Any Behind The Scenes Information About The Partridge Family?

This post needs the theme song to bring it to life.

Season One version with the hated Jeremy Gelbwaks looking like a serial killer.

Whenever anyone died, Susan Dey never acknowledged it.

Shirley has Vaselinity.

When it started, everybody at school whose family had a TV watched this show.

Too much is never enough

After much consideration, my favorite Partridge Family song, as of this writing is...

Suzanne Crough went on to a long and successful career as Carnie Wilson.

R1 he absolutely looked like a serial killer. He was a demonic little boy you could see it on his face.

OP- Shirley and her first husband were NOT fucking all over the set.

Her first husband was a HOMO

R9 Jack was bisexual and had an insatiable sexual appetite

I don’t get the credits @ R1. Why did they make each star’s picture look like it was silkscreened in blood? What were they thinking?

Uncomfortable reunion.

Wow. That poll really tells you the demographics of this place. Funny.

There are only 14 posts and we don't know how many people voted. Maybe only a handful so the results might be spurious until the sample size increases. But yeah, we do trend old. I started my DL habit in 2002 and became an elder here.

I watched the show as a young child, but I hated Danny. There were so many Danny-centric episodes that I lost interest in the show.

R12 Danny looked good on that dumb talk show

[quote] and David Madden, who played Reuben Kincaid, allowed Danny to live with them.

"them"--so Dave Madden was non-binary?

Danny was very attractive for a brief period. He's had a lifetime of problems with mental illness and substance abuse, and they've really taken a toll on his looks.

Datalounge always acts like Susan Dey has some sort of ethical obligation to attend Partridge family reunions and extend sympathies publicly when a cast member dies, but she has retired from acting and public life entirely. She's just not going to make public comments about the show ever.

OP, is English your second language?

Susan Dey came off very lovely in that Danny talk show clip. I really like her.

Has Susan Dey commented yet?

Jan Hooks did her once on SNL and nailed her. Her LA Law persona anyway.

R14 It suggests a heavy Gen-X presence at the very least.

R1 That is the superior version of the theme song. "Danny got Rubin to sell our song, and it really came together when mom sang along." So fucking great.

Someone once stated that it was recorded before David Cassidy was cast, and it's not him singing, but it totally sounds like him. Maybe it's not him on some of the earlier songs on the show.

David Cassidy—best teen idol ever.

OP

Based on the stories that have come out, the schedule for David Cassidy was brutal between going out and doing live shows and having to film episodes.

TV stars on hit shows did not have the power they do today.

Burning the candle at both ends like that a pretty good way to start a life of addiction, r29.

Jeremy Gelbwaks would probably be diagnosed as Autistic or Aspie Baby today. However, they never looked that deeply into children's behavior back then.

[quote]I watched the show as a young child, but I hated Danny. There were so many Danny-centric episodes that I lost interest in the show.

Agreed; rather than being a kid, he was like an ugly little adult. But the younger two were just kind of there, they had no real personalities, so I guess Danny had to carry the load.

Even though they looked nothing like brothers, obnoxious Danny played well off of dim pretty boy David

Sounds like Gelbwaks didn't want to do the show and was pushed into it by his parents. Could be he was clever enough to realize that if he created trouble he'd get out of it. He went on to live a pretty normal life.

[quote]He's had a lifetime of problems with mental illness and substance abuse, and they've really taken a toll on his looks.

Hey, at least I'm looking a lot better than David Cassidy these days!

The long standing rumor was that all the Cassidy men were huge hung.

R35, the rumor according to Shirley Jones, who loved talking about her sons’ big dicks.

[quote]Could be he was clever enough to realize that if he created trouble he'd get out of it. He went on to live a pretty normal life.

I'd say that is a definite possibility, given where his life went.

[quote]Gelbwaks graduated from college in 1982, and became a computer analyst while studying chemistry at UC Berkeley. He worked in the computer industry until 1999, studied business at Columbia University, and became a management consultant.

Sad last days..

When I was a kid, this show was on during the day and I only got to see it when I was home from school sick. So not sure if I didn't like it because I didn't feel well or if it was really just lame. Thinking back, I did like Love American Style and That Girl, which I also got to watch when I was sick. I think the Partridge Family was just a bad show to me.

I would watch reruns when I was a kid and remember enjoying it, but there seemed to be a lot more 'dead weight' on the show than on The Brady Bunch, and by that I mean, more adult-focused stories. I remember liking Laurie and Keith, sort of liking Danny but thinking Reuben was weird and the mother and two kids bland...the Bradys seemed to focus much more on the kids which I liked.

