'Bradys' revisit Hawai'i for 90-minute TV show
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
Florence Henderson, Carol Brady to millions who grew up watching "The Brady Bunch," was slightly misty-eyed at the wrap party yesterday for "The Bradys Back in Hawai'i," an unscripted documentary that will air next January or February when most of America will be shivering.
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"It took a while to get everyone together, but we're here," said Henderson, the sunny matriarch of the beloved sitcom family, at a get-together at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel's Hanohano Room.
The Brady cast, from left, Susan Olsen, Christopher Knight, Florence Henderson, Barry Williams and Mike Lookinland, return to Hawai'i.
The 90-minute show, expected to be an armchair tour of the Islands from the view of the Bradys retracking their steps on the 30th anniversary of the first of three Hawai'i-filmed shows in the 1972-73 season, is an unpaid commercial plug that hopes to lure visitors here, said Walea Constantinau, director of the Hawai'i Film Office.
"On a scale of 1 to 10, the show measures 10 for promotional value and emotional impact," she said. "It's a fair amount of money for the producers (Associated Television International had a six-figure budget), but small in comparison to a film like 'Tears of the Sun' (with its $70 million budget)," said Constantinau. "But we know the value of exposure from this kind of a show; people are curious about where things are done and shot and the actors playing the Brady family back here, doing tourist things that people find wildly popular, has a lot of appeal. There was a 14-year-old girl at the taping of a lu'au show at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and when she found out The Bradys were there, she was so thrilled. Her father had grown up with the show, so it was a chicken- skin testimonial to the lasting popularity of the show."
Henderson and her TV family — Barry Williams as Greg, Christopher Knight as Peter, Mike Lookinland as Bobby and Susan Olsen as Cindy — spent a busy week, interacting with dolphins at Sea Life Park, cruising aboard an Atlantis submarine, and checking out the Don Ho show at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel.
"Singing with Don Ho was a highlight," said Williams, now 48. "I did 'Tiny Bubbles' with him, twice, and 'Sweet Someone,' which he originally sang to Bobby and Cindy."
Knight, 45, said, "The show has been popular because it never was about social relevance reflecting the times. ... It's always been about a simple life and basic morality."
Olsen, the Brady baby at 42, cites the familial priorities for the show's perseverance. "It's never been off the air (still in syndication, with numerous spin-offs, including movies, plays, books, toys and tours). Kids come first in the Brady household; sometimes it's unrealistic, representing fantasies that are idealistic, but the parents always treated the kids with respect."
Henderson, a model of grace, said she's still motherly even with her grown-up brood. "I worry about them; you love them all, for different reasons; you see their faults but remember the positive." Spoken like a true Carol Brady.
