As the number of measles cases nationwide rises to levels not seen since before the virus was declared eliminated in 2000, some people who oppose vaccines cite an odd cultural reference as evidence that the concern about measles is overblown: a 1969 episode of The Brady Bunch.
Some former Brady Bunch cast members aren't happy about it.
The episode "Is There a Doctor in the House?" features the whole family sick with measles. First, Peter gets sent home from school. Mother Carol Brady, played by Florence Henderson, describes his symptoms as "a slight temperature, a lot of dots and a great big smile," because he gets to stay home from school for a few days.
Once the rest of the six kids come down with measles, the youngest two Brady siblings fool around, with Bobby trying to color Cindy's measles spots green.
"If you have to get sick, sure can't beat the measles," sister Marcia says, as the older Bradys sit around a Monopoly board on one of the kid's beds. All the kids are thankful they don't have to take any medicine or, worse, get shots, the thought of which causes Jan to groan.
People who are critical of vaccines bring the episode up often. It's used in videos and memes and is cited by activists like Dr. Toni Bark, who testifies against vaccines in courts and at public hearings across the United States. To them, it aptly illustrates what they consider to be the harmlessness of the illness.
"You stayed home like the Brady Bunch show. You stayed home. You didn't go to the doctor," she says. "We never said, 'Oh my God, your kid could die. Oh my God, this is a deadly disease.' It's become that."
Del Bigtree, a TV producer who hosts a YouTube show critical of vaccines and who produced a movie about them, also looks to the episode to show that the current frenzy about the surge in measles cases is misplaced.
"We were all giggling and laughing because the whole family in the Brady Bunch got the measles," he says. "Where is the sitcom that joked about dying from AIDS or joked about dying from cancer?"
Some former cast members are upset the show is being used in 2019 to bolster arguments against vaccines. Maureen McCormick played Marcia as a teen. She found out a few months ago that an anti-vaccination Facebook group was circulating memes of her with measles from that episode, and she was furious, she says.
