Concealed Details From Bewitched That Producers Didn’t Want Getting Out

Montgomery gave birth three times during her time on the show, but only two of her pregnancies were written into the series (as the magical births of Tabitha and Adam). Yes, while the actress was actually with child in season one, you wouldn’t know it. The whole thing was covered up on screen because the network deemed it inappropriate for Sam and Darrin to be expecting a baby so quickly after saying “I do.” Weird, but that was the thing back then.

After five seasons on the show, Dick York magically vanished from the scene. He was replaced by none other than Sargent; producers had gotten their dream Darrin after all. There's a tragic explanation, however: while filming They Came to Cordura, York suffered a terrible injury, tearing several muscles in the right side of his back. Doctors gave him pain medication, but the actor never truly recovered.

During the fifth season, York was filming despite a 105 degree fever. While sitting on the set, the flickering spotlight proved to be too much. York had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital; he resigned instantly, as if by magic.

While most fans would eventually warm to Dick Sargent as a replacement for Dick York, Agnes Moorehead – who played Samantha’s mother Endora – just couldn’t accept the new Darrin. And that led to some pretty awkward moments on set. In an interview with Chicago Outlines, Sargent revealed, “About the third or fourth show I was in, [Moorehead] said to people in front of me, ‘They should never meddle with success.’” Whatever could she have meant?

You should know, though, that Montgomery nearly didn’t take her Bewitched role. As Pilato told British newspaper the Daily Mail, the star had wanted to retire from acting before a single scene of the sitcom was filmed. But she was eventually convinced otherwise by husband Asher – and we’re frankly glad he changed her mind.

Montgomery was admired by many men – and that includes one of her co-stars. Yep, York was supposedly deeply in love with the actress, although the feeling wasn’t mutual. Pilato told Fox News, “[Montgomery] was married to the show’s producer, and it became very uncomfortable for her.” Awkward.

Scandalously, original Darrin actor Dick York left Bewitched because of back pain and a painkiller addiction. That left the producers with a problem. Would viewers love replacement Dick Sargent, or would they be clamoring for York to return instead? Well, to make sure fans were on side with Sargent before he appeared on screen, ABC reran every episode in which York did not appear. Devious!

Let’s just say that Elizabeth Montgomery and Bill Asher didn’t have the most stable marriage. The rumors are that Asher cheated on numerous occasions... And perhaps in response, the Bewitched star had her own affair with Richard Michaels, one of the show’s other producers. The pair ended up seeing each other for two years as Montgomery’s relationship with Asher crumbled.

Anyone who’s seen an episode of Mad Men will know that attitudes to drinking in the workplace were a lot different in the ’60s. That explains why the Bewitched actors sipped on real liquor when their characters had drinks in their hands. And, yes, that means many scenes were shot while the stars were, well, let’s just say, a little tipsy.

It’s hard to imagine anyone else twitching their nose in such an adorable fashion! But Bewitched’s producers initially had someone else in mind for their leading lady. Step forward Tammy Grimes, who passed on the role because of Samantha’s motivations. Writer and classic TV enthusiast Herbie J. Pilato told Fox News, “She felt like if the character had all this power, why doesn’t she cure all the ills of the world?” Good point.

Indeed, Samantha famously wiggled her nose to activate her magic, but interestingly enough, Erin Murphy claimed that Montgomery actually wiggled her upper lip. Director William Asher said it was a nervous twitch.

Samantha would also raise her arms as the magic took place around her. In reality, however, she had to stand completely still as crew members manipulated the set. Talk about a magical arm workout!

And there also didn’t appear to be any love lost between Montgomery and on-screen mom Moorehead. On one occasion, the Samantha actress made a sarcastic swipe at Moorehead’s less than charming behavior on set. Then, after receiving an evil glare from Moorehead in return, Montgomery replied, “Don’t you look at me that way.” Miaow.

You certainly can’t fault Alice Pearce’s dedication to her craft. You see, the actress battled cancer while playing Gladys. Incredibly, she was even filming on the day that she eventually succumbed to the disease. But the show had to go on, and following her untimely death Pearce was replaced by Sandra Gould. Two months after her death, Alice was posthumously awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy.

York’s back problems were so severe that he had to use special furniture during filming. He even had to be assisted by his co-stars when it came to moving around on the Bewitched set. Now you know why Darrin was always sitting or lying down on the show!

Twins Erin and Diane Murphy took turns playing Tabitha during Bewitched’s run. And as they were the youngest main cast members by quite some distance, it’s little surprise that they’ve outlived all their co-stars. That’s right. After Bernard Fox passed away in 2016, the Murphys are the only Bewitched regulars who are still around to tell the tale.

Elizabeth Montgomery was the show's headline star, but did you know that she performed another role on Bewitched? She also played Samantha's cousin, Serena, and was credited as the paranormal Pandora Spocks.

So Montgomery pulled double duty by playing Samantha’s livelier cousin Serena. But after the star asked to be credited for this performance as Pandora Spocks, it bamboozled a number of viewers. Some of them believed that Serena was portrayed by an entirely different actress and sent fan mail addressed directly to Spocks!

