The Partridge Family - The Complete Fourth Season |  | Directors: Bob Claver, Charles R. Rondeau, E.W. Swackhamer, Ernest A. Losso, Herb Wallerstein
Actors: Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Brian Forster
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $15.95
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Seller: midmarch_books
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 15737
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 3
Running Time: 559 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.7
MPN: 28052
UPC: 043396280526
EAN: 0043396280526
ASIN: B001LRTT3A
Release Date: February 3, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 02/03/2009 Run time: 559 minutes
Amazon.com
Danny Bonaduce was always The Partridge Family's not-so-secret weapon. His cheerful money-grubbing ways provided an antidote to the smug homilies and treacly heartwarmingness that afflicted so many sitcoms of the early 1970s. His prepubescent cynicism was never more needed than in The Partridge Family's fourth and final season, when recycled plots and forced gaiety began to seep in. The biggest red flag was, of course, the addition of an adorable precocious tot: Ricky Segall, a four-year-old neighbor who brought too many episodes to a screeching halt with his cloying children's songs. The rest of the cast had to sit and beam adoringly at this festering harbinger of a Partridge apocalypse. Fortunately, Segall was soon reduced to appearing at the tail end of episodes and the show's dependable virtues rallied: David Cassidy's teen idol charisma, Shirley Jones' improbably wholesome sex appeal, Susan Dey's feisty feminism, the goofy mix of bubblegum music and borscht belt comedy, and Bonaduce's froggy sarcasm. Odd patterns dominate the fashion trends, Jones wears maxi-dresses and some bizarre brightly-colored wimples--and everyone's hair has become startlingly ornate (Keith's puffy mullet is a force to be reckoned with). Guest stars include an abundance of future TV stars--like Pat Harrington (One Day at a Time), Robert Mulligan (Soap), and Cheryl Ladd (Charlie's Angels)--as well as movie stars old (Margaret Hamilton, The Wizard of Oz) and new (Jackie Earle Haley, a few years away from stardom with The Bad News Bears). So despite some signs of age and impending cancellation, the fourth season still holds many pleasures and should not be missed by fans. --Bret Fetzer
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
 Bringing Me Back to a Better Place and Time January 29, 2009
brunetteshock (Quincy, MA)
28 out of 30 found this review helpful
I was 12 when the Partridge Family first came out and immediately fell in love with David Cassidy! At age 50 now, when I watch these DVDs, it just brings me back to that nostalgic time. It allows me to remember the times when my 5 older brothers and sisters all lived in the same house, both my parents were alive, we had a dog and a bird, and I had no responsibilities other than household chores and doing my homework. PF was just a great, wholesome show. When Rueben Kincaid started getting more and more face time with the family, I thought it added a good boost to the show! And as other reviewers have mentioned, it is fun now to pick out some of the stars like Farrah Fawcett, Arte Johnson, Maryann Mobley, Rob Reiner, etc.
A few years ago, I found David Cassidy's book in a bookstore for about $5.00 so naturally, I bought it. The first thing I thought of as I thumbed through it to first check out the pictures, was that scandal that he had gone through when he had posed nude for Rolling Stone! I will never forget my girlfriends and I going from store to store to see if we could find that issue. We were too shy to ask the store clerk if they had it, so in the end, we never were able to obtain one! I was in for many surprises when I sat down and read his book. Back when you are such a young, innocent age, you obviously don't think of your idols as being anything but "pure", for lack of a better term. So years later, I am all grown up and reading the things that went on not only in David's life back then, but the rest of PF cast! I was horrified to find out that Susan Dey was suffering from anorexia and for days on end would eat nothing but carrots. So much so, that Danny Bonaduce was quoted as saying his first sight of her in a bikini was shocking -- she was nothing but skin and bones and her skin took on a faint orangey color from her consumption of the carrots! And of course, reading about Danny's brushes with the law and the temper on him that would always get him in trouble. We never knew back then that Danny had come from a broken home where his father would beat him all the time. David's telling in his book of how he tried to be the older brother and guardian to Danny was heartwarming to say the least! He would try and shield Danny against the drugs and alcohol and fast women that were seeming to become a part of David's life as he took his singing act on the road. I do remember seeing David in concert when I was 13 and that one of my sisters grudingly took me at my mother's insistence. She said to her "how quickly we forget when your older sister took YOU to see the Beatles!" True, true!
