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| The Partridge Family | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Musicalsitcom |
| Created by | Bernard Slade |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer |
|
| Opening theme |
|
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 96(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Bob Claver |
| Producers |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company | Screen Gems Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 25, 1970 (1970-09-25) – March 23, 1974 (1974-03-23) |
| Related | |
The Partridge Family is an American musicalsitcom created byBernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 onABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March 1974, the show went into reruns from March 30 to August 31, 1974.
The series follows the lives of a fictionalpop music band formed by the titular family, including Shirley (Shirley Jones), Keith (David Cassidy), Laurie (Susan Dey), and Danny (Danny Bonaduce), as well as their manager Reuben Kincaid (Dave Madden). The family was loosely based on the real-life musical familythe Cowsills, a popular band in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The show was broadcast on ABC as part of its Friday night line-up, and had subsequent runs insyndication.
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In the pilot episode, a group of musical siblings in the fictional city of San Pueblo, California, (said to be "40 miles fromNapa County" in episode 24, "A Partridge By Any Other Name") convinces their widowed mother, bank teller Shirley Partridge, to help them out by singing as they record a pop song in their garage. Through the efforts of the precocious and streetsmart 10-year-old Danny, they find a manager, Reuben Kincaid, who helps make the song aTop 40 hit. After more persuading, Shirley agrees that the family can go on tour. They acquire an oldschool bus, a 1957Chevrolet[1] Series 6800Superior, for touring, paint it withMondrian-inspired patterns, and head toLas Vegas,Nevada, for their first live gig atCaesars Palace.
Subsequent episodes usually show the band performing in various venues or in their garage. The shows often contrast suburban life with the adventures of a show-business family on the road. After the first season, more of the show's action takes place in the family's hometown than on tour.
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The Partridge Family was created for television byBernard Slade, and the series' executive producer was Bob Claver. The show was inspired by and loosely based onthe Cowsills,[2]: 51–52 a family pop music group that was famous in the late 1960s. In the show's early development, the Cowsill children were considered by the producers, but because the Cowsills were not trained actors and were too old for the roles as scripted, Slade and Claver abandoned that idea.[3] Shirley Jones had already been signed as mother Shirley Partridge and star of the show, with the producers insisting that Jones' casting in the role of Mrs. Partridge was not negotiable.
Thepilot was filmed in December 1969. This unbroadcast pilot differs from the pilot that was broadcast in 1970. In the unaired pilot, Shirley's name is Connie and she has a boyfriend played by Jones' real-life husband at the time,Jack Cassidy, father of David Cassidy. The family has a different address and lives in Ohio.[4]
The show proved popular, but the fame took its toll on several, if not most, of the starring cast, particularly David Cassidy. In the midst of his rise to fame, Cassidy soon felt stifled by the show and trapped by the mass hysteria surrounding his every move.[2]: 92–95 In May 1972, he appeared nude on the cover ofRolling Stone magazine in a croppedAnnie Leibovitz photo. He used the article to get away from his squeaky clean image.[2]: 167 The article mentioned that Cassidy was riding around New York in the back of a car "stoned and drunk".[5]
Shortly after the series ended, the scriptwriter Roberta Tatum launched a lawsuit againstScreen Gems concerning the creation of the show. She claimed that she had submitted a similar premise to Screen Gems before 1970 calledBaker's Half-Dozen. The matter was resolved out of court, with Tatum receiving a reported $150,000 from Screen Gems.[6]
Unlike The Monkees, none of the members of the cast played any music on the show or the album releases and originally only Shirley Jones sang. Initially, all of the actors pretended to sing while listening to recordings by session musicians, who provided the real vocal and instrumental music attributed to the Partridge Family. However, after Cassidy demonstrated to the series music producer,Wes Farrell, that he could sing, he was allowed to record his own vocal parts.
During the show's four-season run, many actors made guest appearances. The country singerJohnny Cash made an uncreditedcameo appearance in the pilot episode.Ray Bolger played Shirley's father in three episodes andRosemary DeCamp played her mother in four episodes. Then-GovernorRonald Reagan's daughter,Maureen Reagan, also appeared in one episode. The futureCharlie's Angels starsJaclyn Smith,Farrah Fawcett andCheryl Ladd all made guest appearances on separate episodes.
