TV Shows

‘The Brady Bunch’ Reboot Has Been Scrapped, Susan Olsen Says

The Cindy Brady actress revealed a revival of The Brady Bunch is “pretty much dead in the water” due to her “controversial comments and hate speech.”

the-brady-bunch-getty.jpg
'The Brady Bunch' cast. Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General

Fans will no longer be reuniting with the beloved Brady family. A revival series of The Brady Bunch was initially in the works at CBS Studios, however, it has since been axed. Via Vanity Fair, Cindy Brady actress Susan Olsen appeared on the WalkAway Campaign podcast, revealing that her controversial political views, including her support of Donald Trump and her opinions on the COVID vaccines, led to the showโ€™s axing.

โ€œI did have a phone call with my [TV] siblings and my agent,โ€ Olsen said. โ€œEverybody was saying, โ€˜Weโ€™re sorry, but they just wonโ€™t budge. They just will not have you in this.โ€™ Iโ€™m like, Wow, Iโ€™ve been canceled. A role that Iโ€™ve played for over 50 years, I canโ€™t play it now because Iโ€™m too dangerous. I was like, โ€˜Well, okay guys, good luck, I hope you can sell it.โ€™โ€ A source claims the project, which would have followed the life of the adult Brady kids, was still very early in development.

Videos by PopCulture.com

Olsen claims that the studio was reluctant to cast her, but talks continued for about a year when she had a call with the showrunner, producer, and son of original Brady Bunch creator Sherwood Schwartz, who were asking her questions about her political views. They shared their own beliefs about the vaccine, but a source close to the project revealed the issue with Olsen was not for her support for Trump but her โ€œcontroversial comments and hate speech, which she has noted she still stands by.โ€

The actress shared that the revival series, which is โ€œpretty much dead in the water,โ€ would have seen Brady family in the modern era. Cindy would have been a libertarian podcaster, one of Janโ€™s children was going to be trans, and one of the Bradys was going to have a Black spouse. However, Susan Olsen was not fond of it. โ€œTo that, I was like, Come on, letโ€™s not be so obvious,โ€ she said. โ€œLetโ€™s make this Black spouse somebody who has a really close relationship with another Brady, and thatโ€™s how this Brady met them. Give them a foundation so this isnโ€™t a token position.โ€

Whether or not a Brady Bunch series will ever happen in the future is unknown. While it is always possible there could be a series centered on the other five Brady kids, it would be weird to have a show with all of them and not Cindy. There have been other Brady Bunch sequels, other shows, and reunion films that have aired in the past, so itโ€™s always possible that more could be on the way in the future, regardless of whoโ€™s in it. For now, though, the Brady family will not be returning.