This month we are taking a look back at some of the game shows on television in the fifties and sixties. If you grew up in that era you will definitely remember The Dating Game. Airing in December of 1965, it was created by Chuck Barris who would create many game shows and might be known best for The Gong Show.
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The original host was Jim Lange. The show was revived several times, a trend we continue to see with Match Game and the 100,000 Pyramid among other shows that have appeared in different decades. The original series was on the air until 1973. Jim Lange continued to host for the syndicated version in 1973 which only lasted a year and again in 1978 without the participation of Barris. Johnny Jacobs was the announcer with Lange. In 1986 the show was rebooted with Elaine Joyce as host, followed by Jeff MacGregor for 1987 and 1988. The show popped up again in 1996 with Brad Sherwood hosting, again followed by Chuck Woolery for two years.
The Newlywed Game, which we’ll discuss next week, was often packaged with The Dating Game for an hour of programming beginning in 1966.
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If you are not familiar with the show, three bachelors would sit on stools behind a wall and a bachelorette on the other side asked the three men questions. Every once in a while, things would reverse with the man asking questions to three women. She referred to them as Bachelor No. 1, 2, and 3. At the end of the question-and-answer period, the bachelorette would choose one of the three and the pair would go on a date with the show paying the expenses. The dates began as expensive dinners, but when the show went to primetime in 1966 exotic locations like Paris or Hawaii were the destinations, and the couples were chaperoned.
That chaperone would have been very important in the case of Rodney Alcala, one of the bachelors chosen for a date in 1978. Jim Lange introduced him as a successful photographer. At that time, there was no technology available to conduct background checks which would have already flagged him as potentially dangerous. Cheryl Bradshaw, the bachelorette, found him creepy and refused to go on the date. It was later learned that by the time he made his appearance on the show, he had killed at least two women in California and two in New York. After the episode aired, he continued his serial killing career and killed between 8-120 women in a nine-year time span. He was on death row at San Quentin Prison and is currently serving his time at the Corcoran State Prison with his execution postponed due to a moratorium on the death penalty in the state.
Bradshaw was not the only contestant who refused to go on the date. Many contestants chose to skip that once they met in person.
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Barris had a problem with the show in that so many of the responses were not appropriate to put on the air. Often, they were crude or had sexual connotations. Finally, he came up with a creative solution. He hired an actor to dress like an enforcement official. He appeared in the dressing room before the bachelors were sent to the set. He told them any profanity or sexual references would be a violation of the FCC policy which was a federal offense, and it could lead to jail time. This was not true, but the bachelors did not know that, and Barris said the threat took care of his problem.
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While I do remember seeing Mel Harris as a contestant on Pyramid reruns, and I’m sure that happens sometimes on game shows, this show really hit the jackpot with contestants who later became celebrities including Yvonne Craig, Farrah Fawcett, Leif Garrett, Phil Hartman, Don Johnson, Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, Lee Majors, Burt Reynolds, Michael Richards, John Ritter, Tom Selleck, Suzanne Somers, and Lindsay Wagner.
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The set screamed 1960s with colorful daisy-like shapes on the wall designed by Art Director George Smith. The flowers were vivid sixties colors. The show ended with the winning contestants and Lange blowing kisses to the audience.
The music was also easily identifiable with the show. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass songs were used in the three different parts of the show. “Spanish Flea” before introducing the bachelor, “Whipped Cream” when introducing the bachelorette, and “Lollipops and Roses” when the couple first meets.
The show was a hit from the beginning. Airing during the day in 1965, in 1966 it switched to primetime.
If watching the show was not enough excitement, you could play at home. Hasbro released three different games based on the show. In 1968, an album was recorded called The Dating Game Party Pak. Jim Lange narrated the album and packaged with it were invitations, name tags, and scorecards.
As for “happy ever afters,” I could only find two mentions of potential marriage from the show, and I could not verify either one of them. Barris said the network told him he needed to have at least one couple end up together; one couple discussed marriage and the network was involved with it but they called it off right beforehand; the other was a reporter who Barris knew would not give the show favorable publicity, so he apparently had three call girls as contestants and asked the reporter to be on the show. The reporter and one of the prostitutes went on their date, hit it off, and apparently, married. Happy ever after? Who knows?
Like Laugh In, this was a show that could only have come out of the late sixties and early seventies. While I do remember watching the show often, I think it was probably because my parents were watching it. I’ll take Jeopardy, Concentration, or Sale of the Century any day.
The life of a writer is not always an easy one. I want you to know that in order to serve my readers, I took on this challenge with no complaining. Yes, I was willing to sit down and watch 25 hours plus of Partridge Family episodes to come up with my favorite 50.
If you were a kid in the early 70s, you understand how just hearing the theme song transports you right back to that era watching the show with friends on Friday nights.
If you grew up in another era, you are rolling your eyes right now, but I know that you have your own happy place where you go when watching those nostalgic shows that were such a vital part of who we all become.
This month marks 50 years since The Partridge Family debuted. To celebrate, I have listed my top 50 in order. I’d love to hear your favorite episode. Better yet, get the DVDs if you don’t already have them and watch them in this order to see how my ranking matches yours.
You might want to grab a can of Tab, put on a smiley face t-shirt, and bell bottoms while you watch. Happy Viewing!
The Partridge Family (ABC) later seasons (1971 – 1974) Shown from left: (top) Brian Forster, Danny Bonaduce, Suzanne Crough; (front) David Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Susan Dey
Danny has a new girlfriend at school. Renee is Jewish, so Danny pretends to be Jewish. When her father wants to call on the family and then invites them to perform, Danny tries to keep his secret from his family.
Shirley is surprised to learn that an old boyfriend is in town to make a speech. It turns out he is now a navy Captain and Keith and Danny are suspicious of his motives for their mother. They overhear him talking about his new boat and old one and assume he is discussing women and Shirley is the old one he can’t wait to get rid of. Danny, Keith, Shirley and Chuck end up at Muldoon’s Point.
To raise money and create publicity, Reuben hosts a contest where the winner can spend a week with the Partridges at their home. The winner? Mrs Doris Nugast, a middle-aged woman. Doris brings a new dimension to the family. She doesn’t want to leave because she thinks the family needs her. She and Keith also end up at Muldoon’s Point.
Shirley’s mother (Amanda) and father (Walter) argue over Amanda wanting a job outside the house. She leaves home and goes to Shirley’s house. Amanda gets a job with a service company, and Shirley hires a maid. Guess who is the maid? Her job and her husband’s attitude about it turns the family into the men against the women. One of the best parts of the show is when Ricky sings a song about grandmothers.
Greg, a former childhood friend of Laurie’s, returns to town and reconnects. Turns out he is now a minister. They go out together and have a great time catching up on their lives. Laurie starts to fall for him and Shirley is worried. After assuming they have eloped, Laurie tells her mom they are not seeing each other as much till she is done with school, but the episode leads us to believe Laurie and Greg might end up together permanently when she graduates.
Keith’s newest girlfriend is a cellist in the school band. Rachel thinks Keith is wasting his talent on rock and roll songs, and convinces him to write a piece of classical music. One of the funniest things is when a bust of Beethoven appears on Keith’s piano. There are a lot of great one-liners in this episode: Reuben mentions that Beethoven is rubbing off Keith because apparently he’s deaf, not better; Danny being a genius, is asked to disappear like Howard Hughes; Danny tells Reuben he doesn’t want to get in a battle of wits with an unarmed man; and he also describes Keith’s tux looking like a nervous penguin. Rachel finally accepts their music makes people happy.
Danny has a promotional plan to show the Partridges conserves energy. The newspaper does an article to show their energy saving ways. It creates a buzz in town. But Danny’s mistake in reading the meter shows the Partridges use more electricity than ever. They spend an entire day without electricity by stealing hair dryers, turning off toothbrushes, etc. They listen to the victrola, make a fire, roast marshmallows and just hang out together. When all is said and done, they are okay, but Reuben ends up on the billboard for being an energy hog. We see the basement for the first time in this episode.
Laurie’s friend Frankie tries out for the school basketball team but is rejected because she is a girl. Laurie runs for homecoming queen so she can speak her mind on discrimination. Keith enters a friend into the competition. He is first runner up and Laurie wins. She makes a speech about disliking gender discrimination before giving up her crown, the school board agrees to look into a girl on the basketball team, and Jerry has to follow through with being homecoming queen upon Laurie’s resignation.
It’s a battle of the sexes as Shirley and Laurie prove to their male chauvinist counterparts to be better able to handle the wilderness. While Laurie and Shirley are perfectly able to take care of themselves, the guys realize they have no blankets, no food, or other camping necessities. They steal some beans from the girls but Reuben realizes his can opener is back in the car. When they get back to the house, Shirley makes them supper – a large pan of baked beans.
Laurie excitedly tells her mother she has been selected to be a peer teacher at school. She is assigned seventh grade English, which just happens to be Danny’s classroom. Things do not go well for either of them. When Danny “borrows” a Hemingway story and Laurie gives him a D, he proves to his mom she is unfair. Shirley goes to school and has Danny’s teacher show Laurie her videotape of her with the class early. Laurie is humiliated. She apologizes to Danny.
It’s role reversal time in the Partridge household as Keith takes home economics and Laurie takes auto shop. Keith’s struggles with cooking make him the target of barbs from the school bully, and things really heat up when Laurie gives the tough a Judo flip. Keith is then challenged to a fight, and must face up to the bully even if it means getting his face turned to hamburger.
