Reflecting on Ken Curtis: The Man Behind Festus

In this wide-ranging conversation, Billy delves into Susan Olsen’s life before, during and after The Brady Bunch. They trace her path from six-year-old Gunsmoke guest to Cindy Brady, unpacking the Brady casting process, on-set dynamics, the short-lived Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and the realities of childhood fame—stage fright, typecasting, and why therapists still use Brady reruns with kids. They swap vintage-TV lore (Pat Boone, Don Ho, “fake Jan”), explore the show’s appeal to Gen X latch-key viewers, and discuss how those lessons inform Olsen’s work running a performing-arts school today

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