The Dining Room Hutch

"The Hero"

View from the top of the stairs

The dining room hutch in the Brady home disappeared after the first season.  It was in such an awkward, 4th wall position, that I imagine it simply wasn't worth hauling out, even on occasion. As it is, it was seldom seen in Season One, and mainly served only as the background for Robert Reed's dining room table close-ups.

A Wide Shot in "Vote For Brady"

Mike's close up in that scene 

A Wide Shot in "The Grass Is Always Greener"

Mike's close up in that scene 

 Once The hutch was gone, they used the blank wall or the dining room curtains behind him. 

I am not sure why that extra chair would be there, when there were already 8 seats being occupied. Also, seeing the curtains behind the girls, it is crazy to think the curtain would extend behind him at the head of the table.

Interestingly, I imagine shooting his close-ups was difficult, and a bit time consuming.   It would be easy enough to move them around, or get a bigger table. Yet, at this time in American culture, ABC was not going to veer away from any family dinner scene that didn't place Mom at one end of the table (nearest the kitchen) and Dad at the head of the table.

And check out the groovy chandelier in the top photo! 

Thanks to DMD, I never noticed that before

The Only Woman Even Less Convincing Cooking in the Kitchen Than Carol Brady

Shirley Jones, The Partridge Family

The Bradys Cosco Stool

The Bradys Cosco Stool in the kitchen is one of the most forgotten pieces in The Brady residence. 

Even though it was there for the entire run of the show, it is rarely noticed, or referenced. The Bradys themselves seldom ever actually used it.  For all five seasons, it was in the corner by the Alice/Laundry room door -- except when it wasn't. In the Brady home, a lot of the details were impermanent and inconsistent.

The stool itself was a mainstay in American homes in the 1960s and 1970s. Information about the history of Cosco stools here:

The Kitchen Step Stool Everyone Grew Up With

Like all the American homes that had a Cosco stool in their kitchens, so, too, did the American TV families of that era.

Bewitched

Bewitched

The Beverly Hillbillies

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Hazel

I Dream Of Jeannie

I Dream Of Jeannie

My Three Sons

Father Knows Best 

The Donna Reed Show

The Partridge Family

The Partridge Family

Petticoat Junction

Dennis The Menace

The Paul Lynde Show

Haskells Ice Cream Shop

This exterior used in the My Three Sons episode "The Date Bureau", offered a night view of Haskells Ice Cream Shop.

More here:  Haskells Ice Cream Shop

Bill E. Garst

The Brady Bunch film editor, made famous by the mention of "Billy Garst" in Jan's Popular Girl episode, also was a film editor on "Petticoat Junction"

Maureen McCormick Grease Reunion with Seth Rudetsky

Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley reunited actresses who played Rizzo in the 1990s Broadway revival of "Grease".  It is part of a series of benefit shows for The Actors Fund. It can be viewed here on YouTube.

Stars In The House Rizzo Reunion

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

In 1994, Florence Henderson and Ann B. Davis both made cameo appearances in the final "Naked Gun" film.

Brooke Bundy “The Partridge Family”

This episode of The Partridge Family aired just two months before Brooke’s Brady Bunch  “Kelly’s Kids” episode.  For that reason I might guess it’s not a coincidence and she was on some kind of contractual, or at very least a favorites list, with the casting execs at ABC. 

And PS

 In a recent interview on the podcast "Behind The Curtain", actor Edmund Gaynes said David Cassidy was a very sweet and nice guy when they worked together in David's very first Broadway show, "Fig Leaves Are Falling" in 1968. So, it was interesting to come across this photo of Brooke Bundy.

More Acting in a Car with Herb Vigran

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Ep.: The Driver's Seat

More Set Pieces From The Brady Home At The Cunninghams

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The Brady Bunch was cancelled in the spring of 1974, Happy Days premiered in Fall of 1974

Check out The Happy Days label link in the list to the right for other examples.