Maureen McCormick- TV Guide September 27, 1995 "Country Cousins"    

Playing country music sensation Barbara Mandrell in CBS's Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story (September 28) wasn't a big stretch for Maureen McCormick. Consider: Both women starred on TV as one of three sisters (Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters and the Brady Bunch, respectively), and both share a love of country music (McCormick released the album When You Get a Little Lonely in 1995). What's more, they even look alike.

Still, the actress worried about stepping into Mandrell's cowboy boots. "It's a challenge playing someone who is alive," McCormick says. To assure her fears, she spent time with the singer before filming began and picked up pointers on her rise to fame, marriage, and triumphant comeback after a near-fatal car crash in 1984. That approach must have worked. "Barbara called and said, 'I loved your performance,' she says. "I was so touched."

McCormick next plays the mom you would expect Marcia Brady would grow up to be on ABC's comedy Teen Angel: "She's hip and young at heart." A mother of one in real life, McCormick jokes that she lives vicariously through her character. "She's divorced, so she can date. I love that." -Stef McDonald

© TV Guide September 27, 1995.