In 1974, my family and I bought into the idea that "Rock and Roll" was inherently evil. I was 7, so I was easily sold on the idea, but I was typically drawn to the thing I was supposed to be repulsed by, and was always sneaking peeks at The Partridge Family (the live-action show). When I heard about this show - from an ad in a Richie Rich comic book prattling on about the virtues of the new CBS Saturday morning lineup - I was overjoyed in a pre-pubescently naughty way. I knew I could sneak peaks at the show without my family knowing about it, because who cared what I watched on a Saturday morning? No one. My own dirty little secret in waiting. Little did I realize how inherently lame and non-rebellious the 'live' Partridges were, but oh well. When the show actually came on, it was just terrible. So bad that even a seven year old was bored silly by it: there was no explanation as to why the Partridges were suddenly two-and-a-quarter centuries in the future, their world consisted mostly of old backgrounds and incidental music left over from the Jetsons, and it wasn't at all funny. I watched it once or twice, and then drifted away and forgot it even existed. In the early 80s it was briefly syndicated, and I watched about one episode, unable to get through it, and kind of embarrassed to remember how much I looked forward to it. As part of the inexplicable early-70s demi-trend of taking established properties and putting them in space for no good reason, this show ranks a poor second to "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space".
