Written by Dale McRaven
Produced by Paul Junger Witt
Directed by Alan Rafkin
Original Air Date: February 26, 1971
The Partridge Family and Reuben are eating in a seedy restaurant in New Mexico
when a young girl, Maggie Newton, comes up to them and asks for a ride to
Albuquerque. She tells them she is going to see her father who is an
archeologist.
After they leave, a patrolman enters the restaurant and asks the waitress if
she has seen a young girl. The picture he shows her is of Maggie.
When the bus arrives at a motel, Maggie says good-by and goes on. The
patrolman comes up to the motel and tells Shirley he is looking for Maggie and
when Shirley and Reuben find Maggie the next day, they ask her why the police
are after her. She doesn't tell them the truth but they learn from a sheriff
in Kumquist, New Mexico, that Maggie is a runaway -- she lives with her
grandparents in Nebraska but runs away every other week to her father in
Albuquerque.
Shirley tells the sheriff that she will be responsible for getting Maggie
together with her grandparents. She calls them and tells the grandfather to
meet her at the airport in Albuquerque. But Maggie has run away again and
after the family searches everywhere in the town, they find her hitch-hiking.
The Partridges take Maggie to her father who says he will keep her this time
and not let her grandfather take her back. When Shirley brings the grandfather
to the house for a confrontation, there is a lot of tension and Shirley is the
one who settles the dispute.
They reach an agreement: Maggie will stay with her grandparents while she is
going to school and her father during Christmas and summer holidays.
Song:
"Point Me In The Direction Of Albuquerque," music and lyrics by
Tony Romeo (on The Partridge Family Album)
Guest Cast:
Maggie --------------------------------------------- Laurie Prange
Father ---------------------------------------------- Sandy Kenyon
Grandfather ----------------------------------------- Ian Wolfe
Sheriff ---------------------------------------------- Harry Hickox
Patrolman ------------------------------------------- Stuart Nisbet
Cowboy -------------------------------------------- Dick Wilson
Tube Trivia:
- Laurie Prange has appeared on such series as, "The Waltons,"
"The Incredible Hulk," "Medical Center," "Hawaii
Five-O," "My Three Sons, " "Barnaby Jones," "The
Love Boat," "T.J. Hooker," and "Murder, She Wrote."
- Sandy Kenyon was a regular on "Love On A Rooftop" (also created by
Bernard Slade).
- Dick Wilson is best remembered as Mr. Whipple in the Charmin Toilet Paper
commercials. He frequently played drunks on TV shows, most notably
"Bewitched."
- Dale McRaven was the Story Editor for "The Partridge Family." He
went on to produce and co-create such shows as "Mork & Mindy,"
"Laverne & Shirley," and "Perfect Strangers."
- Which came first -- the Partridge or the egg? Or, in this case, the song or
the episode? "Point Me In The Direction of Albuquerque" remains one
of the Partridge Family's most remembered songs. In fact, an entire episode
was written around it! According to writer Tony Romeo, he got the idea one
night while at a newspaper stand in New York City. There, he spotted a young
girl waiting all alone -- and a song was born!
