The last minute switch by CBS to convert the TV movies to a weekly series prompted Maureen McCormick to bow out of the project. McCormick had just welcomed a daughter and did not want to commit to the weekly grind at that point. She also apparently was not keen to the storyline of Marcia being an alcoholic, having dealt with substance issues in the past.
Once again Robert Reed fought with Sherwood Schwartz over script quality. When Schwartz refused to make the changes he desired, Reed bypassed him and Paramount and went straight to CBS to complain. Schwartz was furious, and no one at CBS listened because due to the executive turnover at the time as people there feared for their jobs. Had the show been renewed for another season, Reed would likely not have returned as there were plans to kill off his character in a helicopter crash.
When the series showed less than stellar success as a drama, the producers decided to turn it into a comedy - by laying a laugh track under the existing, unaltered dramatic script, resulting in an often bizarre juxtaposition of cues for the audience.
Robert Reed's final involvement in a Brady Bunch project. Reed died two years after the series aired. Surviving cast members would continue to take part in various reunion specials and retrospectives and some made cameos in The Brady Bunch Movie.
Maureen McCormick didn't reprise her role as Marcia for this show. She was replaced by Leah Ayres. This marks the third time that an original cast member did not reprise their roles for a spin off series or movie (with each time being one of the Brady girls). Geri Reischl replaced Eve Plumb as Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976). Jennifer Runyon replaced Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady on A Very Brady Christmas (1988)
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