It's Fake Jan Day!

"Here's the story

of a Fake Jan Brady

Who has claimed a

holiday all her own"

Sure there are a lot of made up holidays.

There's Ground Hog Day (it's still six weeks of winter); April 20 (the stoner holiday) and May 4 (the Star Wars holiday). But nestled between Martin Luther King, Jr. and after New Year's Day, there's nothing more colossal in pop culture than Fake Jan Day (FJD).

Celebrated on January 2, this holiday honors Fake Jan from The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. Since original Jan (Eve Plumb) did not return for this musical-variety series, the role was won by Geri Reischl and continues to be known as Fake Jan throughout Brady culture.

In order to celebrate FJD properly, original Cindy (Susan Olsen) set forth a few guidelines in order to celebrate and enjoy the day. If you'll recall, there is a Fake Cindy (Jennifer Runyon) who was still sitting at the kid's table in A Very Brady Christmas.

By all means, the most important thing to remember on FJD is to break out a cheese ball. Store bought ones are fine and if you're a real Brady fan you'll want to show your devotion by making one from scratch. You'll also want to break out some marshmallow Fluff and whip cream as these are also Fake Jan's favorites. Your FJD main meal should involve some type of fast food (KFC seems to be a favorite) as Reischl does post pictures of her meals on Facebook.

When it comes to music, Fake Jan is a true country music fan and Lynn Anderson is her favorite performer and appeared on the show. On occasion, Reischl may be seen with The Village People's Randy Jones or you can catch her performing her live musical act. Musically, there are plenty of options in which you can dance the night away in your groovy platforms.

Since there are no boring football games to take up precious FJD time, catch up with your Fake Jan viewing with classics such as I Dismember Mama, The Brotherhood of Satan or The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and most recently, The Meat Puppet.

Also, there are clothing requirements in which you too can release your inner Brady.

Proper attire calls for dressing like a Jan (or Janet) or a replacement character from another series. For a list of replacement characters and wardrobe suggestions, go to www.gerireischl.com. You'll be surprised at your options.

Fake Jan also has a dark side which does cause some concern. Throughout the run of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, she was known to blurt out, "I could just die!" or "I wish I were dead." At some point during FJD be sure to yell or scream this quote.

While the day belongs to Fake Jan, as declared by graphic designer Lisa Sutton on January 2, 2008, let's all embrace Fake Jan and let her enjoy this sunshiny holiday.