Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Day By Day”

Do you remember the show "Day By Day?" It was a late 80's sticom, a spin-off of sorts from Family Ties that starred a pre "Melrose Place" Courtney Thorne Smith, and Julie Louis-Dreyfus way before "Seinfeld" or "Veep.'

The show centered on Brian and Kate Harper, a married couple with two successful careers. Brian was a stockbroker, Kate was a lawyer.  They had a teenage son named Ross, played by Christopher Daniel Barnes, and a later in life second child, their daughter, Emily.

In 80's sitcom tradition, the Harpers decided to quit their high paying corporate jobs because "they had missed all the best times of Ross growing up"  and opened a daycare center in their home so that "they don't make the same mistakes with Emily that they did with Ross."

Julie Louis-Dreyfus played Eileen Swift, their materialistic next-door neighbor who was also once a business associate of Brian's. She didn't much like the idea of the Harpers running a daycare center, and often tried to persuade them both to return to their former careers, always to no avail. Eileen, who was single and childless, was prone to make some very sarcastic quips about the children's activities, but Brian and Kate didn't let it bother them.

Courtney Thorne-Smith played the baby's nanny Kristin, who also worked in the daycare center. Of course, Ross and a crush on Kristin, so that was fun tv comedy.

The show was great, but I think what made the series most memorable was an episode called "A Very Brady Episode" which reunited Ann B. Davis, Florence Henderson, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, and Robert Reed from "The Brady Bunch."  You can see it here.  In the episode, Ross falls asleep, finds himself in the opening credits of "The Brady Bunch" and learns that he is the Bradys' long-lost son, Chuck.

The episode, coming off the heels of The Brady's TV movie called "The Very Brady Christmas" lead to "The Bradys" a dramatic "30 Something" style take on "The Brady Bunch" as well as the feature films. Christopher Daniel Barnes would later play Greg Brady in "The Brady Bunch Movie" and "A Very Brady Sequel." At that time, we hadn't seen the Brady's except in "The Brady Brides" almost 8 years earlier, so this was VERY exciting. In the 80's this was EVERYTHING as it gave The Brady franchise a reboot.

This was also the last time Maureen, very pregnant at the time, appeared as Marcia Brady alongside Robert Reed (Mike Brady).

So what happened to the cast?

Gone but not forgotten.  "Day By Day", and "The Brady's"...we ❤️you.