Baseball Hall of Fame catcherJohnny Bench appeared in a cameo role as aKings Island Inn poolside waiter in "I Left My Heart inCincinnati," a Season 3 episode which first aired on January 26, 1973.[9]
Bobby Sherman appeared in the last episode of the first season as the struggling songwriter Bobby Conway. This episode led into a short-lived spin-off series on ABC,Getting Together, starring Sherman and Wes Stern as Conway's business partner Lionel Poindexter.
Other celebrity guest stars included:
Some guest actors later became famous, including:
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 25 | September 25, 1970 (1970-09-25) | March 19, 1971 (1971-03-19) | |
| 2 | 24 | September 17, 1971 (1971-09-17) | March 17, 1972 (1972-03-17) | |
| 3 | 25 | September 15, 1972 (1972-09-15) | March 23, 1973 (1973-03-23) | |
| 4 | 22 | September 15, 1973 (1973-09-15) | March 23, 1974 (1974-03-23) | |
At the end of the first season, Jeremy Gelbwaks' family moved out of the Los Angeles area, and the part of Chris was recast with the actorBrian Forster. According to Cassidy, Gelbwaks "had a personality conflict with every person in the cast and the producers" and especially did not get along with Cassidy or Bonaduce.[2]: 87 A dog named Simone appeared in the first season, but it was phased out during the second season. At the beginning of the fourth season, a four-year-old neighbor, Ricky Stevens (Ricky Segall), appeared and sang achildren's song during each episode, but the character was dropped mid-season.
Music recorded for the pilot episode was produced byShorty Rogers, a jazz musician and arranger who worked with theMonkees. Songs for the ongoing series were recorded by the music producerWes Farrell.Chip Douglas was the first to be offered the job of producing the music, but declined.
The studio concoction that forms the Partridge Family sound has lead singer David Cassidy, members ofthe Ron Hicklin Singers asbacking vocalists and several of the era's most highly regardedstudio musicians, now known as "the Wrecking Crew". Cassidy's co-star and real-life stepmother Shirley Jones also appears on the recordings, although there remains speculation that she can be heard more prominently in the television mixes of the songs than in the album mixes. In each episode of the sitcom, the television family of six are seen on screen together in recording sessions and concert performances, playing the part of performers, but none except Cassidy and Jones was involved in any of the actual recordings. Two tracks on the 1970 first LP,The Partridge Family Album, do not include Cassidy. These songs, "I'm on the Road" and "I Really Want to Know You", were sung in blended-harmony style by members ofthe Ron Hicklin Singers: brothersJohn andTom Bahler,Ron Hicklin andJackie Ward (who in 1963, as Robin Ward, charted with the no. 14 hit "Wonderful Summer"[10]). These professional singers appear throughout the Partridge Family's output.
Cassidy was originally tolip sync to dubbed vocals with the rest of the cast but convinced Farrell that he could sing, and was allowed to join the studio ensemble as the lead singer.[2]: 56–60
Season 1, episode 1 is the only episode of the series that does not use any version of the theme song, instead using the Rogers and Kelly Gordon song "Together (Havin' A Ball)" under the opening credits. The first episode is also unique in that it does not include the animated main title, instead using shots of the Partridge Family singing "Together" as if in a performance.
Two different songs were used as the opening theme for the television series. Season 1 uses "When We're Singin'" (Wes Farrell andDiane Hildebrand):
"Come on down and meet everybody,
And hear us singin'.
There's nothing better than being together,
When we're singin'.
Five of us, and Mom working all day,
We knew we could help her if our music would pay.
Danny got Reuben to sell our song,
And it really came together when Mom sang along..."(from "When We're Singin'")
The other seasons all use "C'mon Get Happy" (Wes Farrell and Danny Janssen), which retained the "When We're Singin'" tune but with new lyrics by Danny Janssen:
Hello world, hear the song that we're singing.