Stillman Kelly asks his old buddy Reuben to manage his daughter Dora, who is an aspiring singer. Unfortunately, when she auditions in front of Reuben and the Partridges, her vocal abilities leave much to be desired. Unfortunately, Keith, who has fallen for her, is so taken with her beauty that he doesn’t even notice. However, when he hears a tape of her singing, he soon snaps to his senses and now must try to summon the courage to tell Dora how untalented she is without hurting her feelings. Reuben has to come up with a plan to keep her from feeling embarrassed on stage.
The Partridges attend a lecture given by a mystery writer. The Partridges & author get into a discussion as to whether his stories are realistic. He makes them an offer–they can hide, and he will find them all within 24 hours. They think they win, and he gives them $25,000 for their favorite charity and then they realize he had won and just didn’t tell them.
Keith and Laurie are inspired about a local politician. Shirley goes out with him to discuss political views and they form a close bond. Keith works for his campaign to keep an eye on him. He eventually realizes why he was inspired in the first place and tries hard to get him elected whether he and Shirley get together or not. Richard played by Bert Convy becomes Shirley’s serious boyfriend for a while.
Keith decides he has to be a better role model to his younger brothers and sisters, but it seems like everything backfires. The kids decide to play a joke on him and when he overhears them laughing at him, his feelings are hurt and they have to convince him they truly are sorry.
Danny seems to be getting into a lot of trouble at school, and now decides to drop out. Shirley and his teacher discuss how to prevent this. They decide to let him think he has dropped out, and find out what the real world is like. Eventually, he realizes he can’t get into the type or work he wants to do without an education.
Reuben manages a new twin singing act, but the boys have a crush on Laurie. They won’t perform until she decides which one of them she wants to go out with. She doesn’t want to hurt their feelings but she knows they are too young for her.
Danny goes to see a movie but sneaks in without paying. He is caught, and Shirley imposes a punishment on the whole family by having everyone be totally honest for 24-hours. After holding everyone to telling the truth, Danny lies to Laurie. The boy she really wanted to go out with breaks their date because he got a better offer. Danny, not wanting to hurt her, says the guy broke his ankle. He then realizes why some white lies are necessary.
Lester is a new transfer to San Pueblo High, and he already is beginning to develop a reputation as quite the ladies’ man. However, Keith panics when he hears that Laurie has accepted a date with the Lothario. After Danny plants the seed in his head that he might try something with Laurie, Keith goes after them with Danny in tow to make sure his sister’s reputation remains intact, even though he promised Shirley he would butt out. Unfortunately, Keith’s efforts meet with disastrous results as he winds up humiliating his sister. Now he must find a way to make it up to her and he gets Lester to agree to go out with her again. This time Lester is all over her and she has to walk home.
Reuben has a burglar alarm installed in the Partridge home for their security. They keep setting off the alarm accidentally so much that everyone starts to ignore it. When a real burglar breaks in played by Arte Johnson, no one realizes it is a real break in. They begin to bond with him when they realize he was a convict who was used as a hostage by some other prisoners to escape. They convince him to turn himself in and it turns out, the prison employees already knew he didn’t leave by choice after seeing camera footage.
The Partridges start looking at new homes, but first have to sell their current home. Shirley keeps making it difficult for prospective buyers to buy the house so they take it off the market. Just when the kids realize she doesn’t want to leave either, Reuben accidentally signs a contract to sell.
Danny is tired of being a young child. He wants to make his own decisions. His efforts to show he is mature only annoys his family when he calls their accountant to review the books, quits school, calls the girls in Keith’s “black book,” and then wants to double date with Keith. When he does, he realizes he is not ready to be a young adult. Charlotte Rae has a great appearance as the guidance counselor working with Shirley to get Danny back in school.
Shirley has a first date with a pediatrician. At dinner, he orders the food so Shirley does not eat fat, cholesterol, salt, or other negative food items. She tries to discourage him from another date, but he is persistent. After a few dates, she realizes he is a good person but there is no magic. After the papers link their names, his mother comes to visit and he decides to ask Shirley to marry him, but he can’t go through with it because he likes being a bachelor and Shirley is relieved that she doesn’t have to tell him no.
Danny receives a letter from the Draft Board that he’s been drafted into the United States Army. Shirley contacts he Draft Board and tries to convince them that Danny is 12, but they won’t believe her; On top of that, they say the Draft Board doesn’t make mistakes and he is to report. Now the family has to try once again to convince the Army that Danny is too young to serve and he reports as ordered. Danny gets half way through his induction before they realize he truly is 12.
Keith does not have a date for a party after the most popular girl, Joanna Houser (Cheryl Ladd), declines his date request, citing another date, so Laurie sets him up with one of her friends. The next day when the popular girl’s plans fall through, she belatedly accepts the date with Keith. Now he has two dates for the same party. Keith pretends to be sick to get out of the date with Laurie’s friend and talks his friend into taking her out. She realizes what is going on and brings him soup and then Laurie tells him she knew and was happier dating Keith’s friend. Right before he leaves, Joanna calls to cancel her date with him because her original date had plans change.
Classmate Cindy gives Laurie an envelope to give to a teacher. When Laurie does, the teacher says it is the stolen exam answers for math and blames Laurie for taking them. Laurie hopes that Cindy will confess it was her that took them; however, Cindy’s father is the principal and the added pressure is why she cheated in the first place. Laurie is put on trial with her class and finally when it is obvious she won’t reveal the actual culprit, Cindy speaks up.
While parking their bus, Shirley bumps into a car. There is no damage, but when the driver finds they are famous, he fakes an injury for the insurance. Shirley and the family try to prove he is not injured by staying with him 24 hours. Harry Morgan gives a great performance as a crochety man out to get whatever he can from the insurance company. Farrah Fawcett has a guest appearance in this episode. He gets close to the family, especially the kids and when Tracy starts to fall, he jumps up to grab her, giving away the fact that he is not injured.
A talent agent sees Keith and offers him a screen test for a Hollywood movie. He practices his scene and drives to the studio with the whole family. Keith is offered the part. The whole town is excited and is giving him a surprise party but an hour before, he learns that he lost the part. This is an interesting episode because you see a lot of background characters in this one that you have seen before and you understand Keith’s heartbreak that he had his big break and just like that through no fault of his own, it’s over.
Shirley tells the children they have to start being nice to Reuben. She says they have gotten into a habit of insulting him and when his date has to cancel their plans, that insulting was hurtful. However, Reuben didn’t mind. But since he is not used to this new attitude, he thinks it is because they heard he is dying. The nicer they are, the more he thinks he is dying especially when his mother who is quite cheap flies out to see him. His mother is played by the great Margaret Hamilton. In this episode, we realize Reuben and Bonnie Kleinschmidt are quite serious and Mrs. Kincaid is assuming they will get married, and they agree with her.
Reuben sets up an aggressive summer tour schedule. Shirley does not want to go on tour as it is tiring to drive all day and sing all night, so they hire a bus driver. But Danny is suspicious when they find out that he’s an ex-con. Danny spies on him and then when a robbery is committed nearby, calls Reuben who comes to figure out if their driver did it. When Reuben goes to the police station to see if they caught the guy, they realize it might be him and puts him in jail. Eventually Tracy remembers he called from jail and they go retrieve him when Danny and Reuben blame their driver. The robber is arrested but the driver quits until the kids convince him they really want him to stay and since he got a second chance, he gives them one also.
At college, Keith enrolls in a sociology course. He is partnered with an older woman to work on a paper. He finds himself attracted to her despite the fact that she is older. He thinks she has feelings for him and then realizes she is married. When Shirley realizes what is happening, the woman decides to invite Keith to dinner so he can see how much in love she is with her husband, although Keith thinks she is going to spill the beans to her husband about her love for Keith.
Shirley is awarded Mother of the Year by a magazine. The family travel by bus to Sacramento to accept the award. Taking the back road leads them to wrong turns, lost wallet, traffic tickets, a bus breakdown, and other annoyances. All of the setbacks made them late and they show up filthy, just adding to the bad impression she made throughout the day. However, Keith gives a loving speech about his mom and she gets a standing ovation. When they get back home the next day, Reuben shows up unhappy. Their idyllic drive sounded good, so he took the same back roads and encountered a few crises himself.
When Danny is unable to find his birth certificate or pictures of himself as a baby, he is convinced that he is adopted and sets out to find his birth family. He finds the only boy born at their local hospital on that date and is convinced that is his real identity. Finally, his birth certificate arrives. Shirley explains he was born two weeks early in a hospital in a nearby town.
Laurie gets the bad news that she needs braces just as she thinks Jerry might finally get up the nerve to ask her to go steady. However, if that wasn’t bad enough, Reuben informs the Partridges that they have been booked to appear on a high-profile talk show. Things then go from bad to worse when Laurie’s braces somehow pick up radio signals during rehearsals and causes her to play a different tune than what the band is. Her dentist, who was invited to the taping, informs her if she is willing to wear a brace at night she won’t have to worry about picking up signals in her mouth but she’ll have to wear it twice as long. Laurie is thrilled to not have the braces, and Jerry asks her out before he finds out the braces are temporary.
With a hit record on the radio, Keith is starting to be followed and adored by the girls at his school. He is not too happy about it. However, the one girl Janet he does like is not impressed that he is a recording star. He likes her because she doesn’t care about his music, but she also doesn’t care about him. Meanwhile a young girl thinks he is wonderful and Shirley invites her to dinner. When the Janet finally agrees to come for dinner, Keith goes to tell Kathy that she can’t come that night, but he can’t do it. He breaks his date with Janet instead.
