The New Partridge Family

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.

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...

Well, what can one really expect? In a nutshell, NEVER turn a popular T.V. series into a movie. Nine out ten times...It's not nearly as good(not true to the original/bad actors/actresses). Leave "classic" T.V. show alone! I saw this. It was indeed, horrible. I could'nt watch the entire run, though...it was too contrived, like most of today's(post 1990)television is, anyway. Look what they did to "Miami Vice". They made a movie out of it, &...it bombed. No wonder. "Colin Ferrell" playing "Don Johnson's" part? Please! There is only ONE Don Johnson...and Ferrell could'nt come close to doing that part justice. Ferrell just did'nt have the moxie & swagger to pull off as Johnson did. Jamie Foxx" as "Tubbs"? Jamie Foxx is a decent actor(much better than Colin Ferrell is, anyway), but again... The "Partridge Family" is a classic T.V. series & it should just be...left be. VH1 has done a great job on many of their specials, though. This just was'nt...one of them, sadly.

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!

As Bill Murray's character said in Scrooged, "Gosh, does that suck!". I watched the search for the actors and actresses on VH1 and thought that it was a fun show. Mainly because I liked seeing David Cassidy and the other people from the original show. But when it started showing on VH1 I absolutely hated it period. What was a cute show was pathetically reinvented to be a reality show. Are you kidding me? It had absolutely nothing in common with the original and the people portraying the characters didn't even look like the original characters. Plus the fact that when they were doing the tests for the prospective candidates I found it a funny thing to watch. An American Idol type search. Sorry but if you want to do a remake of a classic show like The Partridge Family, get known and/or trained actors. Don't do this asinine talent search with wannabe morons who are hungry for their fifteen minutes. I was glad and relieved when this train wreck was derailed quick after it's start. Hey VH1, if you want to remake a classic show hire regular actors and then you may have something there, otherwise you're wasting the viewers' time and energy!