Courtesy Everett Collection Susan Olsen portrayed Cindy Brady on The Brady Bunch sitcom for five seasons She reveals why one particular episode, which aired in the fifth season, was her least favorite When the episode was about to air, Olsen asked if she could have the week off from school to avoid being teased Susan Olsenthinks fondly about her time portraying Cindy Brady onThe Brady Bunch, but there's one well-known episode that she really hated for a long time. Called "The Snooperstar," which aired on Feb. 22, 1974, in the sitcom's fifth season, Olsen's character donned curly blond hair and a ruffled red dress with puffed sleeves as she aimed to become the nextShirley Temple. She even belted out "On the Good Ship Lollipop," whichthe beloved 30's and '40s child actressfirst sang in the 1934 filmBright Eyes. Longtime Brady aficionados have long believed Olsen's least-favorite episode was the second season's "A Fistful of Reasons," in which she develops a lisp, but "The Snooperstar" episode was worse for her. "Probably, the lisping one should have been the worst," she told PEOPLE, "but to me, it was always the Shirley Temple episode. I did a good Shirley Temple impression." The idea to have Cindy Brady mimic thePoor Little Rich Girlstar was first hatched inThe Brady Bunch's first season, when Olsen had just turned 8 years old. By the time producers decided to give the episode the green light, Olsen was 12. "It was really super awkward, and to have me singing 'Good Ship Lollipop' was enormously embarrassing," she said of the scene oppositeNatalie Schafer, who Olsen adored. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty As the years went on, Olsen, 64, came to terms with the episode after a friend put things in perspective and told her it was her "best acting moment." "He told me that that's my standout moment, because it is so stupid of Cindy to be 12 and want to be Shirley Temple. And he says that I did it with so much conviction that it made it extra funny," Olsen says. "I can kind of see that now. It works because it's so ridiculous, and I look so stupid. I've got braces on my teeth, and my nose is growing a mile a minute, and I'm trying to look like a 5-year-old singing 'Good Ship Lollipop.' Now I see that. It is funny." However, in 1974, when the show was set to air, all Olsen could think of was the reaction from her classmates. She recalled asking her parents, "I was like, 'Can I take a week off of school when this one airs?' " Read the original article onPeople
