Rueben Kincaid (Dave Madden) was the worst manager in rock history. He had a hot group in the early ‘70s with the Partridge Family. They had a hit TV show, plenty of Top 10 singles and performed a major concert each week. But the family were still living in their old house and driving around in a dilapidated school bus with mom at the wheel. At the same time in 1972, manager Peter Grant had Led Zeppelin soaring to stadiums on a private Starship jet between visits to their countless English mansions. Where was the Partridge family’s payday? Reuben wasn’t even embezzling the family’s musical fortune judging from his normal car and dumpy apartment. The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season reveals that the musical act would have done better if Allen Klein had represented them.
Three years into their stardom after “I Think I Love You,” the Partridges are nearly the same people from the premiere episode. Showbiz hasn’t changed them. They’re even wearing the same velvet stage costumes. How many other bands are stuck in the same environment after their successful sophomore effort? Haven’t these pop stars seen Behind the Music? Why aren’t any of the kids hooked on smack? Where’s the groupie love? How about the Hell’s Angels acting as security for Keith Partridge (David Cassidy)? Why are they still having money issues without investing in race horses? How come Roger Dean hasn’t designed a floating stage for them? Why isn’t Rueben constantly sniffling while taking about having to visit his banker in Brazil? The Partridge Family gives us a ‘70s superstar band that’s safe for family viewing. And that’s why it’s entertaining without making us feel guilty as they confess their debaucheries days that led them to waking up on a bathroom floor with a needle in their arm and contemplating suicide. Although if you want that action, there’s always the various Danny Bonaduce shows on VH1. The episodes on The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season place the emphasis on the music and keep the plots short and sweet. This family was out to move albums more than move your heartstrings.
“This Male Chauvinist Piggy Went to Market” has Keith forced to take home economics while Laurie (Susan Dey) enrolls in auto shop and self-defense. The siblings make a competition out of the role reversal. Things go bad since she has an easier time being one of the boys. Even with Danny (Danny Bonaduce) and Rueben’s help, Keith blows it. Word of the loss arrives at school. The playground bully decides Keith is an easy mark. Laurie defends her brother which really insults the bully. The ending has Keith refuse to fight the bully. Instead of a pummeling, the Bully respects Keith for his backbone. What a crock. How many times has a bully backed off because you refuse to fight them? In reality, the rock star would have his bodyguard stomp the bully backstage. They couldn’t show such a bloody beatdown during the Family hour so they went with the Gandhi ending. “Whatever Happened to Keith Partridge?” has the star of the band bound for Hollywood. He screentests for a mobster film. Mom (Shirley Jones) supports her son’s big move into cinema. Even after years of being a major pop stars, the neighbors seem more excited knowing Keith will be in a movie. However after the hype grows too loud, Keith gets unexpected news from Tinseltown. How is he going to relay it to the family? “For Sale by Owner” has Shirley tempted to buy a bigger home. But before they can upgrade, they need to sell their old house. Reuben volunteers to sell the house. Can managers also push real estate in California? How come Shirley can’t use her tour paydays to buy the new place? Did Elvis have to unload his old house before buying Graceland?
“I Left My Heart in Cincinnati” is an infomercial for the newly opened Kings Island theme park. The Partridges are the big musical guests under the faux-Eiffel Tower. Things get weird when Keith and Danny fight over the affections of the park’s PR flack. She’s too old for either of the boys, but doesn’t want to let them down too hard. In between Keith and Danny’s romantic duel, we get to see all the rides at the Disneyland of Ohio. There’s so much more music than story that they end up repeating footage. There’s even a very special cameo from the Banana Splits during one musical montage. A weird piece of trivia is that while Kings Island looks like the park from the opening credits of The Banana Splits Show, that location was really Ohio’s Coney Island. When they closed Coney Island, they moved all the attractions into the new Kings Island site.
“Bedknobs and Drumsticks” puts the family into the celebrity pitchmen world. The owner of Uncle Erwin’s Country Fried chicken wants the family to bring families to his franchises. The first ad is a sweet picnic with a bucket of chicken as the highlight. However the owner wants to go wild. He puts the Partridges in chicken suits and has them go nuts in the park. The family fears this campaign will ruin their careers. “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex . . . but Couldn’t Pronounce” shames Keith when he is in jeopardy of flunking Sex Ed. If he doesn’t pass the course, his college career is ruined. Not to mention his reputation with the ladies. “Forgive Us Our Debts” has a computer glitch screw up the Partridge’s bank account when a cuckoo clock gets registered wrong. She should be rolling in fat dollars and shouldn’t care how much she gets charged for a clock. This accounting error leads to a whole series of ugly incidents. The boys have to take matters into their own hand to fix the huge computer. “Diary of a Mad Millionaire” has John Astin (The Addams Family) as a Howard Hughes character. He likes the family so much that he buys out entire shows to avoid being near people. The eccentric rich man drives most of the family nuts. Danny doesn’t mind since it brings him closer to money.
The Partridge Family was the most unrealistic show about the music industry in the early ‘70s. Even the smallest kids are unrealistic. Tracy (Suzanne Crough) and Chris (Brian Forster) barely make a peep while their older siblings dominate the episodes. What family has young kids that are that quiet? But even with all the squeaky clean elements, The Partridge Family is still cooler than The Brady Bunch. David Cassidy never went for the man perm haircut. The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season inflates the joyful days of bubble gum pop.
The Episodes
“This Male Chauvinist Piggy Went to Market,” “M is for the Many Things,” “Princess and the Partridge,” “Each Dawn I Diet,” “A Penny for His Thoughts,” “You’re Only Young Twice,” “The Mod Father,” “A Likely Candidate,” “Swiss Family Partridge,” “Ain’t Love Grand,” “Whatever Happened to Keith Partridge?,” “Nag, Nag, Nag,” “For Sale by Owner,” “Aspirin at 7, Dinner at 8,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls . . . and Tolls . . . and Tolls,” “Trial of Partridge One,” “I Left My Heart in Cincinnati,” “The Eleven-Year Itch,” “Bedknobs and Drumsticks,” “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex . . . but Couldn’t Pronounce,” “Forgive Us Our Debts,” “The Partridge Connection,” “The Selling of the Partridges,” “Diary of a Mad Millionaire” and “Me and My Shadow.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers have nail the fleshtones. You can see the freckles on Danny’s face. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The dynamic range gives you the full effect of the songs. You almost want to see them live. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
Diff’rent Strokes minisode (4:54) give you a shortened version of “The Trial.” Conrad Bain finding Arnold’s goldfish in the hot tub. Arnold proves he’s innocent so he can see a skateboard contest.
Charlie’s Angels minisode (6:03) is a shrunk “Death on Wheels.” The Angels have to find out who is killed a roller derby queen. This is must viewing for the Carolina Rollergirls.
The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season makes me happy. It’s been three years since The Second Season was released. There’s only one more season left to the series. The episodes are far from gritty documentaries about the world of pop stars in the early ‘70s. The Partridge Family allows us to believe that happy people can make happy music. The characters are as deep as their bubble gum songs. It’s only a shame that for all their success, they never had the fat paycheck. Has anyone investigated Reuben for fraud? Where was the rock n’ roll excess on the multi-color bus?
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presents The Partridge Family: The Complete Third Season. Starring Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce and David Cassidy. Boxset Contents: 25 episodes on 3 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 14, 2008. Available at Amazon.