The family gets a good review from a famous columnist after one of their recent performances. However, she was seemingly impressed with Danny and declares him a future star. Unfortunately, Danny lets the review go to his head and is seriously contemplating leaving the band, even to the point where he holds auditions for his replacement. Now it is up to Shirley to convince her middle son that going solo is not such a hot idea. After their concert, the columnist shows up in their dressing room and coos over Chris whom she thought was Danny.
Laurie comes home from school excited because her friend Phyllis asked her to be a campaign manager for student body president. The excitement changes to a constant battle when Keith announces he is running for president – against Phyllis. Phyllis lacks confidence and slowly comes out of her shell. Keith realizes she is the best candidate and tells everyone he is voting for her because she’s so qualified and they should too. However, Keith is voted in. The night they learn the results, Phyllis comes in crying. Everyone thinks she knows she lost but she is crying because a cute boy asked her out. When they get the call Keith won, she says not to feel sorry for her because she made a lot of friends and has more confidence. Keith asks her to be his advisor.
Keith gave an interview for a magazine and revealed that Laurie has a crush on a classmate, Harry Murphy. Laurie is upset and says it is the wrong name anyway. A motorcyclist, Harry Murphy (played perfectly by Rob Reiner), comes to visit Laurie to see who she is as a joke. Snake likes Laurie but embarrasses her by literally driving his cycle through the halls at school and throwing a rock through the window with a message. When she takes some time to talk to him about this, she realizes he is a nice guy and invites him to take her to her school dance. He is made fun of there and takes as much as he can before dumping the punch all over one of the guys. Laurie explains she doesn’t think they have enough in common to date but he understands she likes him and he respects her.
School finals are approaching and Keith has a problem in one course. America’s heartthrob is failing sex education. The teacher seems to be picking on Keith and it takes some work to find out why it seems like that. After Keith studies for three days so he knows he’ll get an A, he falls asleep the morning of the test in a quiet place at school. He tells the teacher that who finally gives him a new test. He calls Keith and Shirley into his office the next day and Keith assumes he failed and will not be graduating. Mr. Grisby informs him that he aced the test. He says Keith has a great mind but only does enough to get by. Keith says he is the only one who thinks that and is hard on him, but Mr. Grisby says he talked to his other teachers who agreed with him but like Keith and said he did enough so they gave him decent grades. Mr. Grisby wanted to push him to do better than average.
This is a remake of the pilot. The kids have a band and when their singer gets sick the day they are recording, they ask their mother to stand in for her. When a famous manager is in town, Danny goes to his hotel room to try to make him listen to their song. After several attempts that don’t work, he corners him in the bathroom at the airport and plays the song. Reuben realizes it could be a hit and takes on the family as his client. This is a fun first episode and lays out the groundwork for the basis of the show and the personalities of each of the main characters.
This is the first time Bonnie Kleinschmidt’s name comes up. Reuben yells at Danny for telling Bonnie Reuben can get her into show business. Shirley decides Reuben needs a wife and introduces her to a friend she used to work with. When they decide to get married, she wants Reuben to give up managing and join her company. Reuben agrees. The kids are sad but try to support him. When they do their first out-of-town gig without him, everything goes wrong. As Reuben is trying to help them, his fiancé tells him how much kids mess up your life and he realizes she won’t want kids. Next we know, he is at the hotel just in time to straighten everything out.
Shirley meets an old friend Larry and goes on a date with him. The children are worried that she is too interested in him, and even more worried when they see him with another woman (Jaclyn Smith). They try to get Reuben to investigate him only to learn he is quite wealthy. After they tell Shirley he’s a two-timer, he brings the woman to their hotel room and introduces his niece. The kids feel terrible they might have stopped Shirley’s special romance and so Shirley and Larry stage a proposal where she turns him down so the kids are let off the hook.
When Keith is worried that he may not be able to write songs anymore because he has musician’s writer’s block, Danny decides that it’s time for him to become the group’s songwriter. Keith finally has a breakthrough. Unfortunately, the song he writes is the song Danny played for the family before Keith got up. They both claim it’s their song and finally Shirley realizes the walls are thin between their rooms and Danny heard it while he was sleeping. She has Keith write a bad song and Danny claims the song as his the next day but says he is now a bad song writer. When Keith plays it and Danny recognizes it as his, they explain what has been happening. However, Keith says Danny made the original song better so he gives him credit for cowriter.
Shirley enrolls in college using her maiden name so her real name does not draw unwanted attention. She meets someone in her class as a friend, but develops a crush on her. He tells his parents and they do not approve of his dating an older woman. When they come by to visit, Shirley is wearing hot pants that might be their new uniform. They are really distressed to learn she has five kids. The parents are Norman Fell and Ann Morgan Guilbert (or Mr. Roper from Three’s Company and Millie Helper from The Dick Van Dyke Show). She assures them they are only friends and she invites him to dinner where he learns she is part of the Partridge Family. After dinner he asks if he can take Laurie on a date.
Danny wants to lose weight so Gloria Hickey will be his date at her pool party. Shirley puts him on a diet. After a week, he weighs more because of cheating. Reuben teases him about no will power so they decide to tackle their own vices – Danny’s food and Reuben’s smoking. They both drive everyone crazy trying to cheat and complaining about what they can’t have, so Shirley tells them to go ahead and eat cake and smoke. When she does, they realize they need to want to stop on their own and do so.
Danny gets a job writing articles about the Partridge Family for the local newspaper. To be sure his article is a success, he embellishes the truth about the family. The first article is about Keith and how he has a tattoo in a private place and loves girls who wear black armbands and has a crush on his English teacher, the middle-aged Mrs. Damian. Everyone teases him mercilessly and Mrs. Damian reads love poetry to him in class. Things finally pass over and Danny apologizes. Shirley tells Keith as a famous face he needs to get used to people writing untrue things, etc. Danny says he will never do it again except for the second article which was already written and ready to be published. Then Shirley finds out it is about her and goes after Danny till Laurie and Keith give her the same speech she gave Keith. The article says she ran an exotic dancing school, loves men in trench coats and beards. She goes through the same humiliation Keith did before things get back to normal. Even the milk man delivers in a trench coat.
Shirley’s recent boyfriend, the politician, comes to town. He brings his youngest daughter along, played by Jodi Foster. While Shirley and Dick enjoy being together, his daughter has a crush on Danny and he cannot escape her. Laurie and Keith tell him he has to be nice to her for the weekend they are in town. The next day he tries to kiss her and she punches him. Danny goes to Shirley and Richard for help, saying one day she liked him and he didn’t like her and the next day it was reversed. Now he is sure he is in love. They tell him to talk to Julie. He takes her for a soda and they have what sounds like an adult conversation but people around them keep referring to them as just kids. They decide to be friends for now and let the future take care of itself.
Danny has a crush on Gloria Hickey but pretends he can’t stand her. When Shirley finally understands what is going on, she talks to him. He wants to invite her to the class dance but keeps chickening out. Gloria comes to the house and tells Shirley and Laurie she wants to ask out Shirley’s son to the dance and they assure her he will go and has admitted to liking her. Suddenly, they realize she had been talking about Keith. Later she comes over to ask Keith to the dance and Danny is furious at Keith. Danny comes into the room to fight for her and Keith tells Danny he has no interest in Gloria; she is just a little girl. Gloria is humiliated and runs home. Later she comes back to ask Danny to the dance and to thank him for defending her. After a concert for the girl scouts, Keith has his pen ready but all the girls run to Danny for autographs.
Keith wants his own apartment so he can have some peace and quiet to write music. Shirley reluctantly agrees to let him move into a room in the house next door once Reuben reminds her in a year Keith can leave as an adult and there might not be an apartment next door. Having his own place is not what he expects. He gets free rent for light gardening which turns out to be 3 hours a day so he has trouble getting his school work done. Danny charges him for meals and clean clothes. Keith gets peanut butter and jelly sandwiches even though he overhears the family is having soup and roast beef. Shirley figures out what is going on and decides to take food to Keith at the same time he invites a date over. Danny sends him a message by arrow. He hides his date in the closet while Shirley is there, trying to hide any evidence. Later that night he goes home to see if he can use his old room to write a song in because his place is too crowded and noisy. His date invited a bunch of people over. Shirley asks how a simple date turned into a party. He asks how she knew and she lists off the smell of perfume, a pompom under the couch, and a Bolero album on the record player. Keith decides he would like to move home. This episode has a very touching scene between Keith and Shirley when he has to explain he is not ready to live on his own and wants to come home which is not easy for a 17-year-old to admit.
After being scolded because they left the kitchen a mess, Chris and Tracy decided to run away from home. Shirley helps them get ready to run away, explaining to the other kids that they all did the same thing and ended up at Mrs. Monahan’s for brownies before coming home. Keith watches the kids go to Mrs. Monahan’s. However, they don’t come home and when Shirley calls, Mrs. Monahan says they left a while ago and should be home. It turns out, they went to Reuben’s apartment building. He calls Shirley in code and lets her know. They cause several mishaps at his place and then Bonnie comes over as a surprise. He decides to get the kids to go home. He says they will play Blackjack and if they lose, he decides what will happen. They keep winning. Finally, Shirley shows up and says she is running away too because she is always the bad guy and she doesn’t have any little kids left to take care of. They explain they wanted to come home an hour ago but thought they should keep playing with Reuben since he let them stay. I liked this episode because we see the relationships that all the characters have. The older kids are truly sad Chris and Tracy are gone for the day and worried. Reuben shows his affection for them. They understand there are consequences for bad behavior and they need to follow rules.
In my blog last week, we learned a bit about the unique show, Dark Shadows. One of the young, unknown actresses who received a role in the show was Kate Jackson. She was born Lucy Kate Jackson in Birmingham, Alabama in 1948.
