One of the most lovable aspects of The Brady Bunch was seeing the children gather in the kitchen to drink milk and have cookies. Though these episodes looked easy on TV, Barry Williams and Christopher Knight had to break the habit of eating and drinking during shoots early on.
On the March 25 episode of The Real Brady Bros podcast, Williams and Knight answered fan questions about the show, which ran for five seasons from 1969 to 1974. The questions prompted a funny conversation about their early days on set.
Christopher Knight and Barry Williams learned never to eat when filming
Knight recalled how he and the others had to be mindful of the milk in their glasses. Williams recalled learning the golden rule of filming food scenes on The Brady Bunch. He explained how they would shoot the group scene and then do the close-ups hours later. Williams found a trick, which involved him bringing the fork to his mouth but never taking a bite.
Knight said he did not know what was going on initially. As a child, if he was hungry or thirsty, he simply drank or ate. He soon learned that when he took a big gulp of milk, he was doomed to drink that quantity over and over again for every new shot.
Barry Williams and Christopher Knight were able to eat after filming
As for the cookies, Knight explained that they began fresh but, depending on how long they were filming, could end up stale, warm, or even dusty. Although the food itself was good to begin with, the stress of filming at times made it less desirable.
Still, Knight admitted he wasn’t particular as a famished kid. He mentioned that he didn’t care if the cookies were treated with some sort of spray to prevent glare or were just sitting out too long. Williams joked that only Knight could bring Peter Brady into existence with so much dedication to eating on set.