A Trend
The 60’s actually experienced a growing trend in television where it showed widowed parents raising their young children. At the time of the series premiere of The Brady Bunch, some critics said that the show had taken this particular trend to an extreme.
Many Letters
As far as fan mail goes, The Brady Bunch received a ton of it. Especially from other kids asking if they could live with the Bradys as their own family life was far from perfect. Sherwood Schwartz would personally write back to those letters reminding the kids that this was just a television show, and that the children would be better off making their personal lives better.