Photo: themoviestore.com
Jackson started her post-high school education at the University of Mississippi as a history major but then transferred to the Birmingham Southern College, choosing classes in speech and the history of the theater. After an apprenticeship at the Stowe Playhouse in Vermont, Jackson moved to New York City to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Jackson found work as an NBC page and tour guide. In 1970, she accepted the role of Daphne on Dark Shadows.
Photo: fanpop.com Daphne on Dark Shadows
She would go on to star in several television series during her career. She has also tried her hand at producing and directing.
Photo: fanpop.com Kate on Bonanza
Kate appeared in several shows in the early seventies including The Jimmy Stewart Show and Bonanza. In 1972, she was offered the role of Jill Danko in The Rookies. Jill was married to Mike Danko (Sam Melville), one of three Southern California policemen featured in the show.
Photo: moviedatabase.com
Her appearance in James at 16 brought her the first Emmy nomination.
In 1976 she was offered the role that made her most famous: Sabrina Duncan on Charlie’s Angels. Jackson was credited with naming the show as well. Originally called “Alley Cats,” Leonard Goldberg told her the title had to be changed and she pointed at a photo of three female angels on the wall. Another change was characters. Jackson was offered the role of Kelly Garrett but felt Sabrina Duncan suited her better.
Photo: pinterest.com
She stuck with the show until the end of the third season. During that time, scheduling conflicts forced her to turn down the offer to star in Kramer vs Kramer which Meryl Streep won an Oscar for. Fawcett had left the show after season one.
Jackson was nominated twice for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role of Sabrina Duncan. I understand her loss in 1978 to Sada Thompson for Family, but I’m not sure I can agree with 1977’s loss to Lindsay Wagner for the Bionic Woman, especially since Sada Thompson was again in the running, as was Michael Learned for The Waltons.
It sounds like they had a lot of fun filming Charlie’s Angels, but it was a grueling schedule. Jackson mentioned that the three women did a lot of ad-libbing on camera. She discussed one scene where Smith was sitting on the couch, Jackson was sitting on the arm and Farrah was standing behind them. Farrah’s character was supposed to turn and walk out the door, but as she did so, she tapped Jackson on the shoulder knowing she would lose her balance and fall on the floor. Kate told her she couldn’t believe she did that. She said “Farrah was walking out the door and looked back at me and laughed. It was actually in the show. I saw it in the show that week. They left it in. They left in a lot of the stuff we did.”
One thing Kate took with her from the show was her close friendships with Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith. After Fawcett’s death, Jackson was quoted as saying “When the first year of Charlie’s Angels ended, our friendship didn’t. It just grew stronger and closer through the years. I don’t know what the connection that the three of us have is, but it is there, and it is something extremely special. I think that is the reason the show worked. I think it’s even better than the movies because we truly cared about each other and still do. It was a pleasure and a privilege.”
Photo: tumblr.com
During her time on Charlie’s Angels, Kate married her first husband, Andrew Stevens. They divorced in less than two years. Unfortunately, Jackson’s love life would continue in this pattern when she married David Greenwald and divorced in less than two years followed by Tom Hart whom she divorced within two years.
In 1983, Kate returned to the small screen on the Scarecrow and Mrs. King. The show lasted until 1987 with 89 episodes. In this one-hour drama, she played Amanda King, a housewife and mother. Bruce Boxleitner was a spy code-named Scarecrow and the two worked together to help save the country. Amanda had to keep her role a secret. Kate’s partner in The Rookies, Sam Melville, appeared in Scarecrow as Joe King, Amanda’s ex-husband.
Photo: themoviedatabase.com Scarecrow and Mrs. King
During her time as Amanda, Jackson was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and underwent a procedure and radiation treatments.
Photo: sitcomsonline.com Baby Boom
After Scarecrow’s cancellation, Jackson decided to try one more series in 1988-89, Baby Boom, based on a successful movie starring Diane Keaton. The show did not get the desired ratings, and it was cancelled within the first year. That probably was good for Jackson because in 1989 her doctors found cancer that the previous operation had missed. She endured a partial mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Jaclyn Smith waited at the hospital while her friend was in surgery. Jackson had publicly said “the range of emotions you go through is amazing . . . but I made a conscious decision to be positive.” Smith and Jackson were given great news afterward: the lymph nodes were clean.
In 1995, Kate found herself back in the hospital for surgery to correct an atrial septal defect, a tiny hole in her heart. During this same year, Jackson adopted a son.
Photo: fanpop.com Sabrina the Teen-aged Witch
Throughout her time starring in various series, she continued to show up in television shows like Sabrina, the Teen-aged Witch and Criminal Minds. She also managed to find time to appear in seven big-screen and 23 made-for-television movies.
Photo: pinterest.com
Since 2007, she has been out of the public eye most of the time. With her health back on track and a child to raise, I’m hoping she found a happy place to relax and enjoy life. One thing she shared while she was going through her health issues was good advice that inspired me: “Listen with your ears, but hear with your heart. It’s one of the most important things I’ve ever learned. It’s true in art, in life—in everything.” I couldn’t agree more.
For those of you who have been with me on this blog journey, I have shared quite a bit with you during the two and a half years I’ve been writing. You have learned I can’t stand All in the Family or Good Times. You have learned I think that perhaps the best sitcoms ever written were The Dick Van Dyke Show and M*A*S*H. You know that I love the Doris Day comedies from the 1960s. I became vulnerable enough to share with you that Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, ThatGirl, and The Partridge Family are some of my favorite classic sitcoms. Today I’m catching a long breath and taking my confessions a step further.
Television movies have been a staple since the 1960s. Different networks came up with a show that was an incentive for viewers to stay home and watch movies. In 1961, NBC Saturday Night at the Movies debuted. A movie previously released in the theaters was shown. Since each network had their own version of the show, eventually there was a shortage of previous movies to air. At that time, networks decided to fill the gap by producing their own “made-for-tv” movies. The first was See How They Run which aired October 7, 1964 on NBC.
I’m sure I
watched more than my share of these movies growing up, but most of them left no
impression on me. However, there is one that I do remember. I’m not sure if it
was the incredible cast or just the topic of women’s lib which I was just
beginning to understand at age ten, but I loved this movie. I watched it live
on television and never saw it again. It was The Feminist and The Fuzz. Although I’m sure it’s full of politically
incorrect dialogue and actions, I decided to learn a bit more about this treasure
that I have not seen in more than 40 years.
Photo: pinterest.com
Screen Gems made the movie for ABC. It aired on The ABC Movie of the Week on January 26, 1971. Barbara Eden and David Hartman were the stars of the show. The movie was written by James Henerson. He wrote eighteen television movies, as well as scripts for several sitcoms including I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched. Jerry Paris, who was Jerry Helper, the Petries’ neighbor on The Dick Van Dyke Show, was the director. Claudio Guzman produced the movie, and Emil Oster was the cinematographer.
Photo: youtube.com
Jane Bowers (Eden) is a pediatrician. She is engaged to Wyatt Foley (Herb Edelman). Wyatt is a lawyer and a bit of a mother’s boy. Jane has recently been drawn into the women’s liberation movement. Apartments in San Francisco are few and far between. We learn she has been trying to find one for a while. As she arrives at the latest apartment in her hunt, she meets Jerry Frazer (Hartman), a cop who is also looking for an apartment. The landlord assumes they are a married couple as he shows them around.
When he leaves, they argue about who gets the apartment. Neither one of them is willing to give in, so they finally come to an understanding that they will share the apartment. They work opposite shifts, so they decide they will rarely be there together. Jerry is dating Kitty Murdock (Farrah Fawcett), a bunny at the Playboy Club.
Photo: pinterest.com
Jane explains
what is going on to Wyatt, but Jerry does not want Kitty to find out he is
living with Jane. Jerry is a bit of a ladies’ man but treats women respectfully.
Jane refers to Jerry as a “cop-lawyer-sexual bigot-Boy Scout,” and she insists
he treat her like he would another man.
Although the plan is that Jane and Jerry don’t spend any time together, of course they end up being thrown together. Despite their first impressions of each other and their intention to dislike each other, the viewers realize that they are falling in love.
Photo: modcinema.com
While Jane has been exploring the entire feminist movement, she has not bought into it as much as her friends. Her best friend is another doctor, Debby Inglefinger (Jo Anne Worley). Debbie is a hardcore protester and women’s libber. She decides her club, Women Against Men, or WAM is going to stage a protest at the Playboy Bunny Club.
Photo: modcinema.com
Jane joins
her friends at the Club. The women are all wearing swimsuits and carrying signs;
Jane’s says, “Men are Playboys, Women are Playthings.” WAM refuses to leave the
premises, so the manager calls the police. Of course, Jerry is one of the
officers who come to get things under control. While the other women are being
arrested, Jerry picks up Jane, who is in a bikini, and carries her to a taxi, telling
the driver to take her home. She is incensed that she is not going to jail with
the other women. While this is going on, Kitty spots him and realizes he is
protecting Jane. Some of the women who are arrested at the Club include Sheila
James, Jill Choder, Merri Robinson, Penny Marshall, and Amanda Pepper.
Photo: aveleyman.com
Jane calls her father, Horace (Harry Morgan) who is also a doctor. She has not admitted to him that she has a male roommate. He decides to drive into town to talk to her in person. In the meantime, Lilah (Julie Newmar), a kind-hearted prostitute asks Jerry to arrest her, so she has a place to sleep that night. He feels sorry for her and lets her stay in his room at the house that night because he will be at work. When Jane’s father arrives, he runs into Lilah who he assumes is Jane’s roommate. Jane is not there because she was still angry and got even madder when she thought Jerry is sleeping with Lilah. She leaves him a note that she is moving out.
