The Partridge Family - Season 1 Episode Guide
Season 1, Episode 1 - Aired: September 25, 1970
What? And Get Out of Show Business?
Recently widowed Shirley Partridge struggles to support her five children as a bank teller. When their regular lead singer gets sick, the Partridge family kids invite their mom to sing with the band. After discovering that their Mom is surprisingly good with the band, Shirley agrees reluctantly to sing and to give it a try. But they will need an agent. Danny Partridge has an idea: he will submit a tape of the group singing to an agent. The agent happens to be Ruben Kincaid, and after hearing the group sing, decides he will represent them. Now there is only one missing element to the group: a large vehicle is needed in order to transport them and their instruments. The group decides on a bus, which they paint in multi-colors so that people will notice them. This whole story is narrated by mother Partridge Shirley as she drives the group to their first singing engagement in public.
Songs: "Together", "Let the Good Times In", and the first-season theme tune "When We're Singin'" (which in time would be rewritten as the more familiar "Come On, Get Happy".
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Season 1, Episode 2 - Aired: October 2, 1970
The Sound of Money
A motorist, Willie Larkin, threatens to sue the Partridge Family for $500,000, claiming to have suffered whiplash in a minor fender-bender. After several failed attempts to prove that Willie isn't injured, the family takes a brand new approach, smothering the crotchety Larkin in a surfeit of courtesy and kindness.
Song: "I'll Leave Myself a Little Time".
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Season 1, Episode 3 - Aired: October 9, 1970
Whatever Happened to the Old Songs?
The Partridge kids are aghast when their mandolin-playing Grandpa decks himself out in the latest "mod" clothes and insists upon singing rock-and-roll tunes in the family act. It takes the combined efforts of Shirley (Shirley Jones), Grandma and the kids to convince Grandpa that he's better off sticking to the the songs of his own youth (and besides, Grandma isn't about to don a miniskirt just to make her husband happy!)
Songs: "Baby I Love You", "I'm on the Road" and "Bye Bye Blackbird".
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Season 1, Episode 4 - Aired: October 16, 1970
See Here, Private Partridge
Just as the family is busy trying to record their first album, Danny is drafted into the army, thanks to a computer glitch. Shirley goes down to the recruiting center to try to straighten things out, but she can't cut through the Army bureaucracy. Shirley decides to send Danny down to the recruiting center so the Army can see for themselves that he is just a boy.
Song: "I'm On the Road".
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Season 1, Episode 5 - Aired: October 23, 1970
When Mother Gets Married
The Partridge kids are upset that mom Shirley has apparently fallen in love with her old friend Larry Metcalf. Having concluded that Larry is nothing more than a "giggle-o", the youngsters enlist the aid of Reuben to break up the supposed romance. The plot thickens when Larry is seen keeping company with a much younger woman.
Song: "I Really Want to Know You."
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Season 1, Episode 6 - Aired: October 30, 1970
Love at First Slight
Keith is forced to deal with his fame when a girl rejects him. Keith finds himself ardently pursued by a 13-year-old fan named Cathy, while he himself is ardently pursuing 16-year-old Janet who cares neither for his pop-star status nor for him personally. The "fun" really begins when Janet and Cathy end up being invited for dinner at the Partridge home on the same night!
Song: "Somebody Wants to Love You".
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Season 1, Episode 7 - Aired: November 6, 1970
Danny and the Mob
While the family is performing in Las Vegas, 10-year-old Danny gives some stock market tips to sexy cigarette girl LaVon LaVern. LaVon's gangster boyfriend Harry is unaware that Danny is just a kid, Harry thinks that Danny is making a play for LaVon, so he sends his two henchmen Skee and Rocco to "lean on" Danny. The two softhearted thugs quickly realize that their boss is barking up the wrong tree, but orders are orders!
Song: "That'll Be the Day".
