I Didn't Realize That The Partridge Family Had Their Own Version Of "Cousin Oliver?!" - Page 2 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Dianne3 · 10-23-2017, 03:17 PM

When Ricky was added, it sounds like by this point PF was "grasping at straws".

The more knowledgeable fans can correct me if I am wrong, but didn't David Cassidy announce year 4 would be his last year? Without Keith, since he was the only Partridge family kid that sang there would be no show.

I don't criticize the addition of Ricky, since I think I know why PF did it.

Retro4Life · 10-23-2017, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dianne3

When Ricky was added, it sounds like by this point PF was "grasping at straws".

The more knowledgeable fans can correct me if I am wrong, but didn't David Cassidy announce year 4 would be his last year? Without Keith, since he was the only Partridge family kid that sang there would be no show.

I don't criticize the addition of Ricky, since I think I know why PF did it.

I believe you are right about Cassidy; actually, I think I remember reading that he was going to leave after the third year, then changed his mind.

But I also think another reason for the addition of Ricky was that the "kids", like those on the Brady Bunch, were growing up. I think they wanted a "little kid" on the show, though to be honest, even that plan seems silly looking back since the kid they brought in was only in each episode for about five minutes. I wonder if they planned on highlighting him more if the show went to another season?

TV Guy · 10-23-2017, 09:31 PM

No - Ricky was dropped in the middle of the fourth season because the producers knew he wasn't working. He wouldn't have appeared in a fifth season.

Dianne3 · 10-26-2017, 04:41 PM

It was on one of the Partridge Family biographies that I saw that DC was going to leave the PF. Even Danny Bonaduce said that without DC, there is no PF.

What just occurred to me is that a lot of TV shows last 5 years. So it doesn't sound like DC had a five year contract.

When the Brady Bunch added Oliver it was at the end of year 5. The PF was already adding a kid at the start of year 4.

TV Guy · 11-05-2017, 09:51 PM

According to the The Partridge Family Album (Joey Green’s excellent book), the producers started searching for a replacement for David at the end of season 4. One idea was to have Rick Springfield as an Australian exchange student who lived with the Partridges (and took over as lead singer of the group) after Keith went away to college. Shirley Jones was willing to continue.

But the show’s ratings had plummeted when ABC moved it opposite All in the Family on Saturday night, and ABC wasn’t interested.

Dianne3 · 11-15-2017, 04:00 PM

Kind of ironic that PF's ratings plummeted opposite AITF because in a early PF episode, Rob Reiner guest starred.

I am currently watching PF for the first time as an adult. (I don't think I've seen PF as an adult, can't quite remember). I'm noticing things that I didn't notice when I saw PF growing up.

Both DC and SD were too old to be still playing teenagers. DC was in his early 20's but looked about 25. I remember the TV PF biographies where it was mentioned DC was unhappy. At that time, I wasn't watching PF. Now, I can understand why. Don't get me wrong, I do like the PF but I can see why the PF didn't make it to 5-7 years.

Retro4Life · 11-15-2017, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dianne3

Kind of ironic that PF's ratings plummeted opposite AITF because in a early PF episode, Rob Reiner guest starred.

I am currently watching PF for the first time as an adult. (I don't think I've seen PF as an adult, can't quite remember). I'm noticing things that I didn't notice when I saw PF growing up.

Both DC and SD were too old to be still playing teenagers. DC was in his early 20's but looked about 25. I remember the TV PF biographies where it was mentioned DC was unhappy. At that time, I wasn't watching PF. Now, I can understand why. Don't get me wrong, I do like the PF but I can see why the PF didn't make it to 5-7 years.

Weren't Keith and Laurie in college by the time the show ended?

Retro4Life · 11-15-2017, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV Guy

According to the The Partridge Family Album (Joey Green’s excellent book), the producers started searching for a replacement for David at the end of season 4. One idea was to have Rick Springfield as an Australian exchange student who lived with the Partridges (and took over as lead singer of the group) after Keith went away to college. Shirley Jones was willing to continue.

But the show’s ratings had plummeted when ABC moved it opposite All in the Family on Saturday night, and ABC wasn’t interested.

Another idea was to have Wesley Eure, of "Land of the Lost" and "Days of Our Lives" fame, replace Cassidy, after being introduced as a neighbor.

Alex Cooper · 11-15-2017, 10:50 PM

And what was up with that Ricky kid's haircut? Was he trying to channel Baby Peggy?