David was also very candid in things that had happened to him back in the PF days. How he and his long time friend, Sam Hyman, were "guests" of the "plaster casters" who were known for making plaster molds of male performer's private parts! Or the many, many female fans who would accost him either leaving the set after a day's work on PF or leaving his house to go to work. He was adamant in the book about wanting the reader to know that he never EVER took advantage of the very young girls and that he was in no way, shape or form a phedophile. He said he was always courteous and gracious to these young girls but sent them on their way. Maybe there are some people out there that would doubt this but for some reason, as I have gotten to know the grown-up David Cassidy, I tend to believe him. There is a classiness to this guy that maybe wasn't really all there back then, but he has seemed to embrace it now. I like the man he has become.
So......I watched the show faithfully until it went off the air. I bought each and every album and played them until there were too many skips and scratches to enjoy them (and even then I would still listen to them for a while!) I remember being 14 and one day just quietly taking down each and every picture of David and the PF from the walls of my bedroom. In the back of my mind, they all would stay from the many hours of enjoyment I had listening to their music and watching their show. I guess I was growing up. Then at 15, my mother suddenly passed away and everything changed. I mean EVERYTHING. My family fought and all left the house to leave just my father and I to weather this storm of great sadness and deep depression that her passing brought on. I had no idea how to heal his broken heart and he had no idea how to heal mine. So we stayed away from one another in that big house and dealt with our grief the way we each saw fit; he, in alcohol, and me in my PF re-runs and albums. I had played David's album "Cherish" so many times that I knew each song back and forth, and when I would play it then at age 15, it made me smile for a little while and brought me back to that better place and time. I knew from then on that things were probably not getting much better but David and the PF filled that void at the time of remembering how great my life had been back then and how young and happy I was. I will admit that even now, I still put on the DVDs and/or the music when things are getting me down.
Wonderful memories. Thank you all for listening.
 The Ricky Segall....I Mean....The Partridge Family Final Season February 6, 2009
GretschViking (Northeastern, USA)
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
I waited a few years for the release of seasons three and four of the Partridge Family and had completely forgotten about the introduction of Ricky Segall in final season. For some dumb reason, Screen Gems decided to add this little pain in the neck to "perk things up". My question is, what on earth were they thinking? For many fans of the Brady Bunch, the addition of cousin Oliver was a thorn in the side but at least his character was added near the end of the season and he never sang. From the first episode of Partridge season four, Icky Ricky is all over the place. You remember that kid who sat next to you on the airplane and wouldn't stop screaming for nine hours? Same thing. It's fine when he is simply sitting around throwing out his doinky one liners but when he launches into one of his supposed-to-be-cute-off-kilter-tone-deaf-hokey-songs, I find myself wanting to shove quick drying cement in my ears. What makes it worse is- as the kid screeches through these throwaway numbers- everyone's got a cornball smile on their face (as if?). Thank goodness for DVD remotes.
That aside, the shows look fantastic, the colors are vibrant and the songs are groovy as ever.......um, that's the Partridge tunes thank you.
UPDATE: Just finished watching the entire set and lucky for us, the little brat disappears half-way through the season. Good for us.
Fourth and Final Season of The Partridge Family December 5, 2008
Tante Maren (Ohio, United States)
25 out of 29 found this review helpful
The Partridge Family finally came to an end in 1974, in their fourth and last season. The writers knew the show was coming to an end, as they introduced child actor Ricky Segall in the first episode of this fourth season. The Brady Bunch had the exact same ending, when their writers ran out of things to build a show around, they added a child actor to the show, cousin Oliver. Of course adding these cute little children did not save either of the shows, but it did keep the shows going for one more season. ABC television network also moved The Partridge Family to Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. opposite CBS' All In The Family. All In The Family was a show that no one wanted to be up against, as it was always in the number one ratings, so this move just added to this fourth season definitely being the final of The Partridge Family.
