Remembering the Partridge Family

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There are those who either loved or ignored this show. However The Partridge Family TV show did launch the career of teen idol David Cassidy. Since he could show his musical talent every week it made things a lot easier for him than to have to struggle to get himself seen and heard. This show also came along at just the right time because the ever popular show The Monkees had gone off the air in 1968. It was time for more music and comedy to fill the airwaves. Another thing that greatly helped The Partridge Family to gain an audience was that the show was scheduled to fill the 8:30 PM timeslot right after The Brady Bunch in 1970 on ABC. The inspiration for this show was a real-life family act The Cowsills. The Cowsills were a group made up of four teenage brothers and later on even added their mother and two younger siblings to the act. At this time when the idea was born Screen Gems productions approached The Cowsill family to created a show. The family declined and the company signed on actress Shirley Jones, four non-singing child actors and future teen idol David Cassidy. Right from the beginning in the pilot episode of The Partridge Family, a widowed mom with five children is convinced to form a singing family group. Their first recording “I Think I Love You” became a number one pop hit. However at this time The Partridge Family hits were not recorded by a mom and her five children they were recorded by professional musicians. Later on David Cassidy would actually be doing the singing along with Shirley Jones. It all resulted in many recorded albums and lots of popular hit songs for fans all around the world rocketing David Cassidy into super stardom and a solo career long after The Partridge Family was off the air. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-partridge-family-premieres-on-abc-television