Plenty of shows are taken off the air because viewers just aren’t tuning in anymore. But Bewitched wasn’t one of them. In fact, the sitcom had apparently been renewed for two more years before that final ep in 1972. So, why the heck did it end? Basically, Montgomery decided she’d had enough of twitching her nose. The actress’ marriage to Asher was also imploding at the same time, which probably made days on set with him a hard prospect to swallow.

In reality, Hollywood isn't all that glamorous, especially for supporting actors. During filming, they would have to bring their own clothing from home to wear on set! Some wardrobe pieces, though, were a bit more special. Agnes Moorehead wore a special brooch when playing Endora, Samantha's mother. She knew Elizabeth Montgomery was struck by the pin's beauty so, when she died, she bequeathed it to her on-screen daughter.

If you’re an anime fan, then you’ll probably be aware of the subgenre known as “magical girl.” But what you probably don’t know is that this distinctive form of Japanese animation has roots in a 1960s American sitcom. Yep, the concept of young girls having magical powers is reportedly based on Bewitched.

Turns out Bewitched isn’t as original as you think! Apparently, the sitcom’s concept borrowed heavily from both 1942’s I Married a Witch and 1958’s Bell, Book and Candle. The show managed to avoid any accusations of outright plagiarism, though, as it was made by Screen Gems. That was an offshoot of the two films’ production company Columbia Pictures.

It seems hard to believe now, but in the mid-1960s separated couples didn’t really exist on American television. Until Bewitched, that is! Samantha’s warring mom and pop Endora and Maurice are the characters who helped the sitcom make TV history.

“Which of these popular ’60s TV shows premiered first? Bewitched, Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes or I Dream of Jeannie?” That was the question standing between Aussie Rob Fulton and the ultimate prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? So, after much to-ing and fro-ing, the contestant settled on Bewitched as the answer. And he was right! Take note of that for your next trivia night.

In 2019 Erin Murphy reprised her most famous character in a self-referencing YouTube sketch. For an episode of the web series TV Therapy, the actress played a grown-up version of Tabitha who undergoes counseling for her unique childhood experiences. And somewhat amusingly, that included her father changing faces – referencing, of course, the switch from York to Sargent in the Darrin role.

You can’t get much more wholesome than the family-friendly antics of Bewitched. Before the first episode aired, though, some folks believed that the sitcom was the work of Beelzebub. Protests were staged in several areas of the Bible Belt, as it was feared that the show would celebrate the act of devil-worshipping.

Remember the addictive theme tune that played on the opening credits? Well, there are several versions floating about featuring lyrics penned by Howard Greenfield. Peggy Lee and Steve Lawrence are just a few of the artists who sang lines such as “Bewitched, bewitched, you’ve got me in your spell/Bewitched, bewitched, you know your craft so well.” We’ll never hear it the same way again...

Towards the end of her time on Bewitched, Montgomery stopped wearing a bra while filming! She did it in support of the women's liberation movement, but it still caused a bit of a stir.

You may have heard on the grapevine that Dick Sargent – the second guy to play Darrin – died from AIDS. But that’s not the truth, as Pilato told Fox News. He said, “Yes, [Sargent] was a man who happened to be gay, but that has been a misconception all these years.” The actor actually passed away from prostate cancer in 1994.

After being given the honor of choosing her on-screen daughter’s name, Montgomery looked to another actor for inspiration. Edward Andrews had christened his two children Abigail and Tabitha, and Bewitched’s leading lady found herself completely taken by that second name. “I loved it because it was so old-fashioned,” Montgomery explained of her pick.

Even Bewitched’s most ardent fans have probably forgotten all about the spinoff! Yep, a sister show briefly appeared on ABC in the late 1970s. And as its title suggests, Tabitha saw Samantha and Darrin’s daughter take center stage. Instead of being played by the Murphy twins, though, the character was portrayed by Lisa Hartman. Perhaps you saw her on The Masked Singer in 2020?

Famously, Samantha’s nose would twitch whenever something magical was about to happen. But while many fans tried to replicate Elizabeth Montgomery’s trademark move, they should know that it was all down to some studio hocus pocus. Color us disappointed! But it’s true. In an interview with Parade, Erin Murphy – who played Samantha’s daughter Tabitha – revealed that the nose twitch was nothing more than a “camera trick.”

Speaking of that twitch, credit has to go to Montgomery herself. According to biographer Herbie Pilato, the quirk stemmed from a real-life movement that Montgomery would involuntarily make when nervous. So, director William Asher – who, conveniently, was also Montgomery’s husband! – wrote her tic into the show. And the rest is TV history.

Though some people may have been fooled by the transition from York to Sargent, more attentive viewers immediately picked up on the differences between the two actors. In fact, the switch was so jarring for some that the term “Darrin Syndrome” – the act of replacing lead actors with new stars – ultimately became part of the Hollywood lexicon.