C'mon get happy.
A whole lot o' loving is what we'll be bringin'
We'll make you happy.
We had a dream, we'd go travelin' together,
We spread a little love and then we keep movin' on.
Somethin' always happens whenever we're together;
We get a happy feelin' when we're singing a song..."(from "C'mon Get Happy")
For its final season, ABC moved the show from its 8:30 p.m. Friday slot (where it rated first in its slot) to Saturday at 8 p.m. (opposite CBS' top-ratedAll in the Family and NBC's medical dramaEmergency!, against which it lost more than half of its audience from the previous season).
In the United Kingdom, it was first picked up by the BBC who showed the first three episodes in a Friday children's slot of 17:20, starting on September 17, 1971. From October 2, 1971, it moved to Saturdays at 17:10, and eight episodes were shown at this time. A further episode was shown on New Year's Eve (December 31, 1971), after which theBBC dropped the programme. After Cassidy succeeded with UK Top 30 chart hits the following year, the show was picked up byITV in many regions. OnLondon Weekend Television, it was shown at Saturday lunchtimes.[11] After the show's popularity began to decline in the US, it began to increase in the UK.[citation needed] This new popularity in the UK gave the Partridge Family five UK Top 20 hits, some of which were less popular in the US.
After 96 episodes and eight Partridge Family albums, ABC canceled the show in 1974.
| Season | Time slot (ET) | Rank | Estimated audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970–71 | Fridays 8:30 p.m. | #26 | 19.8 rating, 11,899,800 households |
| 1971–72 | #16 | 22.6 rating, 14,034,600 households | |
| 1972–73 | #19 | 20.6 rating, 13,348,800 households | |
| 1973–74 | Saturdays 8:00 p.m. | #78[12] | 9.8 rating,[12] 6,487,600 households[13] |
Nickelodeon ranThe Partridge Family from 1993 to 1994 as part of itsNick at Nite line-up. The network used interviews and commercials with cast members, and created a new version of the bus for promotion. The show was also shown at various times onUSA Network,Fox Family,Ion Television, andHallmark Channel. In January 2011, it was shown onAntenna TV.[14]FETV started showingThe Partridge Family in December 2017 until its removal in 2021.AXS TV began airing the show on October 2, 2023 until its removal in March 2025.
The cast (with a videotaped appearance by Susan Dey) was reunited in 1977 on the specialThanksgiving Reunion with The Partridge Family and My Three Sons. They reunited again in the 1990s onThe Arsenio Hall Show (minus Dey) and the short-lived talk showDanny! (1995) (minus Cassidy, but with a phone-in greeting from Dey). They were also featured onE! True Hollywood Story,Biography and VH1'sBehind the Music.
When the digital subchannel Antenna TV began in January 2011,The Partridge Family was one of its offerings through the network's distribution agreement withSony Pictures Television (parent company and successor of series producer Screen Gems).[15][16][17][18] From November 25–27, 2020, Antenna TV aired all96 episodes in chronological order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the series' debut.[19]
As of 2023, the show streams in Canada via CTV Throwback.
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Grammy Awards | Best New Artist[20] | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best TV Show – Musical/Comedy | Nominated | |
| 1972 | Best TV Show – Musical/Comedy | Nominated | |
| 2003 | TV Land Awards | Quintessential Non-Traditional Family | Nominated |
| Hippest Fashion Plate – Male to David Cassidy | Won | ||
| 2004 | Favorite Teen Dream – Female to Susan Dey | Won | |
| Irreplaceable Replacement for Brian Forster replacing Jeremy Gelbwaks | Nominated | ||
| 2006 | Favorite Singing Siblings | Nominated | |
| The Most Irreplaceable Replacement for Brian Forster replacing Jeremy Gelbwaks | Nominated | ||
| 2007 | Most Beautiful Braces – Susan Dey | Nominated |
In April 1995 following the successful release ofThe Brady Bunch Movie, it was announcedWarner Bros. had made a deal withBernard Slade andWitt/Thomas Productions to develop a feature length adaptation.[21]
The Partridge Family was produced for ABC by Screen Gems. The company promoted the show by releasing a series of albums featuring the family band, though David Cassidy and Shirley Jones (as backing vocalist) were the only cast members who were actually featured on the recordings.[2]: 56–60
As the show and other associated merchandising soared, Cassidy became ateen idol.[2]: 68–73 The producers signed Cassidy as a solo act as well. Cassidy began touring with his own group of musicians, performing Partridge songs, as well as hits from his own albums, to thousands of screaming teenagers in major stadiums across the US, the UK, Europe, Japan and Australia.
