Eve Plumb is opening up about the surprising reality of residual pay from the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch, revealing that the show’s cast does not earn ongoing royalties from reruns despite its decades-long popularity.
In her new memoir Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond, Plumb reflects on the financial realities of starring in the beloved 1970s series, joking that if she had earned a small cut from every rerun, she could have “paid off the national deficit.” She later clarified on the PauseRewind podcast that the cast does not receive residual payments from the show’s continued syndication.
The ABC sitcom, which originally aired from 1969 to 1974, has remained a staple in reruns for generations. However, fellow cast member Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady, has previously explained that the lack of residuals stems from industry rules in place before 1973, when actors were only paid for a limited number of reruns.
Olsen noted that the cast’s residual earnings effectively stopped years ago, meaning the long-running success of the show has not translated into ongoing income for its stars.
Plumb’s comments come shortly after renewed discussion about television royalties following remarks from Lisa Kudrow, who revealed that the cast of the hit sitcom Friends continues to earn as much as $20 million annually from reruns and syndication deals.
Other former Brady Bunch cast members have also spoken openly about their earnings over the years. Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady, previously detailed in his memoir that the child actors earned modest weekly salaries during the show’s original run, reflecting how different television pay structures were in the 1970s compared to today.
Meanwhile, the contrast with modern sitcom earnings highlights just how much the industry has changed, with shows like Friends continuing to generate massive residual income decades after their original broadcast.#newsafro_
