The Partridge Family Bulletin Board

[Scott]

Whatever Happened To Keith Partridge?
Written by Susan Harris

[KathySTL]

while the episode is well written, it fails due to the fact that it is at odds with the premise of the series.

While it's true that making it as a singer does not guarantee success as an actor and vice versa, the fact that the storyline plays that signing autographs at perfomring is all new to Keith just doesn't jibe with the fact that the Partridges are already a famous touring group. They have already signed autographs on records ( the Hamster giveaway episode)
In the first season Keith was hiding from girls chasing him. Danny has already sold his personal items.
He is not an unknown although as an actor maybe but still flimsy excuse.
As a matter of fact, he did his homemade movie and supposedly the fact that while it wasn't anything of big production it sold out the Theatre it was in.
Definitely somebody wasn't thinking when they picked this generic story and grafted it into this series. While many stories can be put into any situation comedy with just a few changes , this one wasn't one of them.
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Kathy in St. Louis

[BLUEBIRD]

[KathySTL]

I agree that most of what we see is local in the show and of course, there is very little back story aired.
We have to fill in for ourselves, but their first opening was in Las Vegas introduced by Johnny Cash. Not small pototoes there.
And yes, for the part Keith was being cast in still unknown.

And I agree this is fun.
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Kathy in St. Louis

[DeeDee]

I agree somewhat with Kathy. What bugged me about the episode is Keith's reaction at being asked for a screen test. For the most part, from Season 2 onward, Keith is portrayed as being a bit full of himself. You would think that a casting agent noticing him would further fluff up his feathers but instead, he's totally surprised that he would be picked out for a role.

Forgot to say: I recognized Carol Wilcox from Season 1's "Love at First Slight" right away. Her hair is much longer but her shy doe eyes are dead giveaways.

[BLUEBIRD]

Dee Dee, but don't forget, Keith LOST the role at the end of the story, so he got back to reality real quick.

Wasn't he testing for the lead as the mobster Vito in 'Hitchhike from Death"? Or something?

[DeeDee]

Yes, Bluebird, but I'm referring to Keith's initial reaction at being picked out by the talent scout after the PF musical's number. Keith normally thinks highly of himself. Being singled out like that should elicit the puffed up chest, rocking on his heels, peacock pose he does so well ("well, of course a talent scout picked me, I'm so wonderful"), not utter disbelief. That's what I found "off" about this episode. That first reaction wasn't consistent with the boastful Keith we'd been seeing.

[CassidyDiva]

[DeeDee]

Interesting tidbit, CassidyDiva. Hadn't noticed that.

[TheBops]

In the middle of the episode where they are loading up the bus to go to Hollywood, something is not right just inside the front doorway. They are exiting the house almost at a 90 degree angle from the right, and there is a table and large picture just inside the doorway. As we all know, opening the front door should reveal a large entryway and going straight into the house should find you in the dining room. In several other scenes / episodes, we see this front door both looking into the house and looking outside the house and it is consistent with the indoor scenes, but in this case, it is not right.

[Scott]

That's because the exterior on the Ranch doesn't match with the interiors on Soundstage 30. There was no way around it, really -- unless they were to build the entire interior inside of the facade, and that wasn't possible. It's one of the reasons why so much of the front lawn/doorway was built on the soundstage for "Bewitched," etc.