Hillbillies) is one of the most delightful, airing on CBS from 1963 to 1970. For fans who love Marcia, Jan, and Cindy on The Brady Bunch, Billie Jo, Betty Jo, and Bobbie Jo Bradley are fun 1960s predecessors. The three Bradley girls are teenagers when the series begins. Billie is the femme fatale, Betty is the athlete, and Bobbie is the bookworm. They live with their Uncle Joe and their mother, Kate Bradley, who runs the Shady Rest Hotel in Hooterville.
Green Acres
It’s hard not to take to Green Acres after watching its parent show, Petticoat Junction. The spin-off features many of the same characters in Hooterville, like general store owner Sam Drucker, train operators Charley Pratt and Floyd Smoot, neighbors like the Ziffels, and the friendly faces of the Shady Rest.
The main characters of Green Acres are Oliver and Lisa Douglas, New Yorkers who move to Hooterville in order to pursue Oliver’s dream of becoming a farmer (after his years in practice as a lawyer). The hilarious sitcom set in a ramshackle house is still amusing, and anyone who loves the zany Bradys should give it a try.
Gilligan’s Island
Before the days of The Brady Bunch, Sherwood Schwartz created Gilligan’s Island. This is one of the most recognizable television oldies, originally airing from 1964 to 1967 on CBS. That infamous three-hour tour led to numerous movies, television shows, and specials featuring members of the cast, especially Mary Ann Summers (played by Dawn Wells).
Hazel
Hazel began in 1961 and ended in 1966, three years before The Brady Bunch started. The CBS/NBC show doesn’t necessarily age well today since it focuses on the life of a maid working for an affluent family, but the maid, Hazel Burke (Shirley Booth), is an extraordinary human. In her day-to-day work for the Baxter family, she is a gourmet chef, a smart housekeeper, and a confidant and counselor. Hazel finds herself in funny situations at home and about the town, and fans wonder if she and Alice Nelson would have been friends.
That Girl
That Girl starred Marlo Thomas as Ann Marie and aired from 1966 to 1971 on ABC. Those who want a more adult side to the mod world of The Brady Bunch will love watching this lovable protagonist as she moves out of her parents’ house and works to become a New York actress. Ann has a doting boyfriend named Don, but she doesn’t think about marriage until the final season of the show. No one gets into sillier situations than the endearing Ann, who is ultimately a strong woman with the dedication to achieve her goals over time.
The Waltons
Based on the writing of Earl Hamner, one of the richest TV texts of the 1970s belongs to The Waltons (1972-1981). This series has the unique distinction of being filmed in the ’70s but set in the 1930s and ’40s. From the Great Depression to World War II, the show incorporates domestic and international historical events while also detailing the lives of a large family. Olivia and John Walton live with John’s parents, Zeb and Esther, in a home big enough for the four adults and the seven children: John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin, Jim-Bob, and Elizabeth. The hour drama has a sizable fandom due to nine seasons of satisfying storylines and three-dimensional characters. The CBS series has been rerun on multiple networks through the years.
Step By Step
This ABC TGIF show is truly a 1990s take on The Brady Bunch. More modern versions of Mike and Carol Brady, Frank Lambert and Carol Foster, are single parents who fall in love and marry on a whim. They each have three children from a previous marriage, Carol with three girls and Frank with two boys and a girl.
The Lamberts and the Fosters offer a lot of laughs as they try to get along with each other, making Step by Step (1991-1998) an enduring nostalgic classic.
Sister, Sister
What would happen if a family came together because of siblings who were separated at birth, not because of adults who are getting married? That’s exactly what happens in Sister, Sister (1994-1999), another TGIF series. When Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell bump into each other for the first time at a department store, they become one of the most unique and beloved blended families of television. The twins were adopted separately, which means that Tia’s mom and Tamera’s dad must put up with each other in order to give their girls a chance to be sisters.
Life With Derek
Viewers in the US of a certain vintage might remember catching Life with Derek on Disney Channel, although it was a Canadian series which also aired on Family Channel. In a structure similar to The Brady Bunch, two families become one. Nora MacDonald has two daughters while George Venturi has two sons and a daughter. The eldest siblings of each family are Casey MacDonald and Derek Venturi, and they cannot stand each other. It’s fun to see sibling rivalry play out in a different culture, but still with plenty of laughs.