We can’t imagine Bewitched without Samantha and Darrin’s daughter Tabitha. We also can’t imagine anyone else but Erin Murphy in the role. But did you know that part almost went to future Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster? Yes, really! Helen Hunt was actually considered for Tabitha, too.

After Paul Lynde first showed up on screen as wacky Uncle Arthur, he quickly became a beloved recurring star. Avid fans will know, though, that Arthur wasn’t the only character Lynde played on the sitcom. The actor actually made his Bewitched debut as a nervous driving instructor in the episode “Driving is the Only Way to Fly.” Apparently, he impressed the powers that be so much that he ultimately nabbed a bigger role.

Even if you haven’t ever seen an episode of Bewitched – too young, perhaps? – you’ll probably have caught the iconic animated intro. That was the work of none other than Hanna-Barbera. But one person wasn’t a fan. The mystery hater? Elizabeth Montgomery! Reportedly, Montgomery even believed that the show’s production team could have come up with something more creative.

And if you haven’t watched that animated intro, then you’ll almost certainly be able to hum the Bewitched theme tune. We bet you’re tempted to do that right now! But while the famous earworm has now become synonymous with the show, it wasn’t a totally original piece of work. The bouncy track was actually a variation of a jingle used by Chevrolet in their commercials. Seeing as how Chevy in fact sponsored Bewitched, we can’t help but wonder if subliminal messaging was at work...

Bewitched’s mix of fantasy and comedy inspired countless imitators – most notably NBC’s I Dream of Jeannie. But along with the obvious similarities in plot and characterization, Jeannie shared stuff with Bewitched that only eagle-eyed fans would notice. In particular, the two sitcoms were able to actually swap sets and props as their sound stages were so near to each other.

Bewitched had something in common with another famous show, too. Remember the house owned by the Kravitzes – Samantha’s curious neighbors? Well, you may just recognize that from The Partridge Family. Yep, that home once saw David Cassidy walk through its doors. Lucky building!

Working on any TV show has its perks, and being on Bewitched was no different. Speaking to the website Bewitched.net, star Kasey Rogers explained, “I wore all my own clothes on the show. You would take your clothes in the week before, and wardrobe would make sure they were all cleaned, pressed and altered for you.” Becoming an actor just to get out of laundry day? Not gonna lie, we’re tempted.

Like Paul Lynde, Marion Lorne soon became a beloved part of Bewitched. In fact, her performance as Aunt Clara actually earned her a posthumous Emmy. But did you know that Clara’s famous penchant for collecting antique doorknobs was actually based on a real-life hobby of Lorne’s? So much so, in fact, that the actress would often use items from her own stash as props.

Samantha’s magic may have required Bewitched to use special effects, but the show was severely limited by the technology of the time. For her house-cleaning spell, for example, producers literally stopped taping while crew cleaned up the set. Then they began rolling again when the stage was clear. And unfortunately for Montgomery, she had to stand in the same awkward pose until all was ready.

Even though Elizabeth Montgomery got a whole lotta fame and money out of the show, she fell out of love with her role pretty quickly. Why? Well, she wanted a meatier part – something that would challenge her. So, after Bewitched’s fifth season, Montgomery made moves to leave. The only thing that coaxed her back? A hefty pay rise.

While Bewitched wasn’t exactly Meet the Press, politics did affect its eight-year run. Alongside production starting on the same day as John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the show also aired at the time of the murder of Martin Luther King. The broadcast of 1968 episode “I Confess” had to be paused to run news of the civil rights leader’s death.

But though Montgomery may have had very little love for Bewitched at the end, she still reaped the benefits long after its cancellation. Because the actress owned a 20 percent stake in the production, she earned millions from syndication. And that all added up. At the time of Montgomery’s death in 1995, she was estimated to be worth a whopping $40 million.

Darrin and Endora may famously have been at loggerheads on screen, but they were actually bosom buddies when the cameras stopped rolling. Fundamentalist Moorehead was particularly fond of how York embraced the spiritual side of his nature. She was also impressed by his skills as an actor. Aw!

Erin Murphy appears to have plenty of strings to her bow. And in 2014 she showed her entrepreneurial spirit by co-launching a firm that makes thirst-quenching but low-calorie ice pops. Mind you, you wouldn’t give any Slim Chillers to kids. Vodka martini’s their specialty, you see!

The joys of Bewitched were introduced to a whole new generation when a hot new show spoofed the classic sitcom. WandaVision’s second episode saw Elizabeth Olsen take inspiration from her namesake Montgomery for her performance. And to make the homage even more authentic, special effects were created using strings – just as they were in Bewitched.

You may remember that we lost Montgomery way too soon. What you may not know, though, is that the Bewitched star was only diagnosed with colorectal cancer two months before her death. And by that point, tragically, the disease had already reached stage four. In an interview with Cancer Today, Montgomery’s boyfriend Foxworth revealed that the actress had been experiencing symptoms for quite a while before she sought medical help.