R36, how big was Patrick Cassidy’s cock? He was the only one I thought was good-looking.

The PF had few actually developed characters - the creative effort was obviously put into the songs - so the plots were often inert. Danny was the most easily defined personality - “obnoxious and wise beyond his years;” while Chris & Tracy were essentially props that wore costumes and pretended to play instruments.

As silly as the Brady Bunch could be, all nine major characters had distinct personalities - so the episodes came out of, or at least made use of them. Even when they tried to be the PF there were still character driven plot points beyond the songs - like Peters voice changing.

Brady Bunch has been in syndication ever since it went off the air. There's never been a time when the Brady Bunch has been off the air.

The same is not true of the Partridge Family.

I grew up with the show in its original airing. Later on, watching it in syndication, I cringed at how dumb it truly was. BUT...

Watching the show again as an Eldergay, it seems very tongue-in-cheek -as though the show was actually parodying itself. I don't think the seventies were that meta, but the end result is the same: I enjoy watching it now more than I ever did as a kid. You can laugh at it, or with it.

And in truly meta celebration, below is my favorite Partridge Family song, "I Really Want to Know You" sung by The Cowsills (the real-life group the PF was based on).

I always thought "Crough" was a really ugly last name. I'm not even sure how to pronounce it.

I thought Ruben and Danny played off each other really well. You could tell there was true affection between them.

Wesley Eure was hired to replace David Cassidy.

David Cassidy wanted to shed his bubble-gum image. So he did this with Annie Leibovitz. Full-frontal shots were taken during the shoot. Maybe he considered those one step too far.

Jeremy lives quietly in New Orleans and has nothing to do with the show, reunions, interviews, etc.

How was a child actor's education handled back in 1970? The children's roles were quite small and probably didn't require much time on set. Maybe they were also enrolled in public schools at the time of filming and Jeremy got grief or was bullied by other kids at his? I wish I could recall the actual names, but I've read of child actors being picked on at school once they were recognized. Now state regulations require on set tutoring.

Funny how the first Chris is characterized as a serial killer on the basis of one still photograph in the opening sequence. Never change DL.

Someone said this about Corey Haim:

[quote] He was a huge drug whore. a willingness to attend any God awful sex party as long as he was guaranteed drugs. I once saw him passed out nude with a crowd of guys waiting in line to fuck him. Danny Bonaduce went through a similar situation.

If anyone has seen the nude photo of Danny, one could see that he would be used as a bottom, since his penis was tiny.

Although he would be very tempting toa bunch of of perverts when he was younger.

None of them could actually point you in the direction of Albuquerque.

[quote]how big was Patrick Cassidy’s cock

"Was"? Did he have it removed?

R13 I am an elder gay and have been a DL’er for years. I already know the fun humor of this place and how DL’ers can be very snarky. So, I say what they are thinking. It’s all in fun. 😉

R50 it’s not just on the basis of one photograph. There are many stories about his personality and he was an absolute nightmare on the set. He had to be recast because he did not fit in with the cast. I believe he was jealous of Danny B. success and wanted to have the same success. He could not. When you are 1/2 satan it’s difficult to be liked.

They’re all dead

R57 who is?

R13 this is R55 DL is not half as much fun a it used to be. The humor was off the charts and there were some very very funny individuals. There still is some fun humor, but I miss the old times. RIP.

We watched a movie about pregnancy in sex-ed class in 9th grade. One of those movies produced for schools, on a real projector, the whole nine yards. About 10 minutes in I realized the pregnant girl was played by Suzanne Crough!

It was surreal, this is circa 1985. I was proud of myself for figuring that out. I proudly pointed it out to my teacher who was not duly impressed.

At the end, they showed a real life lady giving birth. This fat girl in class turned white, and ran out and vomited. I actually, very unexpectedly, cried at how beautiful that moment was.

And I don't think it was Suzanne Crough giving birth.

Here is the actual film. Was was wrong about one thing. She doesn't give birth at the end. Directed by Taylor Hackford.

(I must have conflated it with another sex ed movie.)

There's an entire made-for-tv movie about that, op; it was, I believe, the first of the "behind the scenes" tv movies of the late 90s/early 00s (see the Gilligan's Island, Three's Company movies)

R35- There was ANOTHER rumor about the Cassidy boys-

That they were ALL HOMOS

David and Sal Mineo.

I remember reaading that David Cassidy’s main competition for the role of Keith was a guy with jet black hair. I wonder who that was. And in the same article it said that Suzanne Crough booked a national Mattel commercial and The Partridge Family pilot on the same day. Lucky little bitch.

