The popular episode featured stars Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen and Ann B. Davis searching the amusement park for Mike Brady’s (played by Reed) architectural drawings for a park expansion project.
The poster tube containing the drawings was lost by Jan Brady (played by Plumb), then found and returned to Mike Brady just in time for a meeting with park executives.
In 1972, the year the park opened, “The Partridge Family” filmed an episode at Kings Island. Middletown’s Lenny Robinson, who worked at the park then, remembers telling young girls that they were sitting in the same seat as David Cassidy when he rode the amusement ride.
The seat location changed, he said, depending on where the prettiest girls sat.
It made sense that both of the popular shows filmed episodes at Kings Island. Paramount Studios Screen Gems Productions, which produced both shows, was a major shareholder in Taft Productions that owned the amusement park and Hanna-Barbera Studios.
There were obstacles shooting the Brady Bunch, according to reports. After shooting several scenes at Kings Island Inn, production moved to the park but filming was hampered by rain showers.
Also, after park officials confirmed the days of the shootings to the public, attendance soared at the park and certain areas had to be roped off to curious fans.
Barry Williams (Greg Brady) wrote that after one week of shooting, the cast called the park “the fishbowl” due to constantly being admired by crowds of fans.
The episode reportedly cost nearly $230,000 to produce, and Kings Island agreed to pay half.
In 2008, when KI’s celebrated the 35th anniversary of the filming, three original cast members — Williams, Olsen and Lookinland — returned to the amusement park. Five years later, Williams, Olsen and Knight made a special appearance.
Credit: Martin Wheeler
Credit: Martin Wheeler
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