Jerry tries
to call Jane at work and when he finds out she left early, he rushes home. Of
course, by this time Horace and Lilah have gotten to know each other well.
Kitty also shows up at the apartment and sees Jane and recognizes her from the Club.
Wyatt and Debbie also stop by.
Jerry finally
admits he loves Jane. Jane is in a fluster and runs out of the apartment. Kitty
gets mad and asks Debbie if she can join WAM. Wyatt finds Debby’s controlling
nature attractive and they begin a relationship.
Jerry catches up with Jane in the middle of an intersection where he kisses her, stopping traffic. Horace is happy because never liked Wyatt but likes Jerry a lot.
Photo: worthpoint.com
Like Laugh-In, With Six You Get Eggroll, or The
Brady Bunch, this movie could only have come out of this era. Everything
about the movie screams the seventies—the clothing, the interiors, the cars,
the language—which is probably why I was drawn to it. Everyone in the cast is a
well-known star, which also made it fun to watch.
There were a lot of impactful and important television movies made in the 1960s and 1970s, so I’m not sure why this movie, primarily fluff, is so memorable for me. I guess I was not alone because it was the second-highest ranked television movie when it aired. It is on my bucket-list of shows to watch again. What is the movie that you love but hate to admit how much you love it?
Today we look at the career of Penny Marshall. She comes across in most of her interviews as a “what you see is what you get” type of girl.
Penny Marshall was born Carole Penny Marshall in the Bronx in October of 1943. Her mother was a tap dancer and, according to Penny and her brother Garry, was quite a character. Her father was a film director for industrial films. Garry says Penny caused their mother the most problems of all the children. They knew it would be so when she walked on the ledge of the apartment building they lived in.
While attending the University of New Mexico, Penny became pregnant. She and her boyfriend, Michael Henry married in 1961 but divorced by 1963. Penny says she ended up there because her mother didn’t know geography and assumed New Mexico was close to New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.
After working as a secretary, she dabbled in acting. One of her first jobs was a Head and Shoulders commercial with Farrah Fawcett.
Her brother Garry cast her in the movie How Sweet It Is in 1968 with Debbie Reynolds and James Garner. Penny began getting roles on television shows including Love American Style, That Girl, and The Bob Newhart Show.
In 1971 she married Rob Reiner. That same year she began a recurring role on TheOdd Couple as Myrna Turner, Oscar’s secretary. She appeared in 27 shows.
Marshall had been considered for the role of Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, the television wife of her husband Rob.
In 1974 Garry was looking for a couple of girls to appear on an episode of HappyDays. Cindy Williams had previously dated Henry Winkler, and Garry cast Cindy and Penny as the “fast girls” dating the Fonz and innocent Richie Cunningham. The girls appeared in five different episodes.
They were such a hit that a spinoff was created for them in Laverne and Shirley. The show ran from 1976-1983, producing 178 episodes. Laverne and Shirley were best friends and roommates. They worked at the Shotz Brewery Company in Milwaukee and had a wacky group of friends. After several seasons, the girls move to California when automatic bottle cappers replaced them at the brewery. Laverne could be a bit brash and spontaneous, but she had a heart of gold, and Shirley tried her best to keep her in line.
One of my favorite books is My Happy Days in Hollywood by Garry Marshall. In a chapter about Laverne and Shirley he wrote that one of the producers on the show asked him to switch shows for a while because he had an urge to run Penny and Cindy over with his car. Garry said he switched but had to change back quickly because he understood that urge. He said they were terrible to work with. Rumors spread that they both had inflated egos and did not get along. Penny later admitted that she had not behaved the best and apologized to her brother. During the run of the series, Marshall and Reiner went through a rough divorce.
Penny had directed four Laverne and Shirley episodes. In the 1980s and 90s, she began directing movies as well. Her most famous movies were Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986), Big (1988), Awakenings (1990), and A League of Their Own (1992). She was the first female director to get more than $100 million when she directed Big. Marshall also appeared in a variety of movies and television shows during this time.
In 2013 she accepted a role on Murder Police, playing Sylvia Goldenberg. This was an animation comedy about two policemen, one a good cop and his partner a tough, rule-breaking officer. The show was set to air on Fox, but the network didn’t like the show. The 13 episodes taped have never been seen in the US.
In 2012, Marshall published a memoir, My Mother Was Nuts. She talked into a tape recorder and had someone type it up. She had many memories of her childhood and the sarcastic one-liners her mother was famous for.
Marshall enjoyed needlepoint, putting together jigsaw puzzles and shopping for antiques.
She was an avid sports fan, especially baseball and basketball, and had a well-respected collection of sports memorabilia. A few years ago, announcements were made about a documentary Penny would be the executive producer of. It’s the true story of Effa Manley who managed the Negro League’s Newark Eagles during the 1930s and 1940s. I have not been able to find any current information about whether the film was made or not.
While Garry was instrumental in getting Penny her first roles, she proved that she was a great actress and a highly accomplished director. She has had an interesting and meaningful career which ended much too early for those of us who loved her work.
Happy National Hair Day. I’m not sure why we need a National Hair Day, but it gives me a good reason to discuss hair styles on my blog.
Hair is pretty amazing. Black is the most common color, and red is the most rare color. About 90% of the hairs on your scalp are growing and 10% are resting. Each of these hairs has a lifespan of five years or so. And, if you decide to grow this hair out, it takes three years to reach your shoulders and seven to reach your waist.
Hairstyles are easy things to change compared to eye color, nose shape, or cheekbone structure. We also have a very personal feeling about our hair style. A bad hairstyle can make or break our day. Most of us can relate that if we think our hair looks sloppy, it can make us feel dowdy no matter how well dressed.
Hair, along with clothing styles, can easily date a look. Take a glance at the photos below. Most of us will be able to immediately recognize the time period they represent.
I thought it would be fun to give out some hair style awards to deserving tv celebrities. There are a ton of television stars who inspired us to change our looks. Before we get to the awards, I wanted to recognize some honorable mentions. These people are stars, but they are not necessarily television stars; however, they have all appeared regularly on television.
Honorable Mention 1: Tiny Tim. If you grew up in the 1960s, you probably remember Tiny Tim marrying Miss Vicki on the Tonight Show, playing his ukulele and singing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”
Honorable Mention 2: Dorothy Hamill. When Dorothy Hamill appeared in her new wedge haircut, it created a national sensation. I can’t tell you how many people rushed to their salon to mimic the look.
Honorable Mention 3: Fabio. Parents were appalled when their sons grew their hair long in the 1960s, but by the 1990s when Fabio came along, it was considered sexy.
Honorable Mention 4: Clay Matthews. After Fabio, long hair began showing up on sports stars. One of the athletes who commanded a lot of attention for his hair was our own Green Bay Packers’ Clay Matthews.
So, let’s get on with the awards.
Award 1: The Elegant But Fun Look – Carol Burnett. Carol always kept her red hair, and her style typically featured a shorter cut. I’m sure this worked well for her show, so she could easily don a wig to appear as different characters in skits. However, she always managed to look elegant no matter what type of pratfall she was taking to get a laugh.
Award 2: The Natural Look – Keri Russell. Keri inspired many copycats on her show, Felicity, with her curly locks.
Award 3: The Most Recognized Cartoon Hairstyle – Marge Simpson. Her look truly is unique. I don’t know of anyone else sporting a bright blue beehive hairdo.
Award 4: Best Bad Boy Haircut – John Travolta. During his time as a sweathog, John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino looked exceptionally handsome . . . until he opened his mouth. Looks aren’t everything, but apparently, they are something, because he sold a lot of posters.
Award 5: Most Unique Hairdo Worn With Confidence – Katey Sagal. Ok, I admit, this one did not inspire a lot of look-a-likes, but Peg carried off her style with flair.
Award 6: Best Short Male Style – George Clooney. There is a reason that George Clooney was chosen Sexiest Man of the Year numerous times. His haircut helped in that choice.
Most Recognizable Female Star’s Hairstyle: Whoopi Goldberg. Whether her hair was long or short, whether she was appearing in a movie, a television series, a talk show, or a commercial, Whoopi was always recognized by her hairdo. She varied it a bit, but was pretty loyal to her look.
The Character Whose Hair Continued to Evolve with the Role: Marlo Thomas. As That Girl, Marlo changed her hair style each season. You can see just by looking at the two photos, she started life on her sitcom a little naïve and expectant of great things and ended the show more sophisticated and wiser. She still expected great things, but she now understood she had to work hard to get them.
The Television Character Whose Hair Was the Talk of the Water Cooler: Jennifer Aniston. Jen, as Rachel Green on Friends, had a lot of cute hairstyles, but the famous “Jennifer cut” in this photo was discussed ad nauseum and copied by thousands.
The Television Character Whose Hair Created the Biggest “Buzz”: Kaley Cuoco. When Penny in The Big Bang Theory cut her long hair, everyone had an opinion. Some loved it; some hated it.
The Television Cast With the Best Haircuts for Everyone: The Partridge Family. Yes, people loved Marcia Brady’s hair and lots of people wanted Laura Petrie’s style, but the entire Partridge family had a cool haircut.
The Star Who Had the Most Different Styles: Oprah Winfrey. During the decades her talk show was on the air, Oprah featured many different looks. Here are a few of them.
The Cast With the Most Beautiful Hair of All Time: Charlie’s Angels. While Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, and Cheryl Ladd all had beautiful hair, the addition of Farrah Fawcett to this cast, meant it is the runaway for best hair on any show. John Travolta may have sold a lot of posters, but his are not in the Smithsonian. Farrah had the best hair of anyone featured on television, no comparison.
