From the catchy song to funniest scenes, remembering ‘The Brady Bunch’

If you grew up in the 1960s or were raising kids in the ’70s, you probably have fond memories of watching family sitcom The Brady Bunch.

Whether you recall one of its innocently funny scenes or its catchy theme tune, it was enjoyed by countless families around world – all thanks to its original storylines and classic one-liners.

The show followed the late Florence Henderson’s character Carol and her three daughters – Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen) – after she married widowed architect Mike Brady (Robert Reed), who had three sons – Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). (The combined family were joined, of course, by Ann B. Davis, as Alice, their slightly acid-tongued housekeeper.)

Beloved TV mum Henderson died in November 2016 at the age of 82, while Davis died just two years earlier at the age of 88. Reed died in 1992 at just 59. But some of the cast, including Olsen, Knight and Lookinland, recently reunited in Australia.

Read more: See the Brady Bunch kids all grown up and in Australia for convention

In a first for a TV show at the time, the ‘Brady Bunch’ plot focused on the difficulties with blending the two families under one roof, with hilarious and memorable results. Here’s a look back at some of the best moments from the hit show.

The theme song was one of the catchiest tunes to start a show in sitcom history. For all five seasons, it would return with different singers telling the story of Carol and Mike’s meeting, as each character’s face appeared on screen. Many kids will have learnt the words, or at least some of them, off by heart to sing in the school playground together.

Meanwhile, a scene remembered as one of Henderson’s best depicted the family celebrating Thanksgiving. While the show was often filled with silly arguments and funny moments, this particular episode was a heart-warming moment of relief as the whole family came together for the special occasion.

The episode shows the family gather in the living room, set up the projector and watch Greg’s Thanksgiving movie. It features all of them, including Alice, as they re-tell the story of the pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower and having the first Thanksgiving meal.

Another hard to beat episode, dubbed ‘Marcia Marcia Marcia’, was, meanwhile one many siblings could relate to, as the girls moan about the attention Marcia gets from her parents.

It’s got strong competition from Peter’s “pork chops and apple sauce” scene, though, which shows the youngster attempt his best impersonation of Humphrey Bogart in an attempt to come up with a new personality for himself.

He tries it out on his mum, putting on a nasally voice before asking what’s for dinner – and repeatedly saying “pork chops and apple sauce”.

“Do you have something stuck in your teeth?” she asks him. “Why do you say that?” he replies, before repeating it again on his dad. It’s fair to say, the few words have rarely been used so many times in such a short space of time.

There are plenty more top moments to choose from, including the family’s synchronised dancing, Marcia and Jan’s modelling tryout and of course the moment Peter made a volcano and immediately terrified Marcia’s friends.

Which was your favourite moment from the classic sitcom?