I wouldn't have minded Wesley Eure being added to the show, though!

Dianne3 · 11-17-2017, 04:34 PM

There is something else that doesn't make sense with Ricky - he wouldn't have been a regular because of the child's age.
Ricky came on a year before LHOTP premiered, and remember twins were playing Carrie Ingalls because the child actors were only 4.

Retro4Life - I'm currently on season 2 of the PF where Keith is still in high school. Although I did see the episode where he moved out next door the other day. In that episode it was mentioned he was 17. I'm not surprised that by the time PF ends he is in college, or at the very least out of high school.

Keith gets his driver's license pretty quick (since he already was driving at the start of PF). Was there any mention in the later years of Laurie driving?

um · 11-17-2017, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Oh, yeah I remember little Ricky. He was grating to me even when I was a kid. It was so obvious they were trying to introduce a younger kid to address the aging of the youngsters, as you mentioned.

I think of the two, I might actually prefer Cousin Oliver!

When you think of it, why didn't the producers or directors or whoever have Cousin Oliver join the Brady Kids in their singing act?

um · 11-17-2017, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dianne3

There is something else that doesn't make sense with Ricky - he wouldn't have been a regular because of the child's age.
Ricky came on a year before LHOTP premiered, and remember twins were playing Carrie Ingalls because the child actors were only 4.

For that matter a lot of kid actors of that time had no twin to share a role. I read in some of the teen magazines of that time that the kid who played Cousin Oliver was an extremely busy kid actor and was playing roles in Saturday morning kid's shows, commercials, guest staring or regularly appearing in sitcoms and other shows (I recall seeing him in a TV show called "Having Babies" in which he played a practically homicidal kid who was jealous because his adoptive parents were gong to have a baby of their own).
They did not necessarily have to be 4 and under although I do understand your point. I think I heard that the boy who played "Joey" in "Gloria" the spinoff from All In The Family in which Gloria Stivick has her own series, shared the role with a twin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dianne3

Retro4Life - I'm currently on season 2 of the PF where Keith is still in high school. Although I did see the episode where he moved out next door the other day. In that episode it was mentioned he was 17. I'm not surprised that by the time PF ends he is in college, or at the very least out of high school.

Keith gets his driver's license pretty quick (since he already was driving at the start of PF). Was there any mention in the later years of Laurie driving?

Back then I recall hearing that a person could drive a car at the age of 13 in certain states that are very rural or suburban. I think that "San Pueblo" is supposed to be a suburban community . SO it seems that Keith and Lori should have already been able to legally drive a car when the Partridge family first aired even if Lori and Keith were supposed to be about 15 and 16 respectively.
Danny reached the age of 13 approximately by the third season and he should have been driving already. Of course their mother could have been very over protective about that too

Retro4Life · 11-17-2017, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by um

For that matter a lot of kid actors of that time had no twin to share a role. I read in some of the teen magazines of that time that the kid who played Cousin Oliver was an extremely busy kid actor and was playing roles in Saturday morning kid's shows, commercials, guest staring or regularly appearing in sitcoms and other shows (I recall seeing him in a TV show called "Having Babies" in which he played a practically homicidal kid who was jealous because his adoptive parents were gong to have a baby of their own).
They did not necessarily have to be 4 and under although I do understand your point. I think I heard that the boy who played "Joey" in "Gloria" the spinoff from All In The Family in which Gloria Stivick has her own series, shared the role with a twin.

Back then I recall hearing that a person could drive a car at the age of 13 in certain states that are very rural or suburban. I think that "San Pueblo" is supposed to be a suburban community . SO it seems that Keith and Lori should have already been able to legally drive a car when the Partridge family first aired even if Lori and Keith were supposed to be about 15 and 16 respectively.
Danny reached the age of 13 approximately by the third season and he should have been driving already. Of course their mother could have been very over protective about that too

I don't know of any state that ever legally allowed anyone to drive at age 13. And I certainly think that any TV show that featured such a situation would have been in for a LOT of criticism.

um · 11-18-2017, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

I don't know of any state that ever legally allowed anyone to drive at age 13. And I certainly think that any TV show that featured such a situation would have been in for a LOT of criticism.

