New Tips And Triks For You

(Photo by Everett Collection)

"Brady Bunch" star Florence Henderson is celebrating her 80th birthday! The beloved sitcom mom reunited with her TV family on "The Talk" to celebrate her milestone birthday, and some of the show's most iconic episodes were remembered, including the party-themed "pork chops and applesauce" episode where Peter (Christopher Knight) tried out his Humphrey Bogart impression at a party he threw to ... um, show off his new personality.

This family totally knew how to party - and, apparently, they didn't always need a reason to throw a bash! So, in honor of Florence Henderson's big 8-0, here's a primer on how to party like a Brady.

Henderson has an edge here - she competed on "Dancing With the Stars," after all - but even back in her Brady days she danced a mean Charleston in the episode " Never Too Young." So what's the trick for mastering a dance for a Roaring '20s party? In the words of the late Robert Reed (or, er, his character, Mike Brady): "Never let your feet leave your legs!"

The Bradys know how to plan a party menu, even if no one but the fam eats the food. In "The Hero," Peter saved a little girl's life and then used his reward money to throw a party for himself. While 50 bucks' worth of pizza and soda pop went a long way back in the day, Pete learned a harsh lesson when his entire guest list no-showed. (That's what he got for boasting about his heroic deed over and over again!) Luckily, his big-hearted blended family turned up to chow down on the food and toast their homegrown hero.

When you have five brothers and sisters and a live-in maid, it's easy to find a square-dancing partner or someone to compete against in a sack race. In the Season 4 episode "Jan, the Only Child," the troubled middle sis wished her sibs away, but she came around in time to party with them at the church charity hoedown.

Don't you wish Marcia Brady were on the entertainment committee for your senior prom? Girlfriend pulled out all the stops to get Davy Jones to play at her school's dance back in Season 3, even stalking him at a TV station and sneaking into his hotel room dressed as a bellboy. In the end, she crashed a recording session to nab the Monkees singer, and the rest is Brady history.

There's nothing like a few party games to get guests into the groove! In the episode "The Slumber Caper," Marcia and her party guests played girly games like Ha! and Truth or Dare before settling in for a round of ghost stories. But when those pesky Brady boys crashed the storytime (with itching powder, no less!), that's when the party really got started.

What better time to try out a new hairdo than at a party in front of all your friends? Of course, in the episode "Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?" the middle Brady daughter's pals thought her curly black wig was a joke. Still, we give Jan props for having the guts to be herself. Um, with someone else's hair. Hey, at least it beat Greg's graduation-day hair-tastrophe.

When you have a groovy sister like Marcia, it's hard to get boys to notice you. That was the plight of Jan Brady, who decided to invent a boyfriend so that her family would stop quizzing her on her lack of a love life. But when the family couldn't track down the nonexistent George Glass to invite him to her surprise party, the jig was up. Still, even Marcia was in awe of how Jan's faux man was giving her the rush.

Even a dullard can be the life of the party. Just ask Peter Brady, who traded his Bogart act for a comedy routine in the episode "The Personality Kid." When that failed (his guests kept calling out the punch lines to his jokes), he threw a full-on pity party. That's when a flock of girls came to the Brady bro's rescue, assuring him that he wasn't dull at all. In the end, Pete had a private party - with his harem.

What to do when you have a hunch that your favorite couple is eloping, but you're not entirely sure? Throw a surprise wedding shower, of course, complete with confetti, flowers, a champagne toast, and Bobby playing a deranged version of " Here Comes the Bride" on the organ. Turns out the Bradys jumped the gun and threw a wedding bash for Alice based on circumstantial evidence. (Their beloved maid and her butcher beau weren't tying the knot, but cousin Clara was.) But hey, any excuse to see Greg in a Bozo the Clown-size bow tie is good enough for us.