Remember that flop adaptation of Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman? Well, it doesn’t appear to have deterred Hollywood! In fact, there are apparently two remakes in the works. One is a small-screen version helmed by Kenya Barris, the creator of Black-ish. The other is a feature-length film involving Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas.

A respected actress who’d previously worked with Orson Welles, Moorehead was reportedly lukewarm about the idea of taking on the role of Endora. That’s according to Herbie J. Pilato. And although Moorehead obviously agreed to do the pilot in the end, she had little faith that it would be picked up. Good job she was wrong!

Renowned for playing Darrin’s two-faced boss Larry Tate, David White was so devoted to his firstborn that he asked for his character’s son to be named after him. Tragically, the very real Jonathan lost his life in the Lockerbie disaster of 1988. Pilato later told Closer, “That was one thing [White] never got over. He was heartbroken.”

Montgomery would often show up to the set of the movie Kid Galahad. Nothing odd in that, you’d think, seeing as her husband Gig Young was one of the stars. But rumor has it that the Bewitched actress may have been more interested in flirting with the film’s leading man. That’s right! Montgomery was apparently smitten with Elvis, and some say the King appeared to feel the same way. It’s not known whether the pair ever got together, though.

There’s a theory that Moorehead’s death from uterine cancer is linked to her time on the set of The Conqueror. And there may actually be something in that. You see, several other stars of the 1956 picture – including Susan Hayward and John Wayne – also succumbed to cancer. According to People, 91 crew members in total were diagnosed with forms of the disease after working on location in Snow Canyon. The Utah site proved an unfortunate choice to say the least, as it lay downwind from a Nevada testing ground for atomic weapons.

Yep, a former star of Our Gang – or perhaps you know it as The Little Rascals? – was instrumental to Bewitched’s success. Jackie Cooper was overseeing Screen Gems’ programming department when he packaged several sitcoms together for ABC. And, luckily, one of these shows just happened to feature the nose-crinkling adventures of Samantha Stephens.

Montgomery’s actor father Robert never wanted her to follow in his footsteps. According to Pilato, the Top Secret star hoped that his daughter would live a conventional married life away from the spotlight. And he wasn’t too happy when Montgomery ended up as more successful than him. Apparently, Bewitched’s ratings dominance made the leading lady’s dad green with envy.

York made sure that Bewitched’s casting team couldn’t forget him when he auditioned to play Darrin. Pilato told Closer that the actor jumped on Mongtomery’s lap before quipping, “Aren’t we cute together? You have to hire me.” The folks who’d seen the stunt obviously agreed! And the rest, of course, is ’60s sitcom history.

Alice Ghostley made 15 Bewitched appearances as housekeeper Esmerelda. Initially, though, she was approached to take over from the late Alice Pearce as busybody neighbor Mrs. Kravitz. Ghostley felt uncomfortable about stepping into the shoes of her friend and had similar concerns when she was asked to join the show in the wake of Marion Lorne’s death. Producer Bill Asher reassured her, however, that Esmerelda would only be a similar character to Aunt Clara – and not a direct replacement.

Darrin was never particularly supportive of his wife Samantha’s magical abilities. But the man who first played him? He apparently wished that the character had been a little more understanding. In his interview with Closer, Pilato claims that York “always saw the show as a love story about two people who truly did adore each other.” Often, though, he was directed to play Darrin as unforgiving.

Although Moorehead appeared to enjoy her time playing Endora, she didn’t think the role fully showed off her skills. Pilato claimed that she had once turned to York and said, “It’s fun to do the show, but when can we act?” Ouch! But Moorehead did have chops. She’d previously been a member of Orson Welles’ renowned Mercury Theatre rep company and had appeared in Citizen Kane.

York’s path to stardom wasn’t exactly conventional. You see, his talents weren’t spotted by an agent or drama teacher but by a nun! Yes, York was encouraged to pursue a career as a singer by one of the sisters at his school. And he was probably glad she did, as he landed his first regular gig on radio comedy That Brewster Boy at the age of just 15.

You have to feel for poor Irene Vernon. She’d spent two seasons playing Louise Tate but was given her walking papers before the third – and it was all down to circumstances beyond her control. Vernon was only let go because of her connection with Danny Arnold. He was a producer who’d quit Bewitched at the end of its inaugural season.

It’s difficult to consider anyone other than George Tobias playing Abner Kravitz. But the character actor wasn’t actually the first choice for the role! Jim Backus was the guy the producers initially wanted. Owing to his commitments on Gilligan’s Island, though, the man better known as Thurston Howell III turned them down.

Turns out that Montgomery may have had a little help when it came to twitching her nose! The actress reportedly underwent several cosmetic surgery procedures during Bewitched’s run, and, yes, they supposedly included a nose job. This was even alluded to in the sitcom itself. Samantha is asked on no fewer than three occasions whether she’s aware of a plastic surgeon named Dr. Hafner. Now, that’s a little rude...