R64 lmao… that little bitch

Not so lucky.

[QUOTE]Crough died while sitting at her dining room table at her home in Laughlin, Nevada, on April 27, 2015, at the age of 52.[5][6] The cause of death was not immediately reported, but Las Vegas police issued a statement that it was due to a "medical episode" and was "not suspicious".[7] According to the coroner of Clark County, Nevada, Crough's cause of death was arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, a rare form of cardiomyopathy.[8]

I first realized I was gay when my brother was going on and on about Laurie and all I saw was Keith. Yes I had to have a puka necklace.

I always wanted to look like David Cassidy and at 60 I finally got my wish.

Suzanne Crough was unable to bang a tambourine AND THAT WAS ALL SHE HAD TO DO.

The two youngest kids on the show were totally superfluous like the teenager In the Poltergeist movie.

Tambourines are much harder to play than it looks!

Did David take it up the ass like his dad did?

R72- Probably

OP- That photo of David Cassidy with the others- He was not HOT 🥵 or particularly handsome or ANYTHING.

It puzzles 🧩 me that the teenyboppers of 1972 were so enamored 🥰 with him.

I was about the same age as the fictional Chris Partridge and had a bit of a crush on Jeremy Gelbwaks.

I was not happy when he was replaced with that blond fuggo, what's-his-face.

As a young adult, in the few appearances I recall seeing him in, he'd morphed into a cute Jewish nerd type, while the fuggo replacement became and even fuglier adult.

I watched the show for the first few years, before losing interest. My older sister and I even had 2 or 3 of the early albums.

R75- The blond 👱‍♂️ elf that replaced him is a direct descendant of Charles Dickens.

The little Dickens.

I loved that Shirley's parents were played by Ray Bolger and Rosemary DeCamp.

Remember the sensual, bluesy version of ‘Bye, Bye Blackbird’ that Ray Bolger did on the show?

Loved this show as a kid. I liked Danny and Mr Kincaid and Keith, too. The opening song would bring me running out of my room to watch it, before my brother could change it. I loved the Monkees, too.

Where's the proof that David was "hung like a horse?"

Give Shirley a call, r81...

R64 I think it was Michael Gray, who was on Sha-Zam. Cute, Latio type.

In the early 80's I had a college instructor in the drama department who was friends with David. He brought him in for an afternoon and David answered questions from the audience. We were all familiar with him from the PF. He was charming, and still sexy and hot as fuck!

R84 was he drunk or drinking?

A young Mark Hamill was on one episode, years before Star Wars. He was such a delicious little twink.

On The Daily Show, Beth Littleford said to him "I hear you're hung like a Clydesdale." He said "one more comment like that and I'm walking." Zero fun, zero sense of humor.

I'd never seen a picture of Mark Hamill pre Star Wars and before the car accident and plastic surgery. He got a better nose out of IMO.

R88 I completely disagree. He had a classic roman nose. After his accident, he looked like a frog.

[quote]I first realized I was gay when my brother was going on and on about Laurie and all I saw was Keith.

Even in his skin tight pants, Keith never did anything for me.

Greg Brady around the Hawaii trip episodes had a nice body and started looking pretty good, however.

You can see post accident his nostrils are uneven.

David Cassidy is dead!

That youngest non descript girl is dead too

R91 whereas before, it was perfectly symmetrical.

R91 I wonder if he had nose surgery again would it fix the uneven nostril? Or is that just part of plastic surgery?

Shirley Jones won an Academy Award years before she was on this stupid show.

Kinda blows your mind, doesn't it?

[quote] On The Daily Show, Beth Littleford said to him "I hear you're hung like a Clydesdale." He said "one more comment like that and I'm walking." Zero fun, zero sense of humor.

Who are you talking about--Dave Madden?

This is a parody of possibly the single worst episode of The Partridge Family, where Laurie pretends to be a Southern belle dating Keith to make him jealous, and has to refer to herself as "Laurie Belle Culpepper." Danny Bonaduce plays himself as an adult.) It's worth seeing just for the guy playing Keith who does an uncanny imitation of David Cassidy (not just the voice, but also the weird slinky body language).

The weird thing is that the actress playing Laurie in this parody is actually more convincing as a Southern belle than Susan Dey was in the original.

[quote]Susan Dey, who played Laurie, was in love with David Cassidy, and they fucked once, but David was not impressed with Susan in bed, and thought she was too goody-goody. Susan suffered from a severe eating disorder.

Afterwards, Susan suffered from broken vagina.

David Cassidy drank himself to death.

David, Sean, and Petula.

The under-rated brother, Patrick.