I realize there were a lot of stars left out of this blog, but I only have so much room. Share your thoughts on your favorites who did not make the “cut.”
One thing I realized putting this topic together was the lack of style occurring on television currently. I could not really find a star whose haircut stood out the way a Rachel Green or Jill Munroe did. Most decades seem to have that look that parents abhorred and kids loved, but I don’t see that style in the 2010s. Everyone seems to have similar hair. I’m still trying to decide if that is good or bad, but it is fun to look back at television history to see what was popular at different times.
We are in the midst of looking at the Friday night shows that aired in September 1970 through May 1972. Today we meet the cast of ThePartridge Family.
The Partridge Family was created by Bernard Slade. Slade wrote for Bewitched, was a script supervisor for The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, and created several other shows including The Flying Nun, Bridget Loves Bernie, and Love on a Rooftop. Bob Claver served as executive producer.
The concept was loosely based on The Cowsills, a family band who grew up in Rhode Island and toured with their mother. Shirley Jones was signed to be the star of The Partridge Family. The Cowsill kids were offered the role of her children, but they refused to do the show without their mother. David Cassidy, Jones’ step son, was hired as lead singer Keith Partridge. Susan Dey, a model, age 17, was hired as Laurie Partridge, keyboards. Danny Bonaduce is the ten-year-old Danny who acts 45 and plays bass guitar; Jeremy Gelbwaks is Chris the drummer, while Suzanne Crough is the tambourine-playing Tracy, the youngest member of the family.
The pilot was filmed in December of 1969, but when the first episode aired, a few things had changed. Shirley was originally named Connie, and she had a boyfriend played by Jack Cassidy. The family lived in Ohio, not California.
In the first episode, the Partridge kids convince their mom, a widow and a bank teller, to fill in to record a song with them in their studio/garage. Danny goes through a few shenanigans to get Reuben Kincaid to listen to the demo, eventually trapping in him the rest room. Rueben loves it, hires on as their manager, and the song hits the top 40, propelling the family to stardom. They buy an old school bus which they paint and go on the road, performing in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
While many of the episodes take place on the road, most of the shows are set in San Pueblo, their home city, dealing with the typical issues siblings had then and still encounter today.
Ray Bolger and Rosemary DeCamp show up often as Shirley’s parents. We also get to know Reuben’s stewardess girlfriend Bonnie Kleinschmidt played by Elaine Giftos.
For the second season, a few additional changes took place. Shirley started out narrating the episodes but stopped partway through season one. Jeremy Gelbwaks’ family moved to the east coast; and he was replaced with Brian Forster. David Cassidy mentioned that young Jeremy had a personality conflict with most of the cast members. When he got older, he must have been easier to get along with because as an adult, he has appeared with the rest of the cast on reunion shows. The theme song was also tweaked. Titled “Singin’ Together” the first year, it was given a new arrangement, a new name in “C’mon Get Happy,” and new lyrics:
We had a dream, we’d go travelin’ together,
We’d spread a little lovin’ then we’d keep movin’ on.
Somethin’ always happens whenever we’re together
We get a happy feelin’ when we’re singing a song Travelin’ along there’s a song that we’re singing, C’mon get happy
Scattered throughout the 96 episodes are more than 50 celebrity guest stars, an astonishing number for a sitcom. We saw sitcom stars from classic shows including Morey Amsterdam, John Astin, Edgar Buchanan, Jackie Coogan, and Arte Johnson. We saw popular hosts like Dick Clark. Howard Cosell represented the sports industry. Movie stars showed up like Margaret Hamilton, Charlotte Rae, and Harry Morgan. Future stars made their mark: Jodie Foster, Mark Hamill, Meredith Baxter, and Bert Convy. Three of the Charlie’s Angels first appeared on The Partridge Family: Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, and Cheryl Ladd. Musicians Johnny Cash and Bobby Sherman appeared, as did comedian Richard Pryor.
Danny struggled with his lines. He was dyslexic, but he also had an eidetic memory, so he not only memorized his lines, but the rest of the cast’s lines as well, and they didn’t always appreciate him telling them what they could not remember. He was a bit of a wild child. Shirley Jones said once the cast ganged up on him and poured a pitcher of milk on his head to get him to behave. Once she forgot he was not her real son and sent him to his room for a time out. Danny had reason to misbehave though. He was verbally and physically abused at home. Dave Madden who played Reuben took him in to live with him for a while. On the show, the two of them pretended to have a love/hate relationship, but you knew Danny was Reuben’s favorite. Some of their dialogue was:
Reuben Kincaid: …Tell me, did your mother ever tell you not to play in traffic?
The Partridge house is a popular house in television series. It was the home of the Kravitzes in Bewitched and was later Margaret’s house in Pleasantville and the home of the Thatcher family in Life Goes On.
Most people might not remember that The Partridge Family created a spin-off series. On one episode, Bobby Sherman and Wes Stern are introduced by the family and become a successful song-writing duo. It became a show Getting Together during the 1971-72 year. Too bad it wasn’t titled Staying Together, because it only lasted 14 episodes. The concept was based on Boyce and Hart who wrote for several famous singers including The Monkees and Jay and the Americans.
Music was an important part of The Partridge Family. The early 1970s had a range of popular music. You could choose from Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin or the Archies–ranging from hard rock to pure bubblegum.
The music for the pilot was recorded by Shorty Rogers. Rogers had worked with Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. He was a trumpet player and music composer. He recorded music for several movies and later for Starsky and Hutch. Wes Farrell produced the songs for the rest of the series. Farrell has written or produced more than 500 songs, the most famous being “Hang on Sloopy.” He wrote 30 songs for the Partridge Family. The Wrecking Crew were Los Angeles session musicians, most of whom had classical or jazz backgrounds. They were the house band for Phil Spector and played behind many singers including Sonny and Cher, The Mamas and the Papas, Frank Sinatra, The Monkees, and The Beach Boys.
The most famous Partridge Family song was “I Think I Love You,” written by Tony Romeo who wrote for The Cowsills. The song went to number 1 on the Billboard charts. When the first album came out, it went to number 4. Romeo also wrote the music for the movie Rain Man as well as for other television shows and a variety of jingles. I have to say that my favorite Partridge song, hands down, is “Oh, No, Not My Baby.” By the end of the show, 8 albums had been released including a Christmas one.
Shirley Jones sang on many of the songs while David Cassidy was the lead singer, but the rest of the cast lip-synched their songs. The show took a toll on David. He was made a teen idol but was not playing the type of music he was passionate about. He toured playing Partridge Family staples. Sony made a fortune off him. He wasn’t paid royalties, and they were allowed to use his image however they wanted to without his permission. Even the dues paid by his fan club members went to Sony. His manager realized that David had signed his contract at 19 when the legal age was 21, so his contract became null and void, allowing him to renegotiate it for better terms. Until then, he was paid $600 per episode and that was it.
In 1974, The Partridge Family was moved to Saturday night opposite All in the Family and could not survive the ratings war.
Oddly enough, later that year, a Saturday cartoon was aired called The Partridge Family 2200 AD. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera. Shirley Jones and David Cassidy were not involved at all and Dave Madden and Susan Dey had limited involvement.
The cast reunited November 25, 1977 for a reunion show with the cast of My Three Sons. They also got together on the Arsenio Hall Show, Danny Bonaduce’s radio show, and three different documentaries.
Perhaps the best measure of the show’s popularity is the incredible amount of items that were produced during the four short years the show was on the air. There is a Partridge Family game (which I have and still play), trading cards, mystery books and comic books starring the family, lunch boxes, blankets, Christmas ornaments, a Keith Partridge watch, dolls, song books and sheet music, a Johnny Lightning bus replica, Viewmaster reels, and many other items. Johnny Ray Miller wrote a book in titled When We’re Singin’: The Partridge Family and Their Music, chronicling the music of the show.
Shirley Jones enjoyed her time on The Partridge Family. She has continued to keep busy performing and spending time with her real family.
Dave Madden also kept quite busy following the cancellation of the show. Being a smoker most of his life, he quit smoking after the episode “Every Dawn I Diet” when he and Danny have a bet that he can quit smoking and Danny can lose some weight. He passed away in 2014 at age 82 from complications of myelodyplastic syndrome, a disease where red blood cells don’t mature in the marrow.
Jeremy Gelbwaks became a management consultant.
Brian Forster is a race car driver, participating in community theater. In a side note, his mother was related to Charles Dickens, and his step-grandfather was Alan Napier, the butler Alfred on the Batman television show.
Suzanne Crough made a few appearances in shows and movies through 1980. She went to college, worked at a bookstore and managed an office supply store. She married and had two children. She passed away unexpectedly in 2015 from cardiomyopathy.
Susan Dey had roles on several shows following her stint on The Partridge Family. She and David Cassidy tried dating after the show was off the air, but it did not end well. He revealed their relationship in his 1994 autobiography when she apparently severed ties with him altogether.
Danny Bonaduce has had a rough ride but has been a busy and productive radio host for the past decade or so. David Cassidy also had some tough years with drug use and alcohol. He passed away in December. After Cassidy’s death, Bonaduce wrote: “I have known, loved, and admired David Cassidy for 48 out of my 58 years. He has been as kind to me as any real brother could ever be. We’ve been through a lot together and he was always there for me. This loss is huge. RIP my dear friend.”
Brian Wilson, the lead singer of the Beach Boys, said he was “very sad” to hear about Cassidy’s death. “There were times in the mid-1970s when he would come over to my house and we even started writing a song together,” he tweeted. “He was a very talented and nice person.”
