The Partridge Family

About the Partridge Family



Premiering on Friday, September 25th, 1970 on the ABC television network, The Partridge Family was the follow-up-to-the Monkees brainchild of Screen Gems studio Executive Producer Bob Claver. Casting bankable Broadway and film star Shirley Jones as the mother of five musically talented children and the nervous driver of a psychedelic bus, step-son David Cassidy as the Davy Jones freshly-scrubbed face of the clan, Susan Dey as the cute one and Danny Bonaduce as comedy relief. Screen Gems had a hit show and, as planned, a slew of hit songs, albums and lunch pails.

The Partridges were a fatherless family of six who decided, in the premier episode, to form a rock band and tour the country in a psychedelically-painted school bus.

Most episodes began at the family home in California. Under the leadership of 70s supermom Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones), the five Partridge kids survived various capers that almost always culminated in successful concerts. Mom covered lead vocals. Teenage stepson Keith (David Cassidy) helped keep the family in line. Keith sometimes clashed with sister Laurie (Susan Dey) and everyone clashed with ten-year-old brother Danny (Danny Bonaduce), the freckle-faced bass player who was always looking for the big score. Danny's special nemesis was band manager Reuben Kinkaid (David Madden), an irritable man with a knack for getting the family into trouble when the plot needed fresh complications. Two younger Partridges, Chris and Tracy, rounded out the cast, along with a next-door neighbor, Ricky, and Reuben's nephew, Alan, who joined the show in 1973.



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