Top Ten #395

1) The Partridge Family: This week on the podcast, we get happy. Boy, do we ever get happy!

2) Dave Madden: My favorite performer on The Partridge Family is also my almost-favorite regular at Mel's Diner on Alice (Can't top Henry Beesmeyer): Madden, whose Reuben Kincaid is always interesting to watch. 

3) Dick Clark: I think we undersold his cameo in "Star Quality," the episode we talked about. I mean, sure, it wasn't particularly lengthy or notable, and I can't remember much about it, but--OK, maybe we didn't undersell it. Still, in the dream sequence, Clark's presence provided instant pop idol credibility for Danny as a "single."

4) The kids that played Tracy and Chris: Hey, they tried. I really felt bad for them reading some of the quotes in The Partridge Family Album book by Joey Green.

5) Valerie: The troubled sitcom headlined by Valerie Harper debuted on NBC 40 years ago tonight( The trouble came later).

6) King Kong Bundy: Also 40 years ago tonight, Bundy attacked Hulk Hogan during the Hulkster's world title match against Magnificent Muraco on a taped Saturday Night's Main Event, setting up a main event showdown at Wrestlemania II with Danny Ponce as guest referee (I'm kidding about that last part).

7) The Killing Fields: I can't get away from this night in 1986. This prestigious 1984 film debuted on pay cable March 1, 1986--on both HBO and Showtime. I always thought it was odd when the competitors showed the same movie at the same time.

8) Cartoons: Oodles of Warner Brothers toons from all eras start popping up on Tubi today. A lot of stuff is on the way, but not all of it might be there today. So, folks, be patient; Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels will be there eventually.

9) 227: It's a big week for stars of the Eighties NBC sitcom, which we discuss here. Regina Hall won an AARP Movies for Grownups award, and Marla Gibbs' new memoir, It's Never Too Late, just hit bookstores.

10) R.I.P. Robert Carradine:

Show Notes and Video Playlist: Episode 13-14: The Partridge Family

*Thank you for listening to this week's episode, in which we discuss The Partridge Family!

*The Partridge Family aired 4 seasons on ABC from 1970-1974, running a total of 96 episodes. The Brady Bunch was on ABC 5 seasons, 1969-1974. Both series aired their final episodes in March 1974.

*Danny is drafted into the U.S. Army in the series' fourth episode, "See Here, Private Partridge."

*The Partridge Family Album (a book) by Joey Green was published in 1994. David Cassidy wrote two memoirs, but the one I refer to is 1994's C'mon Get Happy...Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus. Shirley Jones' Shirley Jones: A Memoir appeared in 2013.

*The Cowsills started performing in 1965. Mike mentions the 2011 documentary Family Band.

*Norman Farrell is played by Jean-Michel Michenaud, who earned an Emmy nomination for producing All in the Family 20th Anniversary Special.

*"Star Quality" premiered Friday, December 18, 1970 at 8:30 PM.

*Here is our look at The Brady Bunch.

*William Schallert played Retired Man in Legends of the Superheroes.

*Howard Cosell and Bert Convy guest in the Marineland episode, Season 2's "Whatever Happened to Moby Dick?"

*Partridge Family 2200 A.D. is a 1974 Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna Barbera. Somehow we don't mention it on the pod!

*Please enjoy this episode's video playlist, with promos, intros, commercials, and more! There's a lot of music in this one! Click below to go right to it, or you can always visit our official YouTube page for all of our past episodes and similar lists for each one of them! Get happy!

Episode 13-14: The Partridge Family

In the early 1970s, a fictional family became a fictional band, which became a real phenomenon. For a while the Partridge Family ruled the hearts and minds of teeny boppers across the country with a mix of music and laidback family comedy, and David Cassidy became a worldwide sensation. In the fictional world of the Partridges, young Danny reads an article that praises him above the others, and he decides he needs to become a "single act." Does his plan succeed? Does it make any sense? Is he ready for the big time all on his own? In the real world, does the show hold up? Are we starting to confuse ourselves? Find out on this week's Battle of the Network Shows.

Read full show notes and more at https://www.battleofthenetworkshows.com/

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#podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #partridgefamily #davidcassidy

 

Check out this episode!

Tomorrow on Battle of the Network Shows...

