Eve Plumb, who played Jan Brady in the iconic 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch, has revealed that she and her co-stars do not receive residual payments from the show's reruns. In her newly released memoir, Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond, the 68-year-old actress wrote: 'If I had a dime for every rerun episode, I’d pay off the national deficit. I don’t.'
Residuals are long-term payments negotiated by unions for reruns and other airings after a project's initial release. Despite the show ending more than 50 years ago, episodes have remained in near-constant syndication on cable networks such as MeTV and Catchy Comedy.
Barry Williams, 72, who played Greg Brady, detailed the cast's salaries in his 1992 memoir. He noted that in the fifth and final season, the highest salary among the child actors was $1,100 a week, amounting to around $24,000 for the 22-episode season. After agent commissions, taxes, and family contributions, he said it was 'hardly enough to carry you through the slow periods.'
Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady, addressed the residual issue in a 2013 interview, stating that actors were only paid for the first 10 reruns, with the final checks received in 1979. 'We made no money since then,' she said.
The lack of residuals has become a contentious issue in the industry, especially with the rise of streaming services. Actress Mandy Moore highlighted the problem in 2023, noting that while actors are fortunate to have worked on successful shows, many can no longer rely on residuals to pay their bills.
