Who were those three familiar Seventies faces spotted at Cincinnati-area amusement park Kings Island on Sunday? Marcia, Marcia, Marcia? Well ... no. But close.
Three now-grown "Brady Bunch" kids returned to the Mason, Ohio park on Sunday, nearly 40 years after they filmed a classically campy 1973 episode there.
"The Kings Island episode is one of my favorite episodes from the Brady Bunch, right up there with the episode shot in Hawaii and the Return of Johnny Bravo," said Barry Williams, who played oldest brother Greg.
You remember the plot, such that it was. Architect dad Mike flew the fam from California to Ohio where his firm was building an addition to Kings Island, then only in its second year of existence. Typical Brady hijinx ensue, and somehow middle sister Jan ends up with Mike's blueprints and Mike unrolls Jan's Yogi Bear poster at his meeting. Sadly, the park honchos didn't seem enamored with the idea of a bear-shaped add-on, and Mike's klutzy kids had put his job in danger once again.
But never fear, it's Bradys to the rescue! The family sets off in a relay race across the park, with even beloved and exercise-averse maid Alice zooming off to find the plans and get them to Mike in time.
The episode became a cast and fan favorite with plenty of memorable moments. Jan's plaid pants! Greg falling for a park employee and agreeing to parade around dressed in an animal costume! Alice getting dizzy after swinging around in a giant beer barrel on a Tilt-A-Whirl type ride! Bobby and Cindy eating, and eating, and eating!
Along with Williams, Susan Olsen, who played Cindy, and Christopher Knight, who played Peter, showed up to ride the rides and sign autographs. The cast members performed four sold-out shows for park visitors, with Williams singing his Eminem parody song, "The Real Greg Brady" and teaching the audience the choreography to that Brady musical classic, "Sunshine Day."
Williams told Cincinnati's ABC affiliate that the show's appeal is multigenerational. "It's really a treat to talk to people who watched us in first-run, there's a whole generation who watched us after school, and as you can see there's a whole upcoming generation watching on DVD," he said.
And Olsen told the station that the trip was a time warp. "We just assume our original roles -- not our character roles -- but our roles amongst each other," she said. "And we’re back to being kids."