Bonaduce shared some of his remembrances about Cassidy:
David Cassidy was a god to me. We weren’t close when we did The Partridge Family — I was 10 years old; he was 20 — but to me he was like Elvis Presley, down to the jumpsuit and the arenas filled with fans. . .
We did become friends much later, in the 1990s. I was going through some trouble — I was on the cover of all the tabloids, “Ex-Child Star Gone Wrong” — and David was having problems of his own. He gave me some advice. He said, “You know, Danny, you should be in on the joke; you shouldn’t become the joke.” Then he invited me to go on tour with him. “It’s going to be fantastic,” he said. “We’re going to go on my tour bus, and at the end you’re going to get a job out of it. But here’s the deal: There’s going to be no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking and no women.” I said, “Then I’m not going.”
But I did go on tour, doing stand-up before David performed, and at every stop I did interviews with local radio stations. And around the fifth radio interview, they said: “Boy, you’re really good at this. You want to stay?” They offered me more money than I’d ever seen in my life: $75,000 a year. David told me the tour would give me a career, and it did.
When it came to his own career, though, David got robbed. When he decided he didn’t want to be Keith Partridge anymore, he quit The Partridge Family. He wanted to go on tour and be a real rock ‘n’ roll star. But the road he chose to go down after the show, it didn’t go as far. He became the Partridge Family theme song, he became the act of looking like David Cassidy, with the same thousand fans coming to every show. He never did get the life he wanted. It really was a tragedy. I was in Europe when he died, but I heard he was surrounded by his family — Shirley Jones, Shaun Cassidy, Patrick Cassidy. And I heard his last words were, “So much wasted time.”
On the first episode, the Partridge clan goes to a car dealer to buy their bus. In reality, the studio purchased it from the Orange County School District. After the show was cancelled, the bus ended up behind Lucy’s Tacos near UCLA. When the restaurant did some repaving, the bus was moved to a local dump: the windows were broken, the tires were flat, and the paint had faded.
In our memories, the bus will be forever colorful and bright, Keith will continue to make girls swoon, Laurie will give wise counsel to her siblings, Danny will make us laugh, Chris and Tracy will put in their occasional one-liners, and Shirley will take teach us important life lessons. There is something timeless about The Partridge Family, and I appreciate each of the 96 episodes. On the next rainy day, watch a few of the DVDs from the four seasons and find something to appreciate in each one as well.
Today we look at one of the most popular shows on television forty years ago: Charlie’sAngels. The show propelled the entire cast into national superstars. Viewing the show today might cause someone to question what the big deal was about the show, but in 1976-77, it was a new twist on contemporary crime shows.
Forty years later, the show still has maintained its spot in pop culture history, primarily due to reruns, the movie remakes from 2000 and 2003, and an updated show from 2011.
Aaron Spelling developed the series. Although he had a successful track record, ABC did not feel that this show had potential. The original script called for a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. It was titled “Alley Cats” and the three crime solvers—Alison, Catherine and Lee—apparently hung out in alleys and carried whips and chains which they used to subdue criminals. I can certainly understand the network thinking Spelling was losing his touch.
Kate Jackson, a brunette, was hired and cast as Kelly Garrett; the characters were now renamed Kelly Garrett, Sabrina Duncan, and Jill Munroe. Jackson felt more affinity with the Sabrina Duncan character, so the producers moved her into that role and gave her semi control of the series development.
Spelling then hired Farrah Fawcett, a blonde, based on her role in Logan’s Run, a film from 1976.
Hundreds of actresses auditioned for the role of Kelly Garrett. Eventually the producers set aside their wish for a redhead and hired Jaclyn Smith, based on her onscreen chemistry with Jackson and Fawcett.
Jackson disliked the concept of the whips and chains aspect of the show (thank you Kate Jackson!!!), so the girls became graduates of the police academy. The head of the agency was a wealthy man who is never seen by his detectives. The three girls excelled at the police academy where they went to school but were forced into gender-based careers of a meter maid, an office worker, and a crossing guard, so he hires them to solve crimes for him.
One day, Jackson noticed a picture of three angels in Spelling’s office, and she suggested the name Harry’s Angels. The network thought Harry’s Angels might get confused with one of their other shows, Harry O, so it then became Charlie’s Angels.
Gig Young was brought in to read for the role of Charlie, but showed up too intoxicated, so Spelling went to ask his friend, John Forsythe to take the role.
David Doyle was then hired as John Bosley, Charlie’s assistant and office manager. Bosley is the only one of the cast who ever sees Charlie in person. I always wondered why they named him Bosley, given that David Doyle and Tom Bosley look a lot alike and this might have contributed to the confusion.
The pilot received enormous ratings, but ABC wanted it tested again. Still thinking that this was one of the worst concepts for a show they had ever heard, the network wanted to double check the numbers. It still scored high, so on the air it went.
Each show began with the girls surrounding the speaker phone to get the case details from Charlie. They then went on to solve the case and ended the show back in the office getting congratulated by Charlie.
Before Season 2, Fawcett decided she wanted to leave the show to pursue a film career. One issue stopping her was the fact that all three stars had signed five-year contracts. After much negotiation, the network allowed her to leave, with the concession that she return for three appearances in season 3 and three appearances in season 4. Cheryl Ladd was approached to take her place but she declined the role. When asked to reconsider, she changed her mind and accepted the role of Kris Munroe, Jill’s sister.
In season 4, Kate Jackson also left. The year before she was offered the lead role in Kramer vs Kramer. The network would not allow her time off to do the film. The role then went to Meryl Streep who won an Oscar. Jackson refused to come back for season 4.
Many actresses were considered including Barbara Bach, Connie Sellaca, Shari Belafonte, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The network opted for Shelly Hack who came on board as Tiffany Wells, a Boston police graduate. In November of Season 1, more than half the available viewers were tuned in to Charlie’s Angels, but Season 4 saw a 40% decline in its audience. Hack was fired, and season 5 welcomed Tanya Roberts to the cast as Julie Rogers, a prior model and private investigator. However, the ratings continued to decline, and the show was then cancelled.
Why the show was so successful the first two years has been hotly debated. Was it just a case of “Jiggle TV” as it was often labeled? Several critics at the time, commented that despite the sexy apparel of the female detectives, the characters were still intelligent women successfully working in a predominantly man’s world. (There was $20,000 allocated per episode for wardrobe, the equivalent of $90,000 today. Most characters averaged 8 changes per show.) This was one of the first times an all-female cast appeared in a work situation typically reserved for men’s roles. The original cast was very close and had a chemistry never matched by their replacements. The three women continued to be friends, each enduring a battle with cancer which Fawcett lost in 2006.
Kate Jackson. Born in Alabama in 1948, Jackson started attending The University of Mississippi, but then transferred to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She worked as a page at Rockefeller Center and appeared in summer stock plays in Vermont. Her first break was being cast as Daphne in Dark Shadows. In the 1970s, she accepted the role of Jill Danko on The Rookies. That led to Spelling offering her the Charlie’s Angel job. She later went on to star in two other series, Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Baby Boom. She appeared in 9 films, 5 series, 15 episodes of other shows, and 29 made-for-tv movies.
Farrah Fawcett. Born in Texas in 1947, Fawcett attended the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in art. After her junior year, her parents gave their permission for her to move to California to try a modeling and acting career. She received a contract with Screen Gems and began appearing in commercials including Noxzema, Max Factor, and Beautyrest. She began appearing on a variety of series including The Flying Nun, IDream of Jeannie, The Partridge Family, and Marcus Welby. She was married to Lee Majors from 1973-1982 and involved with Ryan O’Neal from 1979-1997.
Her iconic poster was photographed in 1976. Many cites indicate the poster company reached out to Farrah and that led to her Logan’s Run role. However, the photographer Bruce McBloom, who was a family friend, gave his account differently. He says ABC approached all three stars of Charlie’s Angels and offered to shoot posters for each one, with the stars getting a percentage of the sales. Smith and Jackson declined, but Fawcett agreed. She didn’t like the original shots and asked for McBloom. She was supposed to be shot in a bikini but that was not working, so McBloom asked her what else she had in her closet because they were shooting at her home. (She did her own hair and makeup). She came out in the red one-piece and they both felt it was the one. Fawcett picked out the photos she liked best, and more than 12 million posters were sold. The suit now resides in the Smithsonian, along with Fonzie’s leather jacket and Archie Bunker’s chair.
Farrah ended up appearing on 21 tv shows, two of which she co-starred in. (She went on to appear in Good Sports with her then-boyfriend Ryan O’Neal.) She was in 16 films, including Logan’s Run and Cannonball Run. Like her co-stars, she also made 22 made-for-tv movies.
Jaclyn Smith. Born in 1945 in Texas, she wanted to be a ballerina. In 1973, she received national notice as a Breck Shampoo girl and accepted the Charlie’s Angel role in 1976. Before Charlie’s Angels, Smith appeared in 6 tv shows and had small roles in 3 movies. She appeared in 9 shows after Charlie’s Angels and 4 films. Like Jackson, she spent most of her time in made-for-tv-movies, 30 in all.
Cheryl Ladd. Born in South Dakota in 1951, Ladd worked as a carhop during high school. Her intentions were to attempt a music career, and in 1970 she was hired to sing for “Melody” on the animated series, Josie and the Pussycats. She began accepting tv roles, appearing in The Rookies, Harry O, and The Partridge Family, among others. She was considered for the role of Nancy on Family which eventually went to Meredith Baxter. She was married to David Ladd from 1973-1980, and has been married to Brian Russell since 1981.
