Created by Sherwood Schwartz, the same man who gave us Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch was inspired by a Los Angeles Times article noting that 30 percent of new American marriages now involved children from previous relationships. ABC almost passed on it. During its original 1969 to 1974 run, the show never cracked the top 30 in ratings. It was a modest hit at best. But syndication made it immortal. A whole generation of latchkey kids in the 70s and 80s watched reruns after school, and to this day, the cast still gets recognized everywhere they go. Sherwood Schwartz also wrote that famous theme song.