‘Brady Bunch Variety Hour’ Was Voted 4th Worst Show in TV History … And Star Susan Olsen Is Proud

“It was TV Guide Magazine that proclaimed The Brady Bunch Variety Hour the fourth worst show in television history,” says Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady on the beloved The Brady Bunch and its variety show spin-off. Not many people are proud to be part of anything that’s been ranked the worst, but for Olsen, it’s a badge of honor: “Something I’m very proud of. It was great because it put it on the map. It’s like, well now it’s so bad. It’s worth mentioning that inspired an entire book that I was involved in, which exalted the whole mess.”

But did you think it was bad when you were filming it?

“Oh God, yes,” Olsen laughs. “I was in high school at the time, and we’d have these breaks in filming. I’d go back to regular public school, and I’d tell my friends, I’d make them promise that they weren’t going to watch the show because I thought it was so embarrassing. Of course, they lied and they all gathered together to watch it and laugh.”