From some quick information that I find on the internet, it seems no US state currently allows a person younger than 14 to drive, but I do recall hearing back in the 1970s that there were some state ( I think California or in neighboring states, and/or very rural states) in which people as young as 13 are legally allowed to drive. It might have changed in the past 40 years or so.

https://www.verywell.com/driving-age-by-state-2611172

http://study.com/academy/lesson/hist...iving-age.html

TMC · 09-25-2024, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV 123

The worst Ricky Segall episode was the Beethoven one where the high-brow girlfriend sits there with a big grin on her face listening to Ricky sing his worst song ever, very incongruous. I just stop the DVD when he arrives since it was at the end of an episode after the plot had resolved.

Ricky (both Ricky Stevens the character and Ricky Seagal the child actor) on The Partridge Family strikes me as one of those occurrences where you have a friend who is thoroughly convinced that their young child is a prodigy in the making because they're cute and they can write their own songs. And then you hear the child sing gratingly offkey, you don't have it in your heart to directly criticize the kid out of fear of hurting their feelings. That's what it was like on the show, with how Shirley and her kids would just sit there in awe with forced smiles on their faces as little Ricky shouts his newest preschool song.

You know that episode from the second season, where the Partridges meet a girl named Dora, who sings a very off key and flat rendition of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"? And everybody except Keith thinks that she sucks as a singer. Ricky is like Dora except without a shred of irony and played straight. When Ricky sang, they made it look like we were supposed to sincerely marvel in his "talent". Just replace being a hot young woman in Dora with being a cute and precocious little boy in Ricky.

11-15-2017, 10:50 PM	#24
Alex Cooper Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 16, 2016 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,705	And what was up with that Ricky kid's haircut? Was he trying to channel Baby Peggy? I wouldn't have minded Wesley Eure being added to the show, though!
	__________________ "...You don't become a Misfit. You're either born a Misfit, or you're not." Phyllis "Pizzazz" Gabor

10-23-2017, 03:17 PM	#16
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,056	When Ricky was added, it sounds like by this point PF was "grasping at straws". The more knowledgeable fans can correct me if I am wrong, but didn't David Cassidy announce year 4 would be his last year? Without Keith, since he was the only Partridge family kid that sang there would be no show. I don't criticize the addition of Ricky, since I think I know why PF did it.

10-23-2017, 09:31 PM	#18
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	No - Ricky was dropped in the middle of the fourth season because the producers knew he wasn't working. He wouldn't have appeared in a fifth season.

10-26-2017, 04:41 PM	#19
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,056	It was on one of the Partridge Family biographies that I saw that DC was going to leave the PF. Even Danny Bonaduce said that without DC, there is no PF. What just occurred to me is that a lot of TV shows last 5 years. So it doesn't sound like DC had a five year contract. When the Brady Bunch added Oliver it was at the end of year 5. The PF was already adding a kid at the start of year 4.

11-05-2017, 09:51 PM	#20
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	According to the The Partridge Family Album (Joey Green’s excellent book), the producers started searching for a replacement for David at the end of season 4. One idea was to have Rick Springfield as an Australian exchange student who lived with the Partridges (and took over as lead singer of the group) after Keith went away to college. Shirley Jones was willing to continue. But the show’s ratings had plummeted when ABC moved it opposite All in the Family on Saturday night, and ABC wasn’t interested.

11-15-2017, 04:00 PM	#21
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,056	Kind of ironic that PF's ratings plummeted opposite AITF because in a early PF episode, Rob Reiner guest starred. I am currently watching PF for the first time as an adult. (I don't think I've seen PF as an adult, can't quite remember). I'm noticing things that I didn't notice when I saw PF growing up. Both DC and SD were too old to be still playing teenagers. DC was in his early 20's but looked about 25. I remember the TV PF biographies where it was mentioned DC was unhappy. At that time, I wasn't watching PF. Now, I can understand why. Don't get me wrong, I do like the PF but I can see why the PF didn't make it to 5-7 years.

11-17-2017, 04:34 PM	#25
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,056	There is something else that doesn't make sense with Ricky - he wouldn't have been a regular because of the child's age. Ricky came on a year before LHOTP premiered, and remember twins were playing Carrie Ingalls because the child actors were only 4. Retro4Life - I'm currently on season 2 of the PF where Keith is still in high school. Although I did see the episode where he moved out next door the other day. In that episode it was mentioned he was 17. I'm not surprised that by the time PF ends he is in college, or at the very least out of high school. Keith gets his driver's license pretty quick (since he already was driving at the start of PF). Was there any mention in the later years of Laurie driving?