51. Star Shrine: THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY

 MEET THE PARTRIDGES! Fan photo of the Patridge Family, inspired by The Cowsills, a real family band that performed in the 1960s. Back Row: Mom Shirley (Shirley Jones), manager Ruben Kincaid (Dave Madden), guitarist and vocalist Keith (David) Cassidy and organist Laurie (Susan Dey)/ Front Row: drummer Chris (Brian Forster), bassist Danny (Danny Bonaduce) and tambourine-playing (Suzanne Crough).

C’mon get happy!

Thus sang the Partridge Family, a family of pop musicians led by widow Shirley Partridge and her brood of 5 children: Keith, Laurie, Danny, Tracy and Chris (played by Jeremy Gelbwalks/ Brian Forster) . I was 13 when this hit U.S. sitcom series debuted on Philippine TV.

WHATTA DOLL! A paper doll box of the Partridges, musical residents of Sycamore Rd. San Pueblo, California.

TOPPS TRADING CARDS. Star photos on the front and lyrics of their hit songs at the back. Your collect a whole set of these cards and then you figure out what to do with them.

I became a fan in 15 minutes, and avidly followed their funny adventures as they went on a musical tour aboard their funky Mondrian-painted bus. Each episode was punctuated by their (lipsynched) songs that topped the billboard charts: “I Think I Love You”, I Can Feel Your Heartbeat”, “Looking Through the Eyes of Love”, “I”ll Meet You Halfway”.

CAUGHT ON TAPE. VHS Copies of the Partridge Family episodes.

 70s MOST FAMOUS TEEN STAR. Lion-maned David Cassidy, on the cover of LIFE Magazine, was already 24 years old when he starred as the 16 year old Keith in the TV series.

 Clearly, the star of the hit series was the moptop David Cassidy—today’s Zac Efron-- who played 16 year old Keith to Shirley, played by Shirley Jones, his real-life stepmother.

 PARTRIDGE COMICS. Had a bunch of these comic books which were so difficult to find at the local book shops, because they were so expensive and came in limited number!

Everyone in high school tried so hard to copy his signature hairstyle—parted in the middle, fluffy and wind-blown—but we could never get our hair to behave like his mane.

PARTRIDGE OUT TO LUNCH. My tin lunchbox featured the singing family on the thermos and the Mondrian-painted school bus that the Partridges drove when on tour.

PARTRIDGE FAMILY GAMEBOARD

Of course, as a rabid fan, I never failed to watch the 30 minute episode after school each week-end—which had guest stars like Farrah Fawcett, Mark Hamill, Jodie Foster and Jaclyn Smith—long before they became stars in their own right.

PARTRIDGE FAMILY BOOK SERIES. To keep your parents spending, paperbacks of the the TV series were also published detailing the band's hilarious adventures and misadventures on the road and at home.

PARTRIDGE FAMILY CD ALBUMS. My long playing albums of the Partridge Family have long since gone to vinyl heaven, but I have replaced them with these new CD reissues.

But my attention span have always been short, so after a year or two, I just lost interest. Besides, there were new TV series that have started catching my fancy--Six Million Dollar Man, Charlie’s Angels and the Man from Atlantis. The Partridge Family was good for just four years, but long enough for me to amass a dizzying array of merchandise and mementos spawned by the hit show. I had coloring books, lunch boxes, board games, comics and TV-tie in books. Not to mention their long playing records and VHS tapes.

THE TELL-ALL BIO BOOK OF DAVID CASSIDY. David wrote his Partridge remembrances in 2000, detailing all the sordid happenings on and off the set. Tabloid news at its sleaziest!

And whatever became of the Partridge kids? Well, 58 year old David Cassidy went solo and enjoyed success as a rock star. He married twice and found later fame in Broadway, starring opposite half-brother Shaun Cassidy in Blood Brothers. He has written a tell-all book about his Partridge Family days, “C’mon Get Happy: Fear and Loathing in the Partridge Bus”.

NOT EXACTLY A DOLL, SUSAN DEY IS. Susan Dey was an aspiring model when she was cast as Laurie in the hit series. She found greater fame in L.A. Law (1986-92) as district attorney Grace Van Owen.Today, she refuses to be interviewed about her Partridge days.

Susan Dey (56 yrs. old) went on to appear in the immensely-popular TV series, L.A. Law but has practically disown the TV series, refusing to be interviewed about it. Child star Danny Bonaduce (49) became a DJ and had many publicized run-ins with the law. Suzanne Crough (45) is a college graduate, married with 2 kids. Jeremy Gelbwalks (46) works for a computer company while Brian Forster (48) became a race car champion.

ALL DOLLED UP FOR FAME. Unused paper doll boxed set of the Partridges. The adults in the show have also moved on to other pursuits. Mom Shirley, now 74, divorced Jack Cassidy after the series ended, and is married to comic Marty Ingels. Dave Madden, who played their befuddled manager, Reuben Kincaid, is retired in Florida and wrote his memoirs in 2007.

THE OFFICIAL GET HAPPY GUIDE BOOK TO AMERICA'S GROOVIEST TV FAMILY. By Joey Green, published in 1994.

This year, I ordered a complete DVD set of The Partridge Family from amazon.com-- just for kicks. I found myself laughing not just at the punchlines but also at the sight of people wearing bellbottoms, psychedelic shirts and lion-cut hairstyles which were the trademarks of our generation. Sad and troubled the lives of the actors may have been years after the series went kaput--on these DVDs, they are one happy, musical bunch again—the Partridge Family!

(11 December 2008)