The Real Partridge Family
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia.
- For the Scandinavian Heavy Metal Band of the same name click here
The Partridge Family
A family of mystery solving musicians that were well known in the late twentieth century. A popular series of 18 books about their exploits were penned by Sir Sherwood Schwartz under a multitude of pen names. The stories were first serialized in the weekly teen magazine Dynamite. Later they were collected and printed as a complete canon.
Contents |
[edit] Members of the Family
- Shirley - Matriarch, former police detective, drummed off the force by smugglers.
- Keith - Eldest son, the husband Shirley never had. No fan of smugglers.
- Laurie - The teen sexpot of the family, always getting caught by smugglers and being rescued by Shirley and the boys.
- Danny - Boy genius. The scorn of smugglers, he always had a plan.
- Chris - the drummer
- Tracy - the best tamborinist, this side of Davy Jones.
[edit] Bibliography
- - The Partridge Family
- - The Haunted Hall
- - Keith, the Hero
- - The Ghost of Graveyard Hill
- - Smugglers by Night
- - Keith Partridge - Master Spy
- - The Walking Fingers
- - Treasure of Ghost Mountain
- - The Fat and Skinny Murder Mystery
- - Marked for Terror
- - Who's That Laughing in the Grave?
- - Phantom of the Rock Concert
- - Mystery of the Mad Millionairess
- - Thirteen at Killer Gorge
- - The Disappearing Professor
- - The Stolen Necklace
- - Love Comes to Keith Partridge
- - Smugglers -- Schmugglers!
Special red-letter editions were published in early 2005 by Zondervan. In each volume, Keith's dialogue is printed in red.
[edit] Recurring characters
- Reuben Kinkaid - Agent, the other husband Shirley never had and the go-between for the family and "Charlie"
- Simone - Family dog, a bit too anthropomorphic for reality. Loved Simone-snax and also hated smugglers.
- "Charlie" - the unseen mastermind behind most of their mysteries.
- Cousin Oliver - an ill-conceived late addition to the family in the last few books in the series. Possibly smuggler-spawn
- Chet Morton - Keith's chubby chum, also often caught by smugglers.
- The Bus - This Mystery Machine really grooved. Rock fans across the USA just hoped and prayed for the Partridge Bus to wing in and do their thing. Smugglers on the other hand, shook their fists at it.
[edit] Passages & Quotes
[edit] Shirley
- The end result for Shirley was defeat. A thought flashed into her mind: What on earth am I doing here? Who am I to correct the ills of the world?
- Book IV, Ch XI p119 v1
[edit] Laurie
- Her thoughts were understandibly mixed. She saw herself as a female pirate out after some other woman's man, although no judge would have convicted her for that. Then there was the feeling of a female idiot who'd brazenly tagged after a man who scarcely knew she was alive.
- Book IV, Ch XIII p131 v11
[edit] Reuben Kinkaid
- "Only my Partridges could come to a hundred-year-old ghost town, solve a major crime, and then come up with the juiciest movie contract of the century," Reuben Kindaid (sic)
- Book IV ChXV p142 v14
Fun Fact The model (for Keith) on the book covers (David
Cassidy) was the older brother of the
actor (Shaun) that would portray
Danny in the subsequent short-lived
TV series
[edit] Other media outlets
Due to the wild success of the books with kids, adults and pets, the publisher sold the rights to ABC for a television series. Short lived as it was, it was notable in that the young actor that played Christopher went on to great fame. {Mama} Cass Elliott played Shirley, Keith was played by Parker Stephenson, Danny by Shaun Cassidy and Laurie by Pamela Sue Anderson. The series shared a time slot with the Real Live Hair Bear Bunch and alternated every other week. It only lasted half a season. They appeared live on a Saturday Night Live reunion special with the Brady Kids.
In the all black version of the show, "What's Happening", the mystery solving musician premise was dropped, but the general idea remained the same. Talk in tinsletown of a modern attempt of the show, has not proven worthy of contemplative discussion.
[edit] Influences
The mystery solving musician genre flourished in the 1970s largely due to the success of these books. Without the canon, it is unlikely there would ever have been a Bugaloos, Josie and the Pussycats or Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!. Russ Meyer states the Partidge Family tales as one of his greatest influences. a Scandinavian heavy metal band aped the characters of the stories and started touring North America, as the Partridge Family. Literature fans were not amused, nor were smugglers.
Sherwood Schwartz penned the stories pseudonominously so as not to distract the public from his more serious works, namely the Bradys and the Gilligans. Additionally he wanted to see if he could get them published without his celebrity factor. Only his hairdresser knew for sure until the E! True Hollywood Story aired.
For more information on Mystery Solving Musicians, consult