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Season 1, Episode 8 - Aired: November 13, 1970
But the Memory Lingers On
The Partridges struggle to rid themselves of a foul odor after a skunk contaminates their bus. As Shirley and the kids try to figure out a way to dissipate the horrible aroma, manager Reuben, unaware of the situation, books the family for a benefit show at a children's hospital. Maybe a good dose of tomato juice will alleviate the odor!
Songs: "I Think I Love You" and "A Brand New Me".
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Season 1, Episode 9 - Aired: November 20, 1970
Did You Hear the One About Danny Partridge?
Trying to make Danny feel better about his pre-pubescent clumsiness, the family convinces him that he's a natural born comic. This well-meaning gesture backfires when Danny, determined to break into the Big Time as a stand-up comedian, hires broken-down gag writer Ziggy Shnurr to provide him with a "sure-fire" act. The nightclub owner must break the news to Danny that he's approximately as funny as a crutch.
Song: "Somebody Wants to Love You".
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Season 1, Episode 10 - Aired: November 27, 1970
Go Directly to Jail
While performing a show at a Federal penitentiary, the Partridges are approached by convict Hank, who claims to have written some poems that he hopes the family will set to music. It turns out that Hank will go to any extreme to get the poems performed, even faking a measles epidemic to "quarantine" the family behind prison walls. Soon they discover that the convict has kept them there because he wants to sell them some poems he wrote. The poems are pretty good, and the Partridges want to record them, but they soon find out that the poems were actually written by another convict, a tough cell-block leader Max, who would just as soon crack a few skulls rather than reveal his artistic aspirations!
Songs: "Singing My Song" and "Only a Moment Ago".
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Season 1, Episode 11 - Aired: December 4, 1970
This is My Song
When the Partridges' resident composer Keith suffers a creative dry spell, younger brother Danny offers to write a few songs of his own. Unfortunately, Danny's tunes have a very familiar ring, leading Keith to accuse his brother of plagiarism. It turns out, however, that Danny is having a "George Harrison" moment, subliminally soaking up other people's compositions while he's supposed to be asleep!
Song: "To Be Lovers.".
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Season 1, Episode 12 - Aired: December 11, 1970
My Son, the Feminist
Keith's latest girlfriend is a member of a junior women's lib organization and to impress her Keith volunteers the group to play at an upcoming rally for P.O.W. (Power of Women) without their knowledge. Unfortunately, they soon run afoul of a right wing conservative group (The Morality Watchdogs) that is bent on preventing the rally from taking place. However, Keith soon finds out that taking up a liberal cause is not all that its cracked up to be when his girlfriend threatens to break up with him if the family doesn't sing from a set list she has prepared rather than their first number-one hit.
Song: "I Think I Love You".
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Season 1, Episode 13 - Aired: December 18, 1970
Star Quality
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 to strike out as a solo entertainer, 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.
Song: "Singing My Song".
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Season 1, Episode 14 - Aired: January 1, 1971
The Red Woodloe Story
Shirley is surprised to discover that legendary folksinger-storyteller Red Woodloe , believed dead, is alive and well and living contentedly in an old church. She persuades Reuben to book a gig for Woodloe, which proves difficult as people don't remember the veteran entertainer. Even worse, Red is reluctant to emerge from hiding and disappears just before his comeback show, prompting Shirley and her daughter Tracy to resolve the dilemma.
Song: "Find Peace in Your Soul".
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Season 1, Episode 15 - Aired: January 8, 1971
Mom Drops Out
The Partridges are shocked when Shirley announces her plans to retire from the group. What the kids don't know is that European impresario Logan Mays (Gino Conforti) has booked a continental tour for the Partridge Family--provided that Shirley not appear with the group on the grounds that she isn't "relevant" to a young audience. The kids conspire to keep their mom from retiring.
Song: "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat".
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Season 1, Episode 16 - Aired: January 15, 1971
Old Scrapmouth
Laurie gets the bad news that she needs braces just as she thinks Jerry, the boy across the street, 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.
Song: "The Love Song"
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Season 1, Episode 17 - Aired: 1/22/1971
Why Did the Music Stop?
