These Are the Worst Sitcoms From the Creator of ‘Gilligan’s Island’
Lightning struck twice for sitcom producer Sherwood Schwartz, who created two monster TV hits within the span of a single decade. Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch were even more popular in syndication than they were in prime time, airing for years in countries around the world.
But just because Schwartz created two treasures doesn’t mean he was an infallible comedy Midas — the producer touched plenty of shows that failed to turn into gold. In fact, here are four of the worst comedies created by Sherwood Schwartz…
It’s About Time
It’s About Time, a sci-fi comedy series that Schwartz invented in between Gilligan and Brady Bunch, had all the hallmarks of his hits: a memorably wacky concept, veteran comedians from 1950s sitcoms and a bouncy theme song that explained the show’s premise.
It's about time for you and me
To meet these people of amazing feats
It's about two astronauts and how they educate
A prehistoric woman and her prehistoric mate.
Time-traveling astronauts who hang out with cavemen? Hey, I Dream of Jeannie and The Munsters were hits, so why not? And it worked for a minute, as early ratings for It’s About Time went through the roof. But once viewers had sampled the cave dwellers’ grunts for a few weeks, they quickly tuned out, and the show was cancelled.
Saturday Night Live did “prehistoric guy trapped in another time” better when Phil Hartman argued cases as Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.
Dusty’s Trail
Schwartz just couldn’t quit Bob Denver, his Gilligan’s Island star. So the two teamed up again for Dusty’s Trail, a 1973 syndicated sitcom about seven stranded castaways, er, seven stagecoach passengers who lose their way while traveling to California.
The parallels to Gilligan’s Island are stupefying, with Denver as a bungling coachman and Forrest Tucker as the wagonmaster who gets frustrated with his little buddy. There’s a wealthy couple, a serious teacher (a Professor, if you will), a beautiful saloon singer and an innocent farm gal — you can probably connect the dots.
“Television at its worst!” says one of the few people on IMDb who have seen Dusty’s Trail. “Not only unfunny but also cheap and embarrassing looking.”
The Brady Brides
Ripping off Gilligan’s Island as Dusty’s Trail at least required new character names and settings. Apparently not content to put in even that much effort, Schwartz and his son Lloyd revived their other hit with 1981’s The Brady Brides, featuring Jan and Marsha marrying men who were completely opposite in every way. A real Odd Couple, you might say.
Despite Ann B. Davis as Alice nosing her way into the lives of two sets of newlyweds, The Brady Brides flopped after only 10 lackluster episodes. It didn’t help that Maureen McCormick, who played Marsha, was heavily using cocaine during filming.
Together We Stand/Nothing Is Easy
A Season Five episode of The Brady Bunch, “Kelly’s Kids,” was a backdoor pilot for another great Schwartz idea. A couple decides to adopt a white kid, but when the boy is sad to leave behind his Black and Asian friends at the orphanage, they decide to adopt all three. Progressive!
But the network said no, and that was that — until 12 years later when CBS took another crack at Schwartz’s concept. Together We Stand featured a couple with a biological son and an adopted daughter who decide to take on two more kids — a Black girl and an Asian boy. Look, it’s Short Round from Temple of Doom!
Together We Stand was such a miss that CBS killed off Elliott Gould as the dad after six episodes and tried again, this time as the gloomier sounding Nothing Is Easy. The ol’ Schwartz magic couldn’t save the widow version either, which was kicked to the curb after two-thirds of a season.
