As ‘The Brady Bunch’ Turns 50, Christopher Knight Looks Back at the Original and Previews HGTV’s ‘Brady’ Reality Show

It’s one thing to have to take in the fact that The Brady Bunch is turning 50 this year, but something pretty incredible to know that it’s still a part of the pop culture conversation — and will get one more shot of life in the form of HGTV’s forthcoming reality series A Very Brady Renovation. On top of that, CBS Home Video has released a 31-disc box set tied in to the 50th anniversary featuring almost everything ever produced featuring the bunch called Brady. “Thirty-one discs in this set,” Christopher Knight (Peter Brady) proclaims in an exclusive interview (much more on that shortly). “It’s pretty wild!”

For those who don’t know a Brady from a Partridge (if there is such a person!), CBS describes the original series as follows: “When widower Mike Brady (Robert Reed) marries a lovely lady named Carol Ann (Florence Henderson), their two families become one. The six children include Carol’s daughters Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb) and Cindy (Susan Olsen), as well as Mike’s sons Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). Together with their dog Tiger and quirky housekeeper, Alice (Ann B. Davis), this wild clan became the Brady Bunch!”

And made TV history, with the original show — which ran until 1974 — inspiring the spinoffs The Brady Kids (a Saturday morning cartoon), The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Brides, A Very Brady Christmas TV movie, The Bradys, the theatrical movies The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel, as well as the TV movie The Brady Bunch in the White House. Everything but the variety hour (produced by a different company) is included in the box set. There’s also the TV movie Growing Up Brady, based on Barry Williams’ biography of the same name and starring Adam Brody, Rebeccah Bush and The Big Bang Theory‘s Kaley Cuoco.

The last time Closer Weekly spoke to Chris, it was a wide-ranging conversation about his life and career and the impact of The Brady Bunch on both. It was also conducted at the very start of the HGTV Brady project — which transforms the interior of the house that served as the show’s exterior into an exact duplicate of the sets the actors performed on — and Chris didn’t really know what to expect. His voice at the time seemed a little tentative and he was hoping for the best. Now, though, he’s reached the other side and, as you’ll see from the following discussion, the whole thing has pretty much blown him away as he’s watched fantasy somehow transform into reality.

For our written interview with Chris, please scroll down. You can also listen to our conversation on our Classic TV & Film podcast.