The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brady kids renovate original home on HGTV
‘A Very Brady Renovation’ debuts tonight with 90-minute episode.
Here’s a story of a lovely home that became one of the most famous exteriors of any TV show in history.
And once “The Brady Bunch” home went on sale last year in Los Angeles, HGTV had a brilliant idea: Buy it and renovate it with the Brady kids helping out.
Somehow, this wacky, oddly quixotic and very pricey proposition came to fruition in a four episode series “A Very Brady Renovation” debuting today at 9 p.m. with a 90-minute episode. The timing is right, too — it’s the 50th anniversary of the debut of the ABC classic.
“The house is so much of the story,” said Loren Ruch, senior vice president of production and development for HGTV, in February during the SCAD a TV Fest.
HGTV purchased the home for a whopping $3.49 million, which is $1.6 million above the asking price, sight unseen, outbidding Lance Bass of ‘N Sync fame.
Only after the producers peered inside did they realize what a massive undertaking this would be to make it resemble the home Americans know and love from
the iconic TV show.
“The house inside did not resemble what was on the [Paramount] set,” said showrunner Bob Kirsh. “Plus, the size of the Brady house on the set was 4,000 square feet. This house was only 2,000 square feet. We had to add literally an entire wing.”
The Brady actors were paired up with different HGTV stars such as Drew and Jonathan Scott of “The Property Brothers,” Leanne and Steve Ford of “Restored by the Fords” and Lara Spencer of “Flea Market Flip.”
The show also convinced all six Brady kids to join the show. They are obviously not kids anymore, ranging in age from 58 for Susan Olsen (Cindy) and 64 for Barry Williams (Greg).
In the end, the project took six months, finishing in May, recreating 15 different spaces, including Alice’s bedroom and Greg’s attic bedroom when he couldn’t stand living with Peter and Bobby anymore.
The first episode features the setup and a lot of destruction of the original home. Among the first fixes featured: the iconic staircase and exterior. The series will focus on the challenges they face as well as some of the compromises to make it work.
“We want to be as journalistic as possible,” said Ruch of HGTV. “We have the viewers involved in the process. We don’t want to pull the wool over their eyes.”
HGTV was also able to procure the rights to “Brady Bunch” footage so whenever an actor referenced something from the show, they could show the video. Williams, for instance, mentions painting the kitchen, and there he is 50 years earlier accidentally painting Alice.
There is a segment where Christoper Knight (Peter) and HGTV star Jasmine Roth of “Hidden Potential” spend way too much time trying to figure out an exact exterior color match, flummoxed in part because the color looked different in vintage photos depending on the lighting.
“Forensic home building,” Knight mused.
“I have to get this color right, or I’ll let America down,” said Roth, as if this were the American Olympic hockey team against the Russians in 1980.
Creating or finding furniture that resembled the original 1969 versions was another challenge.
Paramount did have some furniture and props in a storage facility that included some original pieces and some from the mid-1990s movies. They even sought the public’s help for specific notable pieces, like the curio cabinet and a cluster of fake orange grapes on the living room table in season one.
“The Brady Bunch” was a fantasy version of a family many wished they had. The home brings back those warm memories for everybody involved.
“This taps into the design and renovation aspects our viewers like,” Ruch said, “and the nostalgia is like icing on the cake. It just feels like it belongs on our network.”
It’s unclear how HGTV will leverage the home once it’s finished. For now, they have a fan video contest. The prize: Live in the house for a week.
Sadly, the actors who played the Brady parents (Robert Reed and Florence Henderson) and housekeeper (Ann B. Davis) have died and missed out on all the fun. But as Maureen McCormick (Marcia) said during the first episode: “I feel like they’re all here with us.”