 

I didn't expect to see a Gary Deeb quote in a baseball book!

Last week, I finished reading David Krell's 1978: Baseball and America in the Disco Era, and I enjoyed it, but it's a bit quirky. For a season in which all 4 division races were close and one (Red Sox/Yankees) ended in a memorable playoff, there is a lot of "America" in the text and not as much "Baseball" as I expected.

Krell does cover the events in MLB, even happenings like the Hall of Fame inductees as he takes a month-by-month approach. However, he also goes on tangents about Garry Marshall's ABC sitcoms, American Hot Wax, and the release of Herman Wouk's novel War and Remembrance.

At one point, Krell writes about the debut of CBS' WKRP in Cincinnati, and one of the critics he quotes is our old friend Gary Deeb from the Donahue episode of the podcast:

Under the loving care of producer (Hugh) Wilson, WKRP seems pointed toward the same literate, occasionally elegant comedy that characterizes MASH, Barney Miller, and the old MTM show. Rather than glorify stupidity and antisocial conduct, WKRP gently spoofs the human condition.

Yep, that sounds like Deeb, all right!

There is also an extensive passage on The White Shadow, which I enjoyed seeing because that series doesn't get a lot of attention. I don't know Deeb's thoughts on that one, though.

Top Ten #394: Special "Is it gonna snow again?" Edition!

1) Alfred Hitchcock Presents: We had a blast watching AHP episodes for this week's podcast. I wonder of the fame of Hitchcock himself and his legendary film output overshadows how good this series is.

2) Aaron Spelling: We gave James Edwards a shout on the pod for his career and his brief appearance in "Breakdown" on AHP, but it's also a kick to see a young Spelling in a small role. And his dad wasn't even the executive producer!

3) Suspicion: During the long run of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the filmmaker also was a producer on 1957's short-lived NBC anthology Suspicion (Of course, also the name of his 1941 classic movie). The show mixed live and filmed episodes.

4) Perry Como's Hawaiian Holiday: 50 years ago tonight, NBC gave us this special. You'll be shocked to learn that Don Ho was one of the guests.

5) Weird Al's Guide to the Grammys:  CBS ran this special 40 years ago today, and, man, I want to see it.

6) Ray Bradbury Theater: 40 years ago tonight, after its debut a year earlier, this anthology returned to HBO with a trio of stories starring Peter O'Toole, Drew Barrymore, and Jeff Goldblum. The reviewer in The New Yok Times referred to the 10-year-old Barrymore as "pouty and pudgy as ever." Ouch!

7) Fortune Dane: The series' second episode premiered this night in 1986 and was titled "Bay City." 

Wait. Bay City? Is Fortune Dane in the Rockford universe?

8) Paul Dooley: Happy 98th birthday to Dooley!

9) Yogi Bear: MeTV Toons celebrates the 65th anniversary of The Yogi Bear Show today with a Yogi-thon featuring cartoons from his various series. Did someone say that he was so popular no one bothered to watch him anymore?

10) R.I.P. Jesse Jackson: Not a TV star, per se, but here's an excuse to post this Saturday Night Live sketch. I'm trying a Dailymotion embed because NBC is annoying and so I couldn't find the sketch on YouTube, but it's "The Question Is Moot."

YouTube Spotlight: The Loretta Young Show

 Let's talk about The Loretta Young Show!

If you're here this week for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I apologize. Here's one of my favorite clips from our video playlist this week:

Also in the playlist, though, is a look at The Loretta Young Show, one of the television programs that aired the same night as "Breakdown," the AHP episode we talk about this week on the pod.

Young and her anthology show are largely forgotten nowadays, but she was a big deal back in the day. I must admit my perception of the series' popularity may be colored by the fact that Mad used to poke fun at it. One of the notable aspects of the series was Young's glorious entrances. Each week, she made a bold entrance, twirling a fashionable gown or dress as she entered a doorway. Young's resplendent appearance summoned the glamour of her Hollywood heyday in the previous decades. 

The series began as Letter to Loretta, then dropped the framing gimmick of answering fan mail to become a straight-up anthology. Young didn't appear in all episodes but was a constant presence as the host. NBC ran the series for 8 seasons, up to 1961. I don't think this program has circulated for years, but many episodes are available online and from other sources.