The Brady Bunch: What if Adam West was cast as Mike Brady?

[Darthfury78]

I read that Sherwood Schwartz(show's creator) wanted Gene Hackman to play Mike Brady. However, do you feel that if Adam West[coming off of his run on Batman(1966)] was made available to Sherwood Schwartz to play the role of Mike Brady, would the Brady Bunch lasted longer than its initial 5 year run? Would be interesting to see how well Adam West interacting with Florence Henderson and the rest of the cast.

Adam West envisioned as Mike Brady

[Osiris-Rex]

Something that would have been great is if they did a Halloween episode and Adam dressed as Batman and Florence as Robin with the kids as various villains.

[Phoenixx9]

I read that Sherwood Schwartz(show's creator) wanted Gene Hackman to play Mike Brady. However, do you feel that if Adam West[coming off of his run on Batman(1966)] was made available to Sherwood Schwartz to play the role of Mike Brady, would the Brady Bunch lasted longer than its initial 5 year run? Would be interesting to see how well Adam West interacting with Florence Henderson and the rest of the cast.

Adam West envisioned as Mike Brady

...and Robert Reed as Batman?

[Powerboy]

Tough call. Didn't Robert Reed leave the show over the fact that he was told when he signed on that it would be a drama with undertones of comedy but it was basically Gilligan's Island in the suburbs? Then he came back towards the end and agreed to do the subsequent television movies as well? I don't think Adam West would have had a problem with it being comedy. So, if Reed leaving is what hurt the show badly, then West taking the role would have helped.

To reverse the scenario, had Reed been cast as Batman, I think he would have ended up having the same issues over the lack of serious drama.

[Phoenixx9]

I don't know about all that--I saw both shows years later as re-runs!

[Osiris-Rex]

I don't think Adam West would have had a problem with it being comedy.

The Batman TV show was comedy.

[MyriVerse]

Tough call. Didn't Robert Reed leave the show over the fact that he was told when he signed on that it would be a drama with undertones of comedy but it was basically Gilligan's Island in the suburbs? Then he came back towards the end and agreed to do the subsequent television movies as well? I don't think Adam West would have had a problem with it being comedy. So, if Reed leaving is what hurt the show badly, then West taking the role would have helped.

They butted heads over ths issue, but he never left (but he was absent from the final episode). To keep him quiet, Sherwood even let him direct some episodes.

[The Darknight Detective]

The Batman TV show was comedy.

Even was Emmy-nominated as such.

[Darthfury78]

What would had been interesting was to see an alternate pilot episode of the Brady Bunch whereby James Franciscus played Mike Brady(with 3 Blonde Sons) while Joyce Bullifant played Carol Brady(with 3 brunette girls). This could have happened had Robert Reed declined to do the Brady Bunch. Here is the link to the story.

https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/t...show-memories/

The Brady Bunch would had been a very different show if James Franciscus and Joyce Bullifant were cast.

[Riv86672]

Something that would have been great is if they did a Halloween episode and Adam dressed as Batman and Florence as Robin with the kids as various villains.

Florence as Catwoman...

The kids as other villains...Alice as Robin!

[Phoenixx9]

Alice as Bruce Wayne's aunt...

[Comic-Reader Lad]

This is kind of the most wacky, random thread I've seen on this site, so I feel compelled to respond.

The truth is that, while the Brady Bunch probably doesn't demand Shakespearean-level acting, the fact is that Robert Reed was a much better actor than Adam West.

It's been said that West was typecast after Batman, but no, he just wasn't all that great an actor, but his odd cadence in his line deliveries was well-suited for the type of show the Batman producers wanted to make.

Through the magic of DVD, I've seen Adam West guest spots in 1960s shows before Batman, and he really wasn't very good. His Nestle Quik commercial that earned him the Batman audition was also kind of awkward to me.



It's been reported that West turned down the role of James Bond after Sean Connery left it because West thought Bond should be British. As far as I'm concerned: bullet dodged for Bond fans. Although, given that he spent much of the 70s making embarrassing public appearances in his Batman suit, he probably ended up regretting turning down Bond.

I'm a fan of Adam West in his Batman TV show, but he really didn't have the acting chops to do much else.

[Osiris-Rex]

This is kind of the most wacky, random thread I've seen on this site, so I feel compelled to respond.

The truth is that, while the Brady Bunch probably doesn't demand Shakespearean-level acting, the fact is that Robert Reed was a much better actor than Adam West.

It's been said that West was typecast after Batman, but no, he just wasn't all that great an actor, but his odd cadence in his line deliveries was well-suited for the type of show the Batman producers wanted to make.

Through the magic of DVD, I've seen Adam West guest spots in 1960s shows before Batman, and he really wasn't very good. His Nestle Quik commercial that earned him the Batman audition was also kind of awkward to me.

It's been reported that West turned down the role of James Bond after Sean Connery left it because West thought Bond should be British. As far as I'm concerned: bullet dodged for Bond fans. Although, given that he spent much of the 70s making embarrassing public appearances in his Batman suit, he probably ended up regretting turning down Bond.

I'm a fan of Adam West in his Batman TV show, but he really didn't have the acting chops to do much else.

Though Adam West was in over 40 movies after Batman, including such wonders as The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood and Young Lady Chatterley II.
And maybe around 60 TV shows unrelated to something superhero, in addition to doing himself, some Batman stuff, and Batman related stuff, such as appearing on The Big Bang Theory.
Not exactly Oscar or Emmy material but work is work. So it's not like he was bordering on being homeless.

[Darthfury78]

This is kind of the most wacky, random thread I've seen on this site, so I feel compelled to respond.

The truth is that, while the Brady Bunch probably doesn't demand Shakespearean-level acting, the fact is that Robert Reed was a much better actor than Adam West.

It's been said that West was typecast after Batman, but no, he just wasn't all that great an actor, but his odd cadence in his line deliveries was well-suited for the type of show the Batman producers wanted to make.

Through the magic of DVD, I've seen Adam West guest spots in 1960s shows before Batman, and he really wasn't very good. His Nestle Quik commercial that earned him the Batman audition was also kind of awkward to me.



It's been reported that West turned down the role of James Bond after Sean Connery left it because West thought Bond should be British. As far as I'm concerned: bullet dodged for Bond fans. Although, given that he spent much of the 70s making embarrassing public appearances in his Batman suit, he probably ended up regretting turning down Bond.

I'm a fan of Adam West in his Batman TV show, but he really didn't have the acting chops to do much else.

If West had taken the role of Mike Brady, he might had been able to escape the Batman typecast. Although his involvement with The Brady Bunch might had had a very different take on the show. I doubt that West would had been a problem with the scripts that Sherwood Schwartz provided, unlike Robert Reed who hated them.

[Osiris-Rex]

If West had taken the role of Mike Brady, he might had been able to escape the Batman typecast. Although his involvement with The Brady Bunch might had had a very different take on the show. I doubt that West would had been a problem with the scripts that Sherwood Schwartz provided, unlike Robert Reed who hated them.

The kids were the stars of the show anyway. I am sure Florence and Robert were liked. But I don't think most people tuned in to watch them. I would bet the Alice character was more popular. Had
more of a personality anyway. They were the Ward and June Cleaver of their generation. Pretty much any competent actor could have played Mike Brady.