The Partridge Family remain best known for their 1970 smash debut single "I Think I Love You", written byTony Romeo, who had penned the big 1968 hit "Indian Lake" (and other records) bythe Cowsills. "I Think I Love You" spent three weeks at number one ontheBillboardHot 100 in November and December 1970. It sold more than five million copies, outselling theBeatles' "Let It Be", was awarded agold disc, and made the group the third fictional artist to have a number one hit (afterthe Chipmunks andthe Archies).[22] The single's parent LP,The Partridge Family Album, reached No. 4 on theBillboard 200. It was also awarded gold status by theRIAA in December 1970, having sold more than 500,000 copies.[22] A string of US and/or UK hit singles followed: "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted", "I'll Meet You Halfway", "I Woke Up in Love This Morning", "It's One of Those Nights (Yes Love)", "Am I Losing You", and covers of the early- to -mid-1960s hits "Looking Through the Eyes of Love", "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Walking in the Rain".[23] These singles were showcased on the threegold-certified albumsUp to Date (1971),Sound Magazine (1971) andShopping Bag (1972), plusThe Partridge Family Notebook (1972),Crossword Puzzle (1973), andBulletin Board (1973), with "Breaking Up Is Hard to To Do" making its album debut onThe Partridge Family at Home with Their Greatest Hits (1972).[24] The holiday albumA Partridge Family Christmas Card was the top-selling Christmas record of 1971.[25] Record sales success was replicated internationally, with both the Partridge Family group and Cassidy as a solo singer achieving huge hits in Canada, Great Britain, Europe, Japan, Australia,New Zealand and South Africa. In all, the Partridge Family released 89 songs on nine albums between 1970 and 1973.
Though Danny Bonaduce was not part of the session band, he also got a recording contract. Hisself-titled debut LP was released in 1973 by Lion Records, a subsidiary label ofMGM Records. The single from the album, "Dreamland", was a minor hit.[26][27] Though Bonaduce was credited as lead singer on all songs, he insists that he had a weak voice and thatBruce Roberts provided most of the vocals on the album. The first track, "I'll Be Your Magician", in which the 13-year-old Bonaduce seduces a woman into having sexual intercourse with him, has developed acult following for itscampy entertainment value. The original, watered-down version was recorded with Cassidy for theSound Magazine album, but was discarded and never released. In fall 2010, Cassidy dared Bonaduce to learn how to play the bass guitar lines for the songs the Partridge Family performed. Bonaduce learned the bass guitar line for "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted", stating that although he had no ability to read music, the song was relatively easy to learn; Cassidy and Bonaduce subsequently performed together on rare occasions.[28]
In conjunction with the songs featured by Ricky Segall in the fourth season of the TV show, Bell Records released the albumRicky Segall and The Segalls in 1973. Seven of the album's 10 tracks were featured on the TV show. Two tracks were also released as a single, "Sooner or Later"/"Say Hey Willie" (Bell 45429).
The Partridges had a brief resurgence in animated form that saw the family propelled into the future. The animated Partridges first appeared when the kids did a series of guest spots onGoober and the Ghost Chasers. That idea evolved into aCBS Saturday morningHanna-Barbera-produced cartoon in 1974,Partridge Family 2200 A.D. (also calledThe Partridge Family in Outer Space when rerun later as part ofFred Flintstone and Friends). Jones and Cassidy did not voice their animated characters and Susan Dey and Dave Madden had very limited involvement with this cartoon.