The Partridge Family was based loosely on The Cowsills, a real life pop music family in the late 60's. The Cowsill's children were actively approached by the producers of The Partridge Family to be in the show, but the Cowsill children rejected the offer when their real life mother Barbara would not be included in the cast. The casting for The Partridge Family was then put together in the same style The Monkees were, "created" by the studio. Although the studio wanted professional singers and musicians used for The Partridge Family's songs, David Cassidy proved to the studio heads that he and his step-mother Shirley Jones really could sing the pop tunes. The studio did allow them to do their own singing, and the songs always made it to the pop charts, many in the top ten, propelling David Cassidy to being an instant pop idol. In this last and fourth season the following were The Partridge Family regulars:
Shirley Partridge (mother)......Shirley Jones
Keith Partridge (son)......David Cassidy (Shirley's real life step-son)
Laurie Partridge (daughter)......Susan Dey
Danny Partridge (son)......Danny Bonaduce
Chris Partridge (son)......Brian Forster
Tracey Partridge (daughter)......Suzanne Crough
Reuben Kincaid (manager and family friend)......Dave Madden
Ricky Stevens (4 year old next door neighbor)......Ricky Segall
The Fourth Season Shows:
75. Hate Thy Neighbor (Introduces Ricky Segall) 9/15/1973
76. None But The Lonely 9/22/1973
77. Beethoven, Brahms and Partridge 9/29/1973
78. The Strike-Out King 10/6/1973
79. Reuben Kincaid Lives 10/13/1973
80. Double Trouble 10/20/1973
81. The Last Howard 10/27/1973
82. The Diplomat 11/3/1973
83. Heartbreak Keith 11/10/1973
84. A Day Of Honesty 11/17/1973
85. Al In The Family 11/24/1973
86. Made In San Pueblo 12/8/1973
87. Art For Mom's Sake 1/12/1974
88. Two For The Show 1/19/1974
89. Danny Drops Out 1/26/1974
90. Queen For A Minute 2/2/1974
91. Danny Converts 2/9/1974
92. Miss Partridge, Teacher 2/23/1974
93. Keith And Lauriebelle 3/2/1974
94. Morning Becomes Electric 3/9/1974
95. Pin It On Danny 3/16/1974
96. ..._ _ _... (S.O.S.) 3/23/1974 (Final Show)
 Danny got Reuben to sell their songs (but it all made us cringe when Rick came along...!) February 15, 2009
Michelle S. (Shinagawa, Tokyo Japan)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Partridge Family is from an era before cable TV, when just about everyone in school watched the same shows (and talked about them the next day).
In the current age, with the internet, tons of satellite channels (not to mention metal detectors in schools), it is so refreshing to watch shows like the Partridge Family - when a timely song by David Cassidy can make things all right in the world.
For me, the best part of the fourth season is the abundance of songs from the PF's "Bulletin Board" album. 10 of its 11 tracks appear during this season (only "Where Do We Go From Here" doesn't turn up). "Bulletin Board" is a great LP and that's one big reason why I was looking forward to getting this season on DVD.
Unfortunately, season four also saw the addition of precocious little Ricky Segall as Ricky Stevens... His appearances are shoe-horned in, and they are just as grating as you remember..! He turns up in 10 episodes, and the only positive thing I can write about that is it's still less than half of the 22 episodes included...
As far as technical details go, the transfers look and sound great. There are no special features, but there is one tiny thing that Sony included on this set (but not on any of the first three season sets) that surprised me due to the fact I didn't expect it - the original Screen Gems logo! This logo used to be at the end of all the classic Screen Gems-produced shows of the era (Partridge Family, The Monkees, I Dream of Jeannie, etc.), so I was happy to see it back in action. (The way I look at it, if you're going to relive your youth, small details like that swirling "S" with its eerie electronic music are just icing on the cake!)
All in all, the fourth season of the Partridge Family is well worth buying for its fun stories and great pop songs - just remember to keep your finger on the mute button when little Ricky comes a-calling...
Partridge Family season 4 March 9, 2009
S. Gambini (Florida, United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've always LOVED the Partridge Family. Watching season 1 thru 4 has brought back such fond memories. Except in season 4 we have to watch that annoying "Rickey" kid in almost every episode, and even worse we have to listen to his annoying dumb songs! I just "fast-forward" when that kid sings.....can't stand to listen to him. But if you can block out that irratating Ricky kid, you will enjoy watching season 4 of the Partridge family.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
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