Brady Bunch Star Eve Plumb Exposes the Real Money Behind TV Residuals

The Brady Bunch has basically lived on TV forever, but Jan Brady did not retire on Brady money. Eve Plumb, now 68, lays it out in her new memoir, and the reality is not what you probably assumed.

The money myth, from Jan herself

"If I had a dime for every rerun episode, I’d pay off the national deficit."

And then she adds, very plainly: "I don’t."

That gut-punch comes straight from Plumb’s memoir, 'Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond'. Translation: despite decades of reruns, the checks are not rolling in.

The book and the Brady of it all

Plumb was 11 when she was cast as Jan on the ABC sitcom about a big blended family, which ran from 1969 to 1974 and then basically never left the air. The book promises behind-the-scenes stories from her child-star years and beyond, and it points out how the show has been in perpetual reruns for about five decades, which means three generations grew up with it. All that familiarity doesn’t equal windfalls for the actors, per Plumb.

Clearing up the greatest hits (and myths)

Plumb also tackles a few things she’s had to explain, repeatedly. That famous 'Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!' moment? She says it didn’t become a cultural catchphrase until a Saturday Night Live sketch made it huge later on. She also keeps having to tell people two things: no, the cast doesn’t make residuals the way folks think they do; and no, she didn’t hate The Brady Bunch. She said as much while promoting the book in a chat with PauseRewind’s Elizabeth Stanton, admitting she has smiled through giving the same answers what feels like the 5,000th time.

The Bradys, then and now

• Eve Plumb as Jan Brady
• Maureen McCormick as Marcia Brady
• Barry Williams as Greg Brady
• Christopher Knight as Peter Brady
• Mike Lookinland as Bobby Brady
• Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady
• Florence Henderson as Carol Brady (died in November 2016 at 82 from heart failure)
• Robert Reed as Mike Brady (died in May 1992 at 59 from complications related to colon cancer and HIV)
• Ann B. Davis as Alice Nelson (died at 88 from a subdural hematoma after a fall)

Where the cast stands with each other

Plumb doesn’t pretend they all agree on everything. She says they look back fondly on what they made, but life is life, and not everyone can or wants to show up for every reunion. As she puts it, they’re all autonomous people with their own schedules and reasons, and they’re not always in the loop on why someone skips a project.

Bottom line: the Brady legacy is massive, the reruns never stop, and Eve Plumb is happy to talk about it — just don’t assume those endless airings paid for a private island.