The Brady Bunch cast talks 50 years of life, love and ‘Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!’

Here’s the story of a lovely lady, a man named Brady — and a TV sitcom that is still an American TV classic 50 years later.

“The Brady Bunch,” which premiered on ABC on Sept. 26, 1969, has been at turns maligned, beloved, mocked and praised for its kitschy portrayal of a blended California family in the turbulent 1970s.

The show followed the adventures of six step-siblings (Greg, Marcia, Jan, Peter, Mike and Cindy) growing up under the wise and watchful eyes of their dad, Mike Brady, mom, Carol Brady, and their wise-cracking live-in maid, Alice.

Thanks to re-runs, parodies (“Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”), films — even home-improvement shows — it seems like we’ve never stopped living next door to the madcap clan.

“It was a very nice, safe, fun show, knowing that nothing scary was going to happen and that problems would be solved in 20 minutes,” says Eve Plumb, who played middle daughter Jan. “It was familiar — like a chocolate chip cookie.”

In honor of a half a century of “Brady Bunch” history, The Post has organized an exclusive Brady family reunion with members of the original cast.

We’ve sat down with actors Barry Williams (Greg), Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Christopher Knight (Peter), Eve Plumb (Jan), Mike Lookinland (Bobby) and Susan Olsen (Cindy), who have agreed to share their memories about what it was like working on the legendary show, which influenced a generation to never lie about breaking a vase and to avoid being hit in the face with a football before a big date at all costs.

Favorite moments from the show:

Williams: When we went to Hawaii [for the trilogy episode “Hawaii Bound”]. The only thing I’ve been longer than a Brady is a surfer. I had to talk them into letting me do my own surfing, and the amazing thing, for the two days we filmed that [episode], the beach was rented by our company from the state, so everyone that was out there surfing with me was a paid extra, which gave me a lot of juice and priority on the waves. I was like, “Hey, guys, I’ll grab this one, the cameras are rolling.” That was an extraordinary teenage experience which has become a lifetime memory.

McCormick: I loved doing the episode [“The Show Must Go On”] with Florence where we sang “Together Wherever We Go,” where we were two hobos. I also loved the “Father of the Year” episode — I always looked up to Bob [Reed] as a father figure, and my father was just such an important part of my life … so that meant a lot to me. I loved doing the episodes with Desi Arnaz Jr. [“The Possible Dream”] and Davy Jones [“Getting Davy Jones”]. They all have special memories.

Lookinland: I like the episode where Greg had to make a movie for his high school history class [“The Un-Underground Movie”] and we were pilgrims and Indians. We got to dress up and do stuff and be in slow motion and do fake fights.

Olsen: Going to Hawaii. Robert Reed actually showed up at the airport when we arrived and when we got to the hotel I said, “Oh no, it’s raining” — I wanted to go swimming — and he said, “Don’t worry about it, Susan, everybody here swims in the rain.” I didn’t swim very well and my mom was fine letting Bob take care of me and I’m on his shoulders in the ocean and all rest of the Bradys are there and we’re watching people go, “Is that Bobby? Is that Cindy? It’s Mike and Carol!” Soon we had all these people around us going, “They must be a real family” and I felt very proud that they thought that.

Lookinland: Bobby was the last of the nine regulars cast. They had trouble finding Bobby. One thing I do recall, after I had been cast … I was led into a room full of people and someone, most likely Sherwood [Schwartz], said, “Mike, this is your new family.” All the other cast members, including Ann B. Davis, were present in that room, and it was kind of a strange situation for a child to hear. My new family, huh? Whatever that means. But it certainly came to mean something over the years, that’s for sure.

Who were you closest to during the show’s run?

Knight: It was Mike [Lookinland]. I’m a little Huck Finn-ish and was looking to explore, and he was my little explorer buddy, although he always fashioned himself to be an adult. Only later in the show or even after did we the show we become closer and closer friends. He always cracked me up and was always great company. I would consider him my closest buddy. If I got into a little bit of trouble, it’s probably because I was trying to drag him into a little bit of trouble. I teased Maureen [McCormick] mercilessly. She couldn’t be more different from me — she was so prissy and nice and clean, and I needed to dirty her up.

Olsen: It was Mike. He’s my favorite. I named my son after him. And also Eve, because I looked up to her and I already had a sister who was the same age as Maureen, so that was covered. Eve was closer to my age so it was easier for me to look up to her and I did — because she was very, very cool.

Lookinland: No question is was Chris Knight. We had sleepovers at each other’s houses. Susan and I were very buddy-buddy and hung out together. She has a real sick sense of humor and I thought, “She’s a little off” and I thought it was my duty to keep her laughing. So we hit it off on that basis.

Williams: I was romantically interested in Maureen. I’d say I was closest to Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, and through the years I’d say Chris Knight. We’ve probably shared the most mutual experiences — weddings, dates, camping, hanging out. Just being together.

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