You never want to be that show that overstays its welcome. Even the best shows are susceptible to doing it. The Simpsons can be argued as the greatest show ever and it probably could've ended years ago. The same idea could be said for The Brady Bunch. The kids got older and it seemed like it was dragging its feet. Of course, the network, not ready to stop milking its cash cow, came up with a way to try and keep the show fresh: bring in a fresh, new Brady in the form of cousin Oliver.
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If that seems a little desperate, that's because it definitely was. The whole cast knew it too. As much as young actor Robbie Rist tried his hardest, everyone else was checked out. Moreover, they felt like this was the moment The Brady Bunch "jumped the shark." "Every time a show is starting to get a little bit lower in the ratings, they start to add in the cute kid," Susan Olsen says.
The crew all admit to liking Robbie well enough but they all knew what the network was trying to do. Consequently, the young child actor at the time gets a lot of the blame. He begs to differ, though.
Robbie Rist Denies Being The Reason The Brady Bunch Was Cancelled
Recently, Rist went on The Patrick LabyorSheaux podcast, where he responds to claims that he's the reason the show went downhill. However, Robbie can't even wrap his mind around that being true. He was just a kid and the writing was already on the wall for them. Pinning The Brady Bunch downfall on him is a little much.
"I really got a sense from them over the years that they felt like I was some kind of interloper. That I — you know, as a 9-year-old — had designs on sort of getting my claws into this thing that they've been working on for five years," Robbie says. "Of course, they gave me way too much credit because I'm not that smart and I was 9."
All Robbie knows for certain is that the network was apparently informing producers of The Brady Bunch to add a new kid to the dynamic. He gives it his best showing, but the show ends up dying after six weeks anyway. In the end, none of it really mattered that much for him.