Ladd appeared in 31 tv series, co-starring in 5 of them. She was in 15 films and made 30 made-for-tv films. Still working, she appears in a new film this year, Unforgettable.
Shelley Hack at the Hollywood Collector’s Show in Burbank, CA on July 18, 2009
Shelly Hack. Born in 1947, Hack became a model at 16 and is well known as the Revlon Charlie Perfume girl before she was the Charlie’s Angel girl. She took a bit part in AnnieHall in 1977 and was cast as an Angel in 1979. She continued to accept tv roles after Charlie’s Angels, appearing in 11 total, co-starring in two. She was in 10 films, most of them in the 1980s, and as the trend seen by her co-stars, made 12 made-for-tv movies.
In the late 1990s, Hack left acting for a political career. She became a voting registrar and polling station supervisor in Bosnia-Herzegovina. She produced several foreign political debates and became a media consultant for pre-and post-conflict countries, primarily in Eastern Europe. She has been married to Harry Winer since 1990.
Tanya Roberts. The youngest of the Angels, Roberts was born in 1955 and dropped out of school at 15. She studied acting while earning a living as a model and Arthur Murray instructor. She briefly married but that was annulled. In 1974, she married Barry Roberts who passed away in 2006.
After Charlie’s Angels was cancelled, she appeared in 13 other shows, co-starring in HotLine and That Seventies Show. She appeared in 19 movies, the most famous being A View to a Kill in 1985 and also made 4 made-for-tv movies.
John Forsythe. It’s hard to compare any of these stars to John Forsythe. As Charlie’sAngels debuted, he was at the end of a long and full career, while his co-stars were entering the prime of their careers. I have shared much of his career in prior blogs. After Charlie’s Angels, he would go on to star in Dynasty from 1981-89 and in PowersThatBe from 1992-3. Overall, he appeared in 48 television series, co-starring in 6. He made 23 films and 27 made-for-tv movies.
David Doyle. Born in 1929 in Nebraska, David was the third-generation family member to become a lawyer. Wisconsin can claim him because he graduated from Prairie du Chien high school. He went to college with Johnny Carson who remained a friend. He gave up his law career to try his hand at acting and received his first movie role in 1956. In 1956, he married his wife Rachel and she passed away due to a fall in 1968. In 1969, he married Ann and their marriage continued until his death. He made 26 films, 18 made-for-tv movies and appeared in 62 tv shows, co-starring in Charlie’s Angels and BridgetLoves Bernie, along with several animation series. Younger viewers might remember him as the voice of Grandfather Lou Pickles in Rug Rats. He passed away in 1997 from a heart attack.
Mandatory Credit: Photo By Drinkwater/NBCUPHOTOBANK / Rex Features Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Ceremony, Los Angeles, America – 27 Aug 2006 EXCLUSIVE UKH EMMYS
So, which Angel was the most successful? I’ll let you make that determination, but I might lean toward the non-female cast member David Doyle (removing John Forsythe from the equation). It’s hard to deny any of the cast members’ success when looking at the popularity of the show.
The Partridge Family (ABC) later seasons (1971 – 1974) Shown from left: (top) Brian Forster, Danny Bonaduce, Suzanne Crough; (front) David Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Susan Dey
Ask any girl who grew up in the late sixties and early seventies and they will tell you their favorite night of television was Friday. We looked forward to watching The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222, The Odd Couple, and Love American Style, but the first hour of the night was the only “can’t miss” one. Boys coming of age in that era might have a tough time deciding between Samantha Stevens and Jeannie, but almost every girl will tell you Keith Partridge beat out Greg Brady hands down. Like most nine-year-olds in 1970, I had a huge crush on Keith Partridge. Watching the episodes today takes me right back to that time, and I feel like a kid on Friday night again.
The Partridge Family aired from 1970-1974, and the concept was based on the Cowsills. The Cowsill family grew up in Rhode Island, and by 1967 the band consisted of siblings ages 8-19 and their mother. Although the group no longer includes all the siblings, they still tour and record.
I still enjoy watching the episodes today. Even though the show is filled with nostalgia as far as clothing and interior décor, the problems faced by the Partridge Family were primarily the same problems faced by all families with kids and many of the shows have a timeless appeal. I’m not sure that anyone not growing up during that time period realizes the impact of the Partridge Family. I still have the Partridge Family game, we had trading cards that were collected and the back of the cards put together formed a puzzle. I had paperback books featuring the Partridge Family and lots of kids had albums, lunch boxes and other collectible memorabilia. Danny is often referred to as a brat, but I like the character of Danny Partridge. Then again, I liked all the Partridge Family members.
However, what I wanted to talk about in this blog is the unbelievable guest stars that the show was able to attract. Of course, Shirley Jones was a well-liked and famous movie star and she had a lot of connections in the industry. However, the names of the people who appeared on an episode of The Partridge Family during those four short years is incredible. I counted more than 50 looking at various shows over the years. Let’s look at some of those guest stars.
Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow, and Margaret Hamilton, the wicked witch, from the Wizard of Oz both made appearances. Ray Bolger played Shirley Partridge’s father on several shows. Margaret Hamilton is Rueben’s mother.
Two Dick Van Dyke Show cast members were featured: Morey Amsterdam, Buddy Sorrel and Ann Morgan Guilbert, Milly Helper. Amsterdam provided Danny with some bad comedy material in the first season. Guilbert is married to Norman Fell in the show and they visit Shirley when their son Keith’s age develops a crush on Shirley which he mistakenly thinks is reciprocated.
In addition to Ann and Morey, there were a lot of previous sitcom stars on the show. John Astin from the Addams Family, plays an eccentric millionaire. Edgar Buchanan, Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction, plays a judge which he also portrayed in the movie, Move Over Darling, starring Doris Day and James Garner. Rosemary DeCamp played Shirley’s mother. Rosemary had been featured on lots of tv shows. She was on Love That Bob and was Ann Marie’s mother on That Girl. Arte Johnson from Laugh-In was in two episodes, one as an artist who paints a nude on the family garage when they are out of town. Harry Morgan, a sitcom veteran, played, a man faking whiplash in the first season and appeared again in 1972 as another character. William Schallert who was Patty Lane’s father on The Patty Duke Show stars as a folk musician whose career has taken a nose dive. Ronne Troup who played Polly on My Three Sons was on the show as the fourth season began as their neighbor complains about their music.
Not only were the past tv stars featured but a lot of up and coming stars showed up. MeredithBaxter gifts a million dollars to the Partridges and they find they don’t enjoy being wealthy. Bert Convy played one of Shirley’s serious boyfriends on three shows. Norman Fell is the father of a young man who gets a crush on Shirley when she goes back to school using her maiden name. He later married Helen and was Stanley Roper on Three’s Company. Pat Harrington Jr. appeared the first season and came back as someone else three years later. While he was in hundreds of tv episodes, he is probably most often recognized as Schneider from One Day at a Time. The Partridges try to set up Ann Jillian with their delivery boy to build up his confidence. If she had dated him, she might not have ended up a waitress on It’s a Living. Gordon Jump who was a veteran tv guest star, best known as Arthur Carlson from WKRP in Cincinnati, was on seven episodes as different characters. Richard Mulligan appeared in one show as Shirley’s boyfriend but also came back for another episode two years later; we know him as Burt on Soap and Dr. Westin on Empty Nest. Annette O’Toole plays Keith’s girlfriend in the second season; later her marriage with Nash doesn’t work out on NashBridges. Rob Reiner, who will soon be “Meathead” on All in The Family, appears as Snake, a rough biker with a heart of gold who likes Laurie. VicTayback who we know best as Mel on Alice appeared as three different characters on three different shows, Nancy Walker is the mother of Shirley’s date before she was Rhoda’s mom in later years.
Three of the five Charlie’s Angels showed up on different shows: Farrah Fawcett was a “pretty girl” the kids hire to try to get Harry Morgan to reveal that his whiplash is not real. Cheryl Ladd is the popular girl Keith wants to take to the dance after promising to take Laurie’s friend. Jaclyn Smith plays the niece of Shirley’s boyfriend. When he buys her a ring for graduation, the kids assume she is his fiancé and take matters into their own hands.
We had big stars from different genres including Johnny Cash playing himself and introducing the first concert the family is performing in Vegas. Richard Pryor talks the Partridges into playing for his charity event, and Bobby Sherman plays a singer, Bobby Conway. This episode actually turned into a spinoff for a short time.
Many famous or soon-to-be-famous movie stars can be spied on episodes including JackieCoogan who replaced Ray Bolger as Shirley’s father on two later shows. Jodie Foster and Danny have a love/hate relationship when their parents are dating. Lou Gosset Jr., producing a charity event with Richard Pryor, asks the Partridges to fill in when a group cancels. MarkHamill is Laurie’s boyfriend before he even knew Princess Leia. Charlotte Rae, a bit out of her typical character, plays a doctor.
I could continue, but every blog has to end sometime. It is amazing how many famous people were willing to appear in a new sitcom not only once but up to seven times as seven different characters. It says a lot about the reputation of the show. Let’s finish up with some fun facts about the show.
Shirley Jones was recruited to be Carol Brady but passed and took The Partridge Family
Partridge had passed away in the first episode, but his first name is never mentioned on the show.
Rueben Kincaid’s middle name is Clarence.
When the Partridges are asked to replace another musical act for a charity event put on by Richard Pryor and Lou Gossett Jr., the group that cancelled is the Temptations.
When Laurie gets braces, she can hear radio signals in her mouth, and it interferes with her performing. The music she “hears” in her mouth is The Rolling Stones.
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