Oliver Tyler

Cousin Oliver Tyler
The part of Cousin Oliver was played by former child actor now turned director Robbie Rist.
Birth location	San Diego, California, U.S.
Parents:	Jack and Pauline Tyler (Carol's brother and sister in-law)
Extended Relatives	Jan,Marcia BradyandCindy Brady (cousins) Greg, Peter, and Bobby Brady (step-cousins), Carol Brady (aunt), Mike Brady (uncle via marriage)
Character played by	Robbie Rist}
Appeared on:	The Brady Bunch TV series (Season 5)
TV Series appearances	last 6 episodes in 1973-1974, its final season

Cousin Oliver Tyler (his surname is never used on-air) stays with the Brady family during the last six episodes of the fifth and final season of The Brady Bunch. As explained in the episode "Welcome Aboard", Carol's brother Jack and his wife Pauline traveled to an archaeological dig in South America, and their son Oliver is unable to accompany them, so he is sent to live with the Brady's. Oliver was played by actor Robbie Rist. He appeared in the final 6 episodes of the show and was shown to be unpopular. Some believe it was because of his character that the show ended.

Character description

Cousin Oliver was eight years old (Rist was actually nine) and very young in contrast to the other kids, all of whom were twelve or older—an apparent attempt to restore some of the appeal the series had enjoyed when the other children were younger. Some fans would later call the addition of Cousin Oliver the moment when the series "jumped the shark". Similarly, in The Partridge Family a precocious four-year-old neighbor named Ricky (Ricky Segall) was added for its final season (the same year as the final season of The Brady Bunch). The addition of younger children to sitcoms that seem to have run their course, in an attempt to improve declining ratings, became a television trend popularly known as "Cousin Oliver Syndrome".

Years later, Rist appeared with members of The Brady Bunch cast on an episode of the game show The Weakest Link. Introducing himself, he joked: "I hope I don't kill this show too!" Rist ended up being the first to get voted off the episode, despite Susan Olsen being the weakest link.