The rust one raped an intern and his employer and the rust one paid out a shit ton of money to cover it up.

[quote]The rust one

Alec Baldwin?

Tired of the rust ones; starved for the blond ones.

R98 now that’s funny and probably true.

They were DIRTY HIPPIES!

R96 was David Madden hung like a horse, too? I inferred it was David the poster was referring to

Susan showed up for him on This is Your Life.

David's son Beau has gayface.

R107 he’s dead

Everyone asking about the donkey dicka. What about the balls? Good balls?

For some reason I remember.the episode with David Maser playing a sweet-hearted biker. Probably only because he showed up on every TV show of my childhood.

The notorious Annie Liebowitz portrait of David, nude with a huge bush .

"Susan showed up for him on This is Your Life."

Because she got a free trip to London?

I wonder if Shawn is a natural blond?

It was filmed in LA, R114. She only had to get in her car...

[quote] Wow. That poll really tells you the demographics of this place. Funny.

r13 Not really. That show ran in reruns for years. Still does. But don't let that stop you.

Why didn't the Partridge Family tour like the Brady Kids? David and Shirley were singers. Susan Dey seems like she could have at least la la la'd, and how hard would it be for Danny Bonaduce to learn guitar? Suzanne Crough's tambourine play put Stevie Nicks to shame. Brian Forster was an actual drummer. They could have done summer tours for years. People would love to see them.

R114 was she drunk?

[quote] I wonder if Shawn is a natural blond?

r114 I've seen his pubic hair. He's not.

Years ago, I heard a radio interview of David Cassidy.

I remember him saying he got high and drunk with John Lennon one night at wherever Lennon was living in Los Angeles when he was separated from Yoko.

He said they both had guitars and sang their favorite songs together and that he kicked himself for not having taped it.

That seems so out there- the combination of Lennon and Cassidy - that I don't doubt the truth of his story.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Susan Dey was delightedly ululating into a microphone with Yoko, and afterwards they drunkenly complained about the patriarchy and war.

There was a Christmas episode where the cast sang for real. If you listened to that one, R117, you'd never ask about them touring...

[quote] Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Susan Dey was delightedly ululating into a microphone with Yoko, and afterwards they drunkenly complained about the patriarchy and war.

r21 Yoko screamed and Susan went ba ba ba ba.

This is about as behind-the-scenes as you can get...

Did they put Shirley on piano/keyboards to flesh out the sound because Laurie really couldn't play piano or organ? Susan Dey could have used a hand double for close ups to make it look realistic. Sometimes Danny didn't even bother to strum the strings on his not plugged in guitar, it was obvious he could not play. Did Suzanne Crough have any vocal talent? The girl from The Cowsills apparently could sing. In other words, why didn't they cast actual vocally and musically talented people to support Keith and Shirley?

[quote] David's son Beau has gayface.

r109 More like horseface.

You're right, R126, and I love horseface. Handsome guy. I always thought David was handsome too (before the hair loss and being a lush) and liked his silly, anti-heartthrob persona on the show.

Watching reruns of Brady Bunch and Partridge Family every day after school was a formative Gen X experience.

[quote] liked his silly, anti-heartthrob persona on the show.

r127 Good point. He didn't play it up.

....

R124 thank you.

The song Echo Valley 2-6809 always makes me sad to hear David sing. If you look at his life it’s the song. Sad.

R97 "single worst episode?" No no no. That was maybe the BEST episode. Susan Dey is much better than that girl.

I've read this entire thread, and can't see where you included their greatest song!

Or this one!

Or this!

Summer Days

R135 and love that song. I love the intro music.

When I was a child I used to love watching Shirley get so into singing each song. She was always so into the songs and overly dramatic. Although, she was fun to watch. Danny did not even know the lyrics to half the songs. He was so bored.

R101 Patrick Cassidy is hot! Damn he can sing. I had no idea.

I doubt if they can do a revision on Hamil's nose- they had to take cartilage from his ear to rebuild it. His nose is more splayed than r91's photo because they contoured the shit out of it in that scene (I don't know if they did it for the whole movie).

I was too young for the original run but would watch it after school every day when they ran reruns in the late 70's. My first crush was actually David's brother Shaun... Da Doo Ron Ron

Lol R82!

R112 Did you conflate the names? Richard Masur was on an episode, and Stuart Margolin played the sweet biker.

I thought David and his half brother, Shaun, looked effeminate.

The Precocious Child vs. Bumbling Adult annoyed my folks.

I didn’t like watching it because the kids looked so unhappy performing - as if they were abused. Then, you had David and Shirley running on Adrenalin and flop sweat.