10 TV Revivals That Totally Ruined Awesome Characters
2. Basically Everyone - The Bradys
Where misguided - if bold and ambitious - revivals are concerned, there's nothing quite like The Bradys, a short-lived, six-episode 1990 continuation of the original 1969-1974 classic sitcom The Brady Bunch, focusing on the kids as adults with most of the principal cast returning.
Except, The Bradys refused to ease viewers into its more mature tone, instead plunging into the grimdark abyss with ultra-dramatic storylines including Bobby (Mike Lookinland) being rendered paraplegic after a race car accident, Peter (Christopher Knight) breaking up with his fiancee and dating an abusive crone, Jan (Eve Plumb) and Philip (Ron Kuhlman) adopting a Korean child upon discovering they cannot conceive, and Marcia (Leah Ayres) becoming an alcoholic. Fun.
Unsurprisingly, this radical direction proved tonally jarring to fans of the lighter original show and ratings almost immediately cratered, leading to production being suspended after just six episodes had been filmed.
It was then quietly cancelled, and Brady fans more-or-less pretended it never existed.