Released in 1971 byMilton Bradley, The Partridge Family Game offers a glimpse of what life on the road was like for one of TV's favorite fictional pop bands. The back of the box explains, "As on TV, many happenings occur to the Partridge family, this game describes one of them. They have finished playing at a local arena and must hurry to their BUS to get traveling again. On the way, they may have some delays." The object of the game is to be the first player to get back to the tour bus.[29]
During the entire four season run of the series, Curtis Books published seventeen paperback mystery novels featuring the entire cast of characters. The various authors includedMichael Avallone, Vic Crume, Lee Hays, Paul Fairman, Vance Stanton and Edward Fenton.[30]
Charlton Comics produced a comic book featuring the Partridge Family between March 1971 and December 1973 and later on just David Cassidy comic books. It features stories about the characters, song lyrics and features about Cassidy.[31] The drawings were provided byDon Sherwood.[32][33]
Three years after the show's cancellation, Jones and other cast members gathered with cast members ofMy Three Sons for the ABC specialThanksgiving Reunion with The Partridge Family and My Three Sons, which aired on November 25, 1977. The show featured the casts discussing the histories of their shows, although other than Jones andFred MacMurray both portraying single parents of large families, the two series had no narrative link.
In 1995, a majority of the cast appeared on Bonaduce's talk showDanny!, including Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, Jeremy Gelbwaks, Brian Forster, Suzanne Crough, Ricky Segall and the show's executive producer Bob Claver. Susan Dey was working on a movie at the time but called into the show to briefly reminisce with Bonaduce. David Cassidy was also unable to appear as he was working on a new album at that time.
In 1999, a "behind-the-scenes"TV movie calledCome On Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story aired on ABC. The film focuses on the lives of Danny Bonaduce (who narrated) and David Cassidy.
In 2004,VH1 produced a pilot for a syndicatedThe New Partridge Family, starring Suzanne Sole as Shirley, Leland Grant as Keith,Emma Stone (in her first role) as Laurie, Spencer Tuskowski as Danny, andFrench Stewart as Reuben Kincaid. The pilot was the only episode produced. The episode ended with a teaser for "next week's episode" in which the children's estranged father, played by Danny Bonaduce, drops in for a surprise visit with his same-sex life partner.[34]
In 2009, Shirley Jones guest starred as David Cassidy's mother on the television seriesRuby & the Rockits. David and half-brotherPatrick Cassidy played brothers on the series. Shirley's other sons were a part of the show:Shaun Cassidy was producer, and Ryan Cassidy worked behind the scenes.
On June 8, 2023, it was announced an animated reboot of the series is in the works.[35] The Partridge Family will be black in this version.
In 1997, episodes were released on Columbia TriStar Home Video Screen Gems VHS during a wave of1970s nostalgia VHS releases.[36]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released all four seasons ofThe Partridge Family on DVD inRegion 1. Seasons 1 and 2 have been released in Regions 2 and 4.
On October 15, 2013, Sony releasedThe Partridge Family – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[37] The 12-disc set features all 96 episodes of the series as well as bonus features.
The Screen Gemsclosing logo was removed from episodes for the first three seasons on DVD.
On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the home video rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library including The Partridge Family.[38] They subsequently re-released the first two seasons on June 24, 2014.[39]
On September 22, 2015, Mill Creek re-releasedPartridge Family – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 with the original Screen Gems logo reinstated at the end of the credits. No American DVD releases contain the epilogue to episode #25 (which does appear on Region 2 & 4 releases), the unaired 1969 pilot or any episodes of the spin-off seriesGetting Together.[40]
| DVD name | Ep. # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete 1st Season | 25 | May 3, 2005 June 24, 2014 (re-release) |
| The Complete 2nd Season | 24 | November 8, 2005 June 24, 2014 (re-release) |
| The Complete 3rd Season | 25 | October 14, 2008 |
| The Complete 4th Season | 22 | February 3, 2009 |
| The Complete Series | 96 | October 15, 2013 September 22, 2015 (re-release) |
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