Montgomery and Asher weren’t the only real-life Bewitched couple on set. Jill Foster, who appears as Darrin’s secretary Betty, got married to director Bernard Slade in 1965. But just like their more high-profile counterparts, Foster and Slade were not a good match. Sadly, their relationship also ended in divorce.

At the same time Bewitched was airing, though, The Brady Bunch was also vying for ratings. And behind its feel-good plots and wholesome, clean-cut characters, the comedy hid a whole host of dark and unusual secrets – and even a few scandals that could’ve ended the show altogether. Here’s a look at 40 of the juiciest – involving everything from hook-ups and hair problems to casting choices and counseling sessions.

When The Brady Bunch creator Sherwood Schwartz was reading the Los Angeles Times one day, a short article caught his eye. This feature revealed that the rate of marriages between partners who already had kids had risen notably. And Schwartz subsequently had a light bulb moment – with the rest being sitcom history.

Although Florence Henderson appears in The Brady Bunch’s first six episodes, her scenes as Carol were actually filmed separately from the rest of the cast. You see, the actress was in Europe working on a movie when she learned that the sitcom had been given the green light and was immediately going into production. As a result, then, Henderson had to play catch-up after she returned to the United States.

This fact about The Brady Bunch may well warm the cockles of your heart. Mike Lookinland and Susan Olsen, who played Bobby and Cindy, respectively, have both revealed that Robert Reed was a better paternal figure to them than their own dads had been. Reed even once took the pair – along with the rest of the Brady kids – on a vacation to the city of London.

While appearing with many of her former co-stars on Watch What Happens Live in 2019, Olsen divulged a surprising fact about the show’s casting process. Apparently, while a future Oscar winner had been in the frame to play Cindy Brady, Olsen had impressively managed to beat a then-unknown Jodie Foster to the role.

The Bradys’ abode may have looked like your average family home, but not everything about its interior was as it seemed. For instance, those sliding doors that opened up at the rear of the property didn’t actually contain any glass. This was to ensure that the cameras didn’t pick up any reflected glare during shoots.

During a scene in “Goodbye, Alice, Hello,” Cindy and Bobby beg Alice to be allowed to attend a gathering where skinny-dipping is involved. However, the housekeeper tells the pair that she isn’t prepared for any Brady kid to head to an “X-rated party in their birthday suit.” And while this may seem rather innocent today, the conversation is still cut during syndication airings.

Schwartz seemingly wasn’t interested in The Brady Bunch being the height of fashion. In fact, the show creator regularly turned down pleas from the younger cast members to wear more up-to-date styles. Why? Well, Schwartz believed that if he gave into such demands, then the series would quickly appear outmoded upon syndication.

Interestingly, though, The Brady Bunch very nearly ended up in court over claims that Schwartz had stolen the idea for the show from a feature film. Specifically, the executives behind 1968 comedy Yours, Mine and Ours alleged that he had plagiarized their similar concept about a blended family. Thankfully for the accused, he was able to clear his name through material he’d penned prior to the movie in question even entering production.

In 2018 the 1,200-square foot house used for the exterior of The Brady Bunch was put on the market for nearly $2 million. The dwelling was soon snapped up by network HGTV, which decided to remodel the home. Then, a year later, all the Brady kids – now grown, of course – showed up in the reality series A Very Brady Renovation.

Best known for his roles in King of Kings and The Searchers, Jeffrey Hunter was desperate to play the part of Mike Brady as casting began. However, executives at ABC turned him down for a very flattering reason: they believed that Hunter was simply too good-looking to portray the father figure.

Barry Williams, Ann B. Davis and Florence Henderson – a.k.a. Greg, Carol and Alice – are the sole cast members to be seen in every one of the 117 episodes of The Brady Bunch. Their co-stars very nearly achieved the same feat, though. For instance, Reed only missed one episode – the finale – owing to a behind-the-scenes dispute. The rest of the Brady kids were also left out of part of season two due to budget constraints.

Following in the footsteps of The Partridge Family, the younger members of The Brady Bunch also launched music careers during their TV show’s run. The Brady Kids released several albums in the early 1970s and took their brand of sunshine pop out on the road. They even joined forces with the Jackson 5 on a cover of Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze.”

Williams and McCormick may have played siblings on screen, but that didn’t stop them from getting hot and heavy away from the cameras. Yes, apparently the pair first hooked up on a moonlit beach walk when The Brady Bunch went to Hawaii. McCormick later revealed in her memoir, “It was our first kiss, and it was long, passionate and deep.”

In 2012 news emerged that big-screen funnyman Vince Vaughn was executive producing a reboot of The Brady Bunch for CBS. The planned sitcom would center on youngest son Bobby as a divorcee who begins a new life with his own blended family. Sadly, though, the project never got off the ground.

If you were watching the best that action TV had to offer in the 1960s, chances are that you may have spotted the inside of the Bradys’ house on several other series. Yes, Mannix, Mission: Impossible and Hawaii Five-O all cut costs by using the same set as the classic sitcom. In 1975 sci-fi horror Bug also featured the interior familiar to millions.

