The New Partridge Family

How did they ever think they could top a cast that included Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, and Danny Bonaduce (who did return for this)?

This was unwatchable. Horrid. If you can't say anything nice about something on IMDb, you still have to fill ten lines.

What is there to say? Oh, I need a few more lines?

Okay, it stunk. The original was better.

I can't believe they did this. Why? Why?

Okay?

I'm serious, IMDb, why do you make me write ten lines about this abomination?

My god. What is next?

Sheesh.

Well- I actually have more than three so here goes. Much of TV today is poorly written soap operas. Chicago is burning, Texas is burning, LA is burning. In between you have soppy, messy, incoherent stories. Or you have comedies that say nothing. That only worked once with Jerry and it has since been over done.

This pilot is by no means a work of art- but the documentary style filming is an ingenious way of hiding a limited budget. But it works.

Other than Emily Stone - as she insists to be referred to her real given name- and French Stewart- the cast is still unknowns to me. But they were fresh and believable in their roles. Mr French really captured the essence of Rubin Kincaid while updating him. The whole cast for that matter mirrored the original without making it feel sacrilegious. Heck - even the kid playing Chris who was mimicking Jeremy Welbaks deer in the headlights expression was dead on.

The writing was fun. It was funny. One joke led into the next one. Much like Cheers, Fraiser and the new Frasier - I laughed continuously at the jokes and the situations presented. There was no dull moment.

But the topper was the end of the episode. That was the best.

I wish the show took off. I would have enjoyed it every week. Instead - I have three words for the studio, network and fans who hate this great little pilot. The three words start with - Go...

I read all the reviews here - but I disagree with them. In my opinion, it's not the actors (I thought they were great!), and it's not the writing that made this version of The Partridge Family a Fail. It's the camera work and the reality show format.. but especially the camera work (which is why I didn't rate more stars).

Hand-held camera cinematography is the worst! It makes one feel physically ill, and makes everything on the screen look shaky... makes you feel like you want to pop a xanax. One of the things I liked most about the original is the still camera sitcom format. It was relaxing, and it drew you into the subject's world. Hand held? You know you're watching something from afar.. you're not temporarily suspending your reality and entering the Partridge Family world.

The reality show format was also a bad idea, pretty much for the same reason .. it does not draw you in. If this show had been filmed with still cameras and done in a sitcom (not reality show) format, I believe that viewers would have liked it and accepted it. True, it's not exactly the same. The actors are different. The time is different. But the story is very similar and entertaining. My favorite is the new Danny Partridge - that's some good casting. I also loved seeing Danny Bonaduce enter the scene. Not too crazy about making him gay though.. there was no purpose for that twist.

Some reviewers found French Stewart too "mean" as Reuben Kincaid. I did not. Sure, they made him out to be a real a-hole initially (as the impetus to cost him his job and insert him as manager to the Partridge Family), but before the 20 minutes were up he greatly softened, having typical Reuben-type repartee with Danny while lying on a bunk bed like one of the kids. That's very "Reubenesque".

I actually never heard of this remake until today (in 2022), but if I had seen it, and if it had excluded the hand held camera style and reality show format, I would have loved it.. and I think many other viewers would have loved it as well. We want to relax with family shows like this - not feel like we've had 5 cups of coffee!

When VH1 did In search of the new partridge family, i was more than exited (i think all partridge fans were) The show was awesome, i got to see my favorite actor/singer, David Cassidy. First off, I think that they chose ALL(except Spencer)the wrong people. I think better people might have helped the show. The person who was cast as Ruben Kincaid, was not only a horrible actor, he gave Dave madden a bad name for being the original. The new Ruben was not like the original, and frankly the new cast (sorry Leland, but its true) cannot sing, or act at all. The ONLY thing great about the show is the wonderful producing and directing the SHOW had. I am glad the show didn't last, I LOVE THE ORIGINAL PARTRIDGES, THEY ARE ORIGINAL FOR A REASON

Although the remake was not true to form, (what remake is) and also too campy, the actors in the show were paid to do a job, and did not control scripts, music, etc. I think it's really harsh to judge them and the range of their talents by a poorly done pilot that they had no control over. I can personally vouch for the extreme range and talent of one of the actors, and although it may have been a poor choice of vehicles for them, they all performed to the best of their given roles. Blame VH1 or the writers and directors for their part in this. Not the actors. Hopefully, someone with the talent to write and direct a future remake of a beloved classic will take this where it needs to be. Let's remember- even if The Brady Bunch movies were not exactly true to form- they were amusing and even managed to make some money.