MAUREEN MCCORMICK FAN CLUB

The Importance Of Marcia Brady To Television History
By: Paul Salley

In the fall of 1969, the Brady Bunch appeared on the 8:00 evening time slot when family and friends gathered to be entertained by evening television. The Brady Bunch grew to be a popular show as quickly as the Beatles captured America back in 1964. Marcia Brady has shown to be important to television, because Marcia had it all. She had the looks, brains, and talent. Marcia was the ideal teen idol and the ideal girlfriend for us guys. She was and still is admired by millions.

Before we get to the lovely Marcia Brady, we meet the person who created Marcia and the rest of the Brady Bunch, Sherwood Schwartz. We all must understand the brains, beauty, and talent of Marcia is really Sherwood Schwartz. Marcia (Maureen McCormick) was just reading the lines.

The character Marcia was influential in so many ways. She stood up for women, an example of that would be found in episode 44 "The Liberation of Marcia Brady." Marcia speaks out for women's rights on TV, causing a family feud. Marcia decides that she is going to prove that women can do whatever men can do. She joins Greg's Scout Troop only after she passed a very difficult field initiation test. Another example of Marcia standing up for women's rights can be found in episode 108 "The Driver's Seat." Marcia bets Greg that she can score higher then him on the driver's test, but when Marcia gets behind the wheel, she chickens out. Marcia takes some advice from her father and passes her driver's test but learns that Greg got the same score as she did! The family sets an obstacle course for the two and Greg who thinks that men are better drivers gets over-anxious and loses. Marcia has showed that women can do anything that men can do. They might even be better at some things.

Marcia is also a good sister.This is seen in episode 55 "Her Sister's Shadow." Jan is going to prove herself after constantly being compared to Marcia. Guess who helps her? Marcia helped Jan with pom pom tryouts and even though Jan loses, Marcia is proud of her, Jan is happy even though she didn't win. If I had to pick one sister, I would have to pick Marcia because she is always there for you. Marcia was also involved in a ton of extra-cirricular activities in school. She was the editor of the Jr. High newspaper, got the lead role in Romeo and Juliet (You know I would have loved to be her Romeo) and she was a banquet hostess for the prom.

Marcia had a good personality and she was upbeat. She always tried to help out her younger siblings when they are in trouble, she won an outstanding citizenship award. Have you ever wanted the perfect daughter? Well Marcia Brady is as close as a perfect daughter can get. She won a father of the year essay contest and she baby-sat the younger Brady kids for her mom. Marcia also helped out Alice (Nanny) by doing the house-hold chores when Alice sprained her ankle. You can depend on Marcia whenever you go out to dinner or have some late work at the office.

On March 8th, 1974, the world watched as the last Brady Bunch episode aired. Sadly that was the last time we saw Marcia, until the Brady Bunch Variety Hour and the sequels that followed. Before the start of the 1974 fall season, The Brady Bunch was cancelled. "Everyone wanted big raises and you had to renegotiate everyone's contracts." "That would have been a real pain," explains Sherwood. I believe that Marcia Brady will be a house-hold name for years to come.