The Brady Bunch cast have Reed to thank for rescuing them all from an untimely demise. In what appeared to be a Final Destination-esque premonition, the actor wasn’t convinced about the safety of the roller coaster in which the family were due to ride for “The Cincinnati Kids.” And, alarmingly, Reed’s hunch was right. During a try-out that he had demanded, the camera on the cart became detached and hurtled off in what would have been the stars’ direction.

Ever wondered how the story of “The Subject Was Noses” came about? Well, in 1973 Maureen McCormick, a.k.a. Marcia Brady, was involved in a car accident in which her nose was damaged. Then, after hearing about the collision, The Brady Bunch’s writers decided to incorporate McCormick’s agony into the show.

It’s hard to imagine The Brady Bunch being called anything else. At first, though, the classic sitcom had several other names before producers decided upon its final moniker. “Yours and Mine,” which sounds reminiscent of the similarly themed 1968 comedy, was one such idea, as was “The Bradley Brood.”

In an example of meta-casting, throwback sitcom That ’70s Show nabbed three actors from a very real ’70s show. Eve Plumb, a.k.a. Jan Brady, appeared in the series as Jackie’s mother, while Barry Williams and Chris Knight – better known as Greg and Peter Brady, respectively – showed up as the Forman family’s gay neighbors.

While Christopher Beaumont starred in four episodes of The Brady Bunch in the space of two years, he portrayed a different character each time. Yes, as avid fans may know, the actor played The Boy in “Our Son, the Man,” Eddie in “The Wheeler-Dealer,” Hank in “A Room at the Top” and Jerry in “Quarterback Sneak.” And the roles may not have been a stretch for Beaumont, as they all required him to play an unpleasant idiot.

Ever wondered why Tiger rarely shows up past the midway point of The Brady Bunch’s first season? Well, tragically, the real pooch was knocked down by a car during the show’s early filming. And while the dog’s trainer tried to replace him with a lookalike he picked up at a nearby pound, unsurprisingly the substitute wasn’t able to follow commands in quite the same way as the original canine actor. Producers eventually decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle to retrain the animal, then, and only featured Tiger on screen when absolutely necessary.

With so many adolescent hormones flying around on set, it was perhaps inevitable that several of The Brady Bunch’s stars would hook up in real life. Eve Plumb and Christopher Knight – a.k.a. Jan and Peter – were one such pairing. And, scandalously, the on-screen siblings were once caught by the authorities while making out in Knight’s vehicle.

Sadly, the youngest member of The Brady Bunch found it difficult to cope with the pressures of childhood fame, and in adulthood he turned to the bottle for comfort. But Mike Lookinland finally got clean before it was too late. He told Oprah Winfrey, “When it became clear that the choice wasn’t between sobering up or drinking, but the choice was actually between living or dying, then it became a simple choice for me.”

In his 1992 autobiography, Barry Williams admitted that as a teen, he had become infatuated with his on-screen mom. He even managed to persuade Florence Henderson – who was 20 years his senior – to go out to dinner with him. Williams explained in his book, “When those little things called hormones start kicking in, you get excited by even inanimate objects. It wasn’t that I sought to bed [Henderson]. I just wanted to spend time with her.”

During her stint as Cindy, Susan Olsen was made to repeatedly bleach her hair. Why? Well, it was simply to maintain the distinct aesthetic of the Brady kids, as all three boys had to be dark-haired and all three girls had to be blonde. After having been subjected to such treatment since the age of eight, however, Olsen eventually started to lose her hair in large clumps.

According to one of her on-screen sisters, Maureen McCormick – a.k.a. Marcia – was very much a teenage troublemaker. Yes, Olsen has claimed that her former co-star would often shoplift as a means of passing the time between filming scenes. Rather sneakily, the actress would also allegedly point the finger at the unsuspecting friend she had brought along if she ever got caught in the act.

Knight once told Oprah that he felt betrayed by how his mother had thrust him into the spotlight at such a young age. The actor – who played Peter Brady in the sitcom – said, “I [was] feeling totally prostituted at that point by my mom. I think in a way, I totally was. And by her own admission it was [prostitution of a sort], [but] she was sorry about it.”

In 2014 one of The Brady Bunch’s most beloved cast members lost her life in a tragic accident. Ann B. Davis – who portrayed family housekeeper Alice – suffered a subdural hematoma following a fall in which her head struck a bathtub. The 88-year-old – who picked up multiple Emmy nominations during her career – sadly failed to regain consciousness after the incident.

Schwartz’s daughter Hope Juber certainly benefitted from her family connections, as she appeared in The Brady Bunch on no fewer than four occasions. She showed up first as Marcia’s fellow pupil Jenny in “The Slumber Caper” before playing Greg’s romantic interest Rachel in two episodes. Juber then assumed another character, Gretchen, in “The Hair-Brained Scheme.”

If you thought that Cindy’s lisp was fabricated just to make the character more endearing, think again, as the actress who portrayed the youngest Brady did indeed have a very real speech impediment. In fact, Olsen regularly saw a therapist for the problem up until her late teens, after which she decided to treat it with a surgical procedure.

It’s hard to imagine anyone else other than Henderson playing The Brady Bunch’s matriarch Carol. In fact, you may be surprised to hear that Joyce Bulifant was actually first pick for the iconic role owing to her skillful comic timing. But, of course, this wasn’t to be. When the equally hilarious Ann B. Davis was signed up to the sitcom, you see, the producers realized that Carol didn’t need to be so wacky. Ultimately, then, the bigwigs made the character a much more homely figure instead.

Henderson faced plenty of stiff competition when it came to the role that launched her to fame. Initially, the part of Carol was even offered to – and then turned down by – her best friend Shirley Jones. And as fans likely know, Jones went on to make her name in another classic family-friendly sitcom: The Partridge Family.

Producer Sherwood Schwartz once revealed that Gene Hackman had been in the running to play The Brady Bunch’s dad Mike. Apparently, the future Hollywood legend only lost out on the role because he simply wasn’t familiar enough to TV audiences at the time. Yet Hackman had the last laugh; just a year after the sitcom premiered, he delivered an ultimately Oscar-winning performance in iconic thriller The French Connection.

Famously, the Brady family would often burst into song during episodes of the show. But while McCormick, Lookinland and Williams would all belt out tunes in their own voices, tone-deaf Knight had to lip-sync. The youngster later admitted to The Improper Bostonian that he had been left traumatized by the sitcom’s musical moments.

In order to finish episodes of The Brady Bunch on time, editors would often leave in little mistakes that they hoped no viewer would ever notice. But since the sitcom’s syndication, audiences have had plenty of opportunities to spot such bloopers. The errors in question include the family returning home from an errand in a completely different vehicle to the one in which they had left. During one memorable scene, Jan’s haircut also seems to inadvertently change altogether.

Given The Brady Bunch’s sizeable impact upon popular culture, you may assume that the show consistently topped the TV ratings back in the day. But that’s not the case; in fact, the sitcom failed to enter Nielsen’s Top 30 even once during its five-season run. It seems that syndication was the key, then, to making The Brady Bunch iconic.

While filming one particular episode, McCormick learned that sometimes you have to suffer for your art. In “The Subject Was Noses,” Marcia was supposed to get hit by a football thrown by her brother Peter. Instead of using camera trickery or stunt doubles, though, producer Schwartz decided that the best course of action was to fling the pigskin at McCormick’s nose for real.

Before joining Carol and her girls, Mike Brady had of course been married and then sadly widowed. But what about the matriarch herself? Well, although Schwartz had originally intended for Carol to be a divorcée, this would have broken one of primetime TV’s main taboos in the late 1960s. So, the show decided to avoid the subject altogether. Later, Henderson jokingly claimed that her character had actually murdered her first spouse.

Seeing a porcelain toilet bowl on screen was a strict no-no when The Brady Bunch first aired. This explains, then, why you never see a john in the bathroom that all of the six kids share. And while the show could have given viewers a glimpse of the tank section – as this wasn’t prohibited – producers decided to do without altogether to make filming easier.

Fans may remember an episode of The Brady Bunch’s fifth season that saw neighbors Kathy and Ken Kelly and their three adopted kids take center stage. And, initially, this new family on the block – who included the real-life sibling of Mike Lookinland – were once lined up to star in their very own sitcom after The Brady Bunch came to an end. Sadly, though, Kelly’s Kids never actually made it to air.

Robert Reed – a.k.a. Mike – repeatedly fought on set with Schwartz over The Brady Bunch’s scripts. And as it turns out, the actor was so unhappy about the show’s last ever episode that he issued an ultimatum: change it, or he would refuse to show up for filming. Then, when Schwartz simply called his bluff, Reed was as good as his word – explaining exactly why the man of the house doesn’t appear in the series finale.

Henderson may have played a butter-wouldn’t-melt mother on screen, but behind the scenes she was renowned for having a risqué sense of humor. And yet the actress kept up the pretense any time she was approached by a fan. Schwartz’s son Lloyd once told Variety, “Whenever anybody came up to [Henderson] to say anything about the show, she was as warm as could be. I saw it a million times.”

Although many of The Brady Bunch’s cast and crew were aware that Reed was gay, the actor decided to keep his sexuality a secret from the public for most of his life. And Henderson believes that her co-star would have been much happier had he come out of the closet earlier. She told ABC News, “I think had Bob not been forced to live this double life... it would have dissipated a lot of that anger and frustration.”

Carol may be one of TV’s quintessential housewives, but things could have been very different if Henderson had been given her way. Inspired by her own experience as a working mother, the actress pleaded with the show’s scriptwriters to give Carol another purpose in life; ultimately, though, the team refused to budge.

According to Schwartz, Reed thought that television was too tawdry for a man of his talents. The Brady Bunch’s producer and creator once told ABC, “[Reed] wound up on a show that he didn’t want to do in the first place, and it became more and more difficult for him.” And the Mike Brady star certainly had the skillset to do more, as he had trained as a Shakespearean actor for two years before landing his famous role.

We wouldn’t blame you for not trusting the Bradys to look after your pet. After all, Tiger the dog wasn’t the only animal to go missing early on in the show’s run. In the pilot episode of the series, the family can be seen petting a cat by the name of Fluffy; following that moment, though, the cute feline was never seen or heard of ever again.

The Brady Bunch’s creator didn’t look too far for inspiration for the hit show. Often, you see, Schwartz would draw upon his own kids’ experiences for storylines – something with which his daughter Hope wasn’t particularly enamored. She told MeTV, “I was in a unique position regarding the show, and I was going through my own teenage girl angst at the time… When things I considered private showed up on the screen, I wasn’t always happy about it.”

In her 2007 memoir Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, McCormick joked about having had an affair with Plumb. Her on-screen sister didn’t see the funny side, however, and so the actress was forced to apologize in an interview with Digital Spy. McCormick said of the incident, “I made the crack to be funny – and for shock value. I’m sorry if [Plumb] took offense.”

After leaving The Brady Bunch behind, McCormick experienced her fair share of personal problems. But life wasn’t completely rosy when she was filming the hit sitcom, either. In her autobiography, the actress wrote, “As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world. Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady. No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me.”

In the episode titled “The Snooperstar,” Cindy is tricked by Marcia into impersonating Shirley Temple as a punishment for scanning through her diary. And Olsen has since admitted that she didn’t appreciate that particular storyline. She told Inquisitr, “That was really embarrassing. It would have been really cute when I was seven, but when I was 12, [I was] going, ‘I feel so stupid.’”

While competing in British reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2015, McCormick claimed that she had once stepped out with a megastar. Yes, after being asked by a fellow campmate whether she liked Michael Jackson, the actress replied, “We used to date. We used to go roller skating in Woodland Hills [in California]. I used to go over to [the Jackson family’s] house all the time.” McCormick added that she and the future King of Pop had both been in their mid-teens back then.

Shockingly, Henderson was forced to wear a wig during the filming of the first season of The Brady Bunch. But that wasn’t because the star was losing her locks; instead, her short ’do at the time wasn’t deemed to suit the character of Carol. Naturally, then, a hairpiece was brought in as a solution.

In season four, the Brady family famously travel to Hawaii for a vacation, and it’s there that Greg shows off his skills on the surfboard. Unfortunately, though, this led to a real-life disaster for the man who played the eldest Brady boy. On his own blog, Williams revealed, “I was injured during the filming of the surfing episode in Hawaii. I cut my feet on some coral. You can actually see it when I fall headfirst off of my board.”

Back in the mid-2000s, Knight landed his own reality series, entitled My Fair Brady, on VH1. During filming, the actor even graciously invited his former on-screen mom onto the show to help provide some relationship guidance. So, Henderson advised Knight to slow things down with his The Surreal Life co-star Adrianne Curry – words of wisdom that weren’t heeded, as the couple went on to wed just months later.

Before casting the six Brady kids, Schwartz was originally tasked with overseeing tryouts by 264 different child actors. To help whittle that number down, then, he simply placed an array of toys on his desk. How did this work? Well, any youngsters who were seen being distracted by the toys were given the boot. Schwartz believed, you see, that those kids who stayed focused on the matter in hand had the perfect temperament to work in TV.

It’s fair to say that Carol’s nephew Oliver – played by Robbie Rist – wasn’t exactly a fan favorite. And it seems that Rist – who showed up in the sitcom’s final season – was just as unpopular with the rest of the cast, too. On his blog, Williams revealed, “The writers were floundering, and [Rist] introduced a very different type of humor into our show. Also, we had been together a long time, and we didn’t really have time to adjust to a new ‘family member.’”

In order to deal with her mental health battles, McCormick turned to illegal drugs – and one substance in particular. In her memoir, she wrote, “I sought refuge in seemingly glamorous cocaine dens above Hollywood. I thought I would find answers there, while in reality I was simply running farther from myself. From there, I spiraled downward on a path of self-destruction that cost me my career and very nearly my life.”

Greg Brady may have been a goody-two-shoes, but the actor who played him was anything but. In his early teens, Williams started smoking pot; for one particular episode of The Brady Bunch, he even turned up on set stoned. Take a closer look at “Law and Disorder,” and you may notice that the squeaky-clean Greg looks suspiciously glassy-eyed.

Reed sadly passed away in 1992, with his daughter Karen initially stating that colon cancer was the sole cause. After the star’s death certificate was made public, however, the world learned that he had an underlying condition that had also caused complications. At some point during his life, Reed had been diagnosed with HIV.

Although The Brady Bunch ultimately concluded at the end of its fifth season, there were actually storylines in the offing for a further run. Had more episodes been given the green light, Carol would have likely fallen pregnant with twins, for example. And owing to the ongoing dispute with Reed, the character of Mike would probably have been recast, too.