The Partridges agonizingly endure an unwanted six-month layoff--and it's all because of some silly misunderstandings. Shirley thinks that the kids are being robbed of their childhood, and decides that they need some time off. At the same time, the kids are convinced that Shirley wants to give up show biz because she's fallen in love with the doctor Jim Lucas.
Song: "I'm Here, You're Here".
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Season 1, Episode 18 - Aired: January 29, 1971
Soul Club
The Partridges come to the rescue of brothers A.E. and Sam Simon (Richard Pryor, Louis Gossett Jr.), the owners of an inner-city Detroit nightclub called the Fire House. Seems that local loan shark Heavy is living up to his name, exerting pressure to put the Simons out of business. The happy-ending occurs at a fundraising block party, where the Partridges performs the soul tunes "Bandala", and Danny manages to organize a group of sinister-looking street fighters into an orchestra! Reportedly, this episode was designed as the pilot for a potential series starring Richard Pryor and Louis Gossett Jr.
Song: "Bandala"
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Season 1, Episode 19 - Aired: February 5, 1971
To Play or Not to Play?
The Partridges are booked to perform at the Two Hall Inn, a small hotel that has been hit by a labor strike. The complications begin piling up when Laurie refuses to cross the picket line out of loyalty to the strike leader, who happens to be her former school friend Marc Baldwin. The mess isn't sorted out until Laurie's kid brother Danny casts himself in the unlikely role of labor negotiator.
Song: "There's No Doubt in My Mind".
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Season 1, Episode 20 - Aired: February 12, 1971
They Shoot Managers, Don't They?
Shirley plays matchmaker to Reuben. The plan backfires when Reuben decides to quit show business to devote all his energies to managing Cathleen's business (cosmetics manufacturer). All it takes is one concert without the guiding hand of Reuben to convince everyone that a major mistake has been made!
Song: "Umbrella Man".
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Season 1, Episode 21 - Aired: February 19 1971
Partridge Up a Pair Tree
After borrowing money to fix his car, Keith must learn to manage his money and gets a series of jobs.
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Season 1, Episode 22 - Aired: February 26, 1971
Road Song
In New Mexico, the Partridges take a runaway teenager named Maggie under their wings. Trouble is, they aren't aware she's a runaway (at least not at first) because of her extremely inventive lies. Once the truth is known, Shirley tries to a arrange a reunion between the girl and her family, only to have her run away again. Clearly, the time has come to reveal the root cause of the girl's troubles, and this requires a great deal of soul-searching on the part of Maggie's father and grandfather.
Song: "Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque".
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Season 1, Episode 23 - Aired: March 5, 1971
Not With My Sister, You Don't
Keith and Danny try to prevent Laurie from going out with a boy they don't trust. 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. Keith finally concludes (incorrectly!) that Lester's intentions are honorable, whereupon it falls to Laurie to learn the truth the hard way.
Song: "I'll Meet You Halfway".
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Season 1, Episode 24 - Aired: March 12, 1971
A Partridge by Any Other Name
In the absence of a birth certificate, and thanks to some ill-timed jokes on the part of booking agent Marty Burnes, Danny becomes convinced that he is adopted. Piecing together the "evidence" at hand, Danny concludes that his birth parents are named "Mr. and Mrs. Young". Danny sets out to find them.
Songs: "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted?" and "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat".
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Season 1, Episode 25 - Aired: March 19,1971
A Knight in Shining Armor
Returning from a road trip, the Partridges find that their garage is being occupied by aspiring songwriter Bobby Conway (Bobby Sherman). Impressed by Bobby's talents, the family try to help him find a lyricist, a search that leads them to Denver and a highly eccentric young man named Lionel Poindexter (Wes Stern). Fortunately, Bobby and Lionel turn out to be made for each other, and the result is a toe-tappin' number called "Stephanie". This final episode of The Partridge Family's first season was designed as the pilot for Getting Together, a short-lived sitcom starring Bobby Sherman and Wes Stern.
Song: "Stephanie"
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