‘Brady Bunch' Star Eve Plumb Recalls Cast's Strangest Staged Photoshoot
Eve Plumb is looking back on her days on The Brady Bunch. In her memoir Happiness Included, the actress, who played Jan Brady on the ABCsitcom from 1969 to 1974, shared new details on what it was like when the cast went from regular child actors to superstars with a huge fan base.
In her book, Plumb, 68, recalled times when producers would request group publicity photos. The cast, which also included Robert Reed,Florence Henderson, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen, and Ann B. Davis would then dress up and meet at a designated location to pose for the promotional shots. The actress recalled one photo session in particular that she still can't wrap her head around decades later.
"In one eye-rolling staged photo session we had to pose in a grassy field with huge Easter baskets adorned with giant bows on the handles," Plumb wrote. "Robert Reed stands behind us holding a three-foot-tall stuffed rabbit, doing his best to grin."
Plumb admitted she was surprised that Reed, who was notoriously critical of The Brady Bunch, was talked into posing for the corny photos. She also shared that Henderson and Davis were not in any of the Easter shots, before pointing out that The Brady Bunch never celebrated Easter-or any other holiday except Christmas-on the show.
"After the Christmas episode in season 1, the show never acknowledged another holiday, so the Easter basket theme was odd and misleading," Plumb added.
In her memoir, the actress also referenced another photo shoot featuring all of the Bradys in front of an empty popcorn stand that also didn't make sense.
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There have been some more widely published Brady promo shots. In July 1971, the cast famously met up with the Jackson 5 on the Paramount Studios lot. The sitcom stars met the musical family as they shot a special for ABC, according to Woman's World, and photos circulated of them greeting each other and shaking hands.
There were also special promotional shoots when guest stars such as Joe Namath and Davy Jones appeared on The Brady Bunch.
Plumb recalled that at the height of Brady Bunch fandom, all six of the teen actors also made it onto the cover of Tiger Beat. Photographers would come to their homes to get exclusive photos.
During a May 2026 appearance on the A Spoonful of Paolo online talk show, Plumb said she had no regrets about her time on The Brady Bunch. "I think it was a lot of fun," she said. "I think that I had a lot of opportunities and got to do great things."
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:24 AM.