Written by Bernard Slade
Produced by Paul Junger Witt
Directed by Earl Bellamy
Original Air Date: March 19, 1971
The Partridge Family and Reuben return home one night after a long trip and
are awakened by loud music. To their surprise, they discover a young man --
Bobby Conway -- playing his tapes in their garage.
Bobby explains that he has waited one week for their return so that he could
play his music for them. But he doesn't write lyrics and the Partridges don't
perform instrumentals. Danny remembers some poems they received in the mail
and suggests they try and find the author, Lionel Poindexter, who lives in
Denver.
The Partridges and Bobby travel to Denver and find Lionel who is a bit
strange. He greets them dressed in a full suit of armor -- one of his jobs is
distributing leaflets on the street for a product called Sir Lancelot Plums.
Lionel tells the group that he is tome deaf but he will listen to Bobby's
tapes to see if he cam come up with some lyrics.
Bobby discovers that Lionel has all his jobs to enable him to give gifts to
the orphanage where he was raised. Bobby meets two of the little girls at the
orphanage who adore Lionel and think he is a genius. The eight-year old was
the one who had sent Lionel's poems to the Partridges.
Finally Lionel comes up with lyrics and the Partridge Family sings the song,
"Stephanie" at their nightclub concert. It's a big success and Bobby
and Lionel decide to team up.
They say goodbye to the Partridges and head for Hollywood.
Song:
"Stephanie," music and lyrics by Richard Klien, John Henning and
David Price (Unreleased on commercial LP)
Guest Cast:
Bobby Conway --------------------------------------- Bobby Sherman
Lionel Poindexter ------------------------------------- Wes Stern
Tube Trivia:
- This episode was the pilot for the series, "Getting Together."
Created and written by Bernard Slade, it aired on ABC from September 18, 1971
to January 8, 1972. It also starred Pat Carroll, Jack Burns and Susan Neher.
He also wrote Episodes 1, 3, 5,
8, 13, 17,
36, and 38.. To read our
exclusive interview with Bernard Slade, visit the People and Places section of
the website!
- This is Jeremy Gelbwak's last episode. Brian Forster takes over the role of
Chris Partridge beginning in September. To read Jeremy's goodbye letter,
published in Tiger Beat's PF magazine, click
here.
- "Stephanie" is the same song as "All Of The Things" (Episode
9) but with different lyrics. Bobby Sherman starts off singing the
song, as the scene segues into the Partridge Family performing it on stage.
Complete versions exist of the song, although it has never been released on a
commercial LP.
- During the summer hiatus, "I'll Meet You Halfway" was released. It
was The Partridge Family's third single, peaking at #9 in June, 1971. At
first, Wes Farrