The Brady Bunch
The Hair-Brained Scheme
TV Flash files “The Hair-Brained Scheme” as a desk essential hour — The Brady Bunch (1969–1974) on ABC, season 5, episode 22, aired 1974-03-08, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E22: listed hour 117 of 117 in the The Brady Bunch guide, last listed hour of season 5. It aired 1974-03-08 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Hustler” (S05E21). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “The Hair-Brained Scheme”. The Hair-Brained Scheme closes five ABC seasons — catalog tail of the blended-family machine, not a civic event.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Wanting to get rich quick, Bobby begins selling bottles of hair tonic. But the tonic turns Greg's hair orange just days before his high-school graduation. In what happened to be the final episode of the series, series star Robert Reed got himself written out of the episode when he objected to the episode's plotline and writing and neither he nor the Schwartzes would budge.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Hair-Brained Scheme sit in the The Brady Bunch guide?
S05E22 is listed hour 117 of 117 — last listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 22.
When did The Brady Bunch S05E22 air?
The Hair-Brained Scheme aired 1974-03-08 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
The theme song is the map: three sons, three daughters, Alice, the staircase. Early episodes sell the blend; you do not need later movies to meet the household.
In the series
Why this series still plays
The Brady Bunch arrived in 1969 as Sherwood Schwartz's blended-family machine — six kids, two parents, Alice, and a staircase that became architecture as branding. Florence Henderson and Robert Reed keep the household civil while the kids turn sibling logistics into syndication folklore. Theme-song world-building, plus the origin of every later stepfamily sitcom's smile.
The staircase is the brand. *The Brady Bunch* arrived in 1969 as Sherwood Schwartz's blended-family machine — six kids, two parents, Alice, architecture as branding. Florence Henderson and Robert Reed keep the household civil on ABC while Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, and the rest of the brood turn sibling logistics into syndication folklore. Ann B. Davis's Alice is the extra parent. Theme-song world-building did the oral history. Schwartz's second high-concept hit after *Gilligan's Island* premiered…
Filed against
- Robert Reed as Mike Brady
Robert Reed's Mike Brady kept The Brady Bunch civil — Sherwood Schwartz's blended-family machine arriving in 1969, six kids, Alice, a staircase that became architecture as branding. Florence Henderson across the landing. TV Flash files…
- Florence Henderson as Carol Brady
Florence Henderson kept the staircase civil as Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch — Sherwood Schwartz's blended-family machine, six kids, Alice, architecture as branding. 1969 domestic engineering that syndication never let age out. TV Flash…
- Barry Williams as Greg Brady
Barry Williams’s Greg Brady sat at the top of The Brady Bunch staircase — Sherwood Schwartz’s 1969 blended-family machine, six kids, two parents, Alice, architecture as branding, Florence Henderson and Robert Reed keeping the household…
- Maureen McCormick as Marcia Brady
Maureen McCormick owned the staircase as Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch — Sherwood Schwartz’s blended-family machine, six kids, two parents, Alice, architecture as branding. Florence Henderson and Robert Reed keep the household civil…
- Ann B. Davis as Alice Nelson
Ann B. Davis’s Alice Nelson kept The Brady Bunch civil — six kids, two parents, a staircase that became architecture as branding, Florence Henderson and Robert Reed holding the household while sibling logistics turned into syndication…