Here’s the Story of the Fans of ‘Brady’

“The Brady Bunch” only aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974, but it made an indelible impression on a generation of late- and post-baby boomers, many of whom can quote at length from Brady repeats. Don’t believe it? Just mention the phrase “pork chops and apple sauce” to anyone in their twenties or early thirties. They’ll understand.

Nobody is sure why the sitcom, which starred Robert Reed and Florence Henderson as the kind of ideal parents who talked things out rationally with their six kids, resonates so deeply. One producer for “MTV News,” which recently did a special on the twentysomething generation, speculated that the show represented the perfect family to a disenfranchised group torn by divorce.

Or maybe it’s the nostalgia factor. At the recent Los Angeles premiere of “The Real Live Brady Bunch,” in which a Chicago theater group re-enacts Brady episodes on stage, a packed room of post-boomers sang along with the theme song and howled at the groovy ‘70s clothes and exclamations such as “far out!”

We asked some of the audience members what it was about “The Brady Bunch”:

“It’s nice to pretend that there are families that actually get along”--Janeane Garofalo, 27, stand-up comic.

“Jan Brady was my first love”--David Rath, 29, talent coordinator.

“It was just something you grew up with. I can still recite episodes”--Helen Busel, 24, promotions.

“They resembled your friends, but they were cooler and solved their problems more quickly. And, of course, it had the coolest theme song of all time”--Richard Kraft, 31, talent agent.

“The storylines in the show are inherently accurate generation to generation because they deal with day-to-day problems children face. They exist today, they existed 20 years ago”--Sherwood Schwartz, “The Brady Bunch” creator.

“Beats me, I’m thirtysomething”--Robin Brisebois, 36, architect.

“It was the first big family show of the nuclear age. It was sort of the All-American family that none of us were”--Anne Bond, 37, writer.

“Everyone grew up with them. My fiancee knows every episode by heart”--Harry Murphy, 35, history teacher.

“I love the Davy Jones episode. I love the multi-part episodes, like the one where they go to the Grand Canyon”--Sue Schnulle, 31, production accountant (and Harry’s fiancee).

“I just think they’re the ideal family that everyone would love to have”--Florence Henderson.

“It’s a show that a lot of people can relate to. Everybody knows the jingle and can sing along with it”--Brian Rieck, 25, kindergarten teacher.

“It was the last show that our generation grew up with where Greg smoking was a big deal. Today’s TV kids are 6 years old but speak like a 32-year-old writer. Every teen-age boy grew up in love with Marcia, and every girl was in love with Greg. It was like you had built-in best friends. Plus, there was the concept that they never had to clean up their rooms, because there was Alice”--Buddy Liberman, 29, administrative assistant.

“The Brady Bunch” reruns air Saturday and Sunday at 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. on KTLA; Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 1:30 p.m. on TBS.

“The Real Live Brady Bunch” runs through May 24 at the Westwood Playhouse.