Eve Plumb, who played Jan Brady in the beloved 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch, has revealed that she and her co-stars do not receive residual payments from reruns of the show. Plumb, now 68, was just 11 when she was cast in the series, which ran for five seasons between 1969 and 1974.
The show, following a blended family of six children, has remained in near-constant syndication since it ended more than 50 years ago, with episodes regularly airing on cable networks such as MeTV and Catchy Comedy. Despite this, Plumb disclosed in her newly released memoir, Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond, that the cast earns nothing from these repeats. She wrote, according to Page Six: “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 those who work on films and television programmes, compensating them for reruns and other airings following the initial release. Plumb’s co-star Barry Williams, 72, who played Greg Brady, also discussed the show’s salaries in his 1992 memoir, Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg. He noted that in the final year, the highest salary among the child actors was $1,100 per week, which he calculated as roughly $24,000 for the 22-episode season. While acknowledging this was “not bad for a teenager,” he pointed out that after agent commissions, taxes, and contributions to families, the amount was “hardly enough to carry you through the slow periods.”
The issue of missing residuals was previously raised by Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady. In a 2013 episode of Where Are They Now, she said the actors were “paid for reruns for the first 10 runs,” with the final checks received in 1979. “We made no money since then,” she added.
Residuals have become a contentious topic in the entertainment industry amid the rise of streaming services, which have acquired network shows and led to significantly reduced payments. Actress Mandy Moore told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023: “The residual issue is a huge issue… We’re in incredibly fortunate positions as working actors having been on shows that found tremendous success in one way or another… but many actors in our position for years before us were able to live off of residuals or at least pay their bills.”
