Mom!
Shirley Jones was originally offered the part of Carol. However, she refused to take the part because, as she put it, she refused to play a part where all she did was “take a pot roast out of the oven”. Just a year after The Brady Bunch premiered, Jones would played another iconic mother on The Partridge Family.
Mom!
Mike Brady
Sherwood Schwartz once claimed that the only reason Robert Reed worked on this show was solely based on his need to fulfill a contractual obligation with Paramount. Initially, Reed was meant to star in a sitcom based on Barefoot in the Park (which he had already done on Broadway) although it never got off the ground. In addition, Reed was also considered for a TV adaptation of the movie Houseboat, which also was axed. As both sitcoms were no longer going forward, the opportunity was there for Reed to play Mike Brady.
Mike Brady
