Tom Bradford lives in Sacramento with his wife Joan and their eight children - David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy and Nicholas. Working as a columnist at The San Francisco Chronicle must have paid quite well to feed all those mouths and reside in a spacious house. Sadly, Joan passed away after the first season (actress Diana Hyland died of cancer) and love eventually blossomed for Tom and his son's tutor, Abby. A steady stream of romances for the kids soon followed, culminating in a double wedding for David and Susan.
Eight is Enough was based on the life of newspaper writer Tom Braden. Cast changes occurred after the pilot: Grant Goodeve replaced Mark Hamill as David following a car accident, after which he would soon film Star Wars; Dianne Kay and Willie Aames replaced Kimberly Beck (Trish from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) as Nancy and Chris English as Tommy respectively. A saccharin theme song was sung by Grant Goodeve and while the show was similar in tone, behind the scenes was the stuff E! True Hollywood Stories are made of. Cast squabbles and drug use plagued production and since ratings had plummeted by 1981, it turned out five seasons was enough and the show was canceled. Two reunion movies followed in 1987 and 1989, neither which Betty Buckley participated in.
Location: The Bradford House
Address: formerly at 10733 Chiquita Street, Studio City, CA
The Bradford house was torn down in 1996...
Several episodes showed cars pulling up to the house. You can still make out the slight decline in the road...
Location Visited: June 2021
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