**Editor’s note: Sherwood Schwartz died in July 2011 at the age of 94. Growing Bolder interviewed him in late 2010, one of Sherwood’s final interviews.
Whether you crushed on Marcia, Greg, Ginger or Maryann, you have Sherwood Schwartz to thank.
He’s the man behind some of the beloved shows of all time, including “The Brady Bunch” and “Gilligan’s Island.”
As she prepares to celebrate his 94th birthday, Sherwood says he’s still writing and producing — just like he’s done for the past 50+ years.
After producing more than 700 TV shows, he says he has no plans of stopping just because of his age.
“There’s nothing wrong with age. i don’t feel any different than I did at 84, 74 or 64,” Sherwood tells Growing Bolder.
He’s also just written a book with his son, Lou (pictured with his father above), about one of his most successful shows. In “Brady, Brady, Brady,” Sherwood dishes on a show that aired from 1969 to 1974 and continues to live on indefinitely through syndication.
He explains how the idea for the show about a blended family came from a single sentence in the LA Times in 1965. But then his show was turned down by every network.
But he says he was devoted to the show and just knew it would be a big hit. He said the problem is that networks (then and now) are afraid to take chances on untested concepts and ideas.
“I like to break new ground. That’s hard to do but that’s what I like to do,” he says.
Sometimes all it takes to convince the executives is a catchy theme song. That’s why Sherwood wrote the now iconic theme songs to both “The Brady Bunch” and “Gilligan’s Island” himself.
Sherwood is a TV legend, and he’s sharing stories about the actors he worked with (Did Greg Brady and Carol Brady really have a real-life affair? Which leading man was very difficult to work with?) and what he thinks the state of TV today.