The Barry Willliams Show

 True Story: In 2002, Peter Gabriel released a song that he wrote to poke snarky fun at reality TV called The Barry Williams Show. At the time he composed it, he was blissfully unaware that such a person really existed. The real Barry Williams can be seen in the video, taking a seat in the audience of the Jerry Springer-type show that is the setting for all the fun.

Apparently Pete made acquaintance of the "real" Barry Williams between the time when he wrote the song and the production of the video. 

In case you've missed an important part of your pop culture education, Barry was the guy who portrayed Greg Brady on the seminal family sitcom, The Brady Bunch. The oldest of three boys brought together with three girls with whom they would form on more than a hunch a mixed brood of squeaky clean teens and preteens. Before he landed what would become the role of his lifetime, young Barry had bit parts in numerous TV shows, while he waited for that big break. 

For five years and one hundred seventeen episodes, Barry was Greg. His life was wholly consumed by the part he was chosen to play, Then, at the ripe old age of twenty, with the series having limped to the minimum level of syndication for reruns, Barry's meal ticket was cancelled. What followed was a career full of more TV guest spots, with a recurring theme: Could you show up and be Greg Brady for a little while? Nowhere was this more in evidence than the year of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. The premise made all the more plausible because patriarch Mike Brady gave up his career in architecture for a shot at show business. Greg's sister Jan was replaced by a clone, since the "real Jan" was not eager to trade on her Bradyness. For a year, the American Broadcasting Company banked on the familiarity with these made up characters and their minimal song and dance talents to carry an hour of prime time network television. Memorable moments include the show's cancellation, but spurred on the need for periodic returns the Brady well. 

Brady Brides. A Very Brady Christmas. And who could forget The Bradys, where Barry was cast as Doctor Greg Brady? All of this over a thirty year span that saw Barry also doing his share of dinner theater and those ever-popular guest spots, often with a Greg-y twist. 

Which brings us to 2002 and the blink and you'll miss it appearance in Peter Gabriel's video. The logical next step was for Barry and his Bradysibs to start appearing in various reality TV shows, the most celebrated being the reclamation of the Brady homestead on HGTV a few years ago. 

So, I'm wondering, Barry Williams will soon be turning seventy years young. I wonder if he ever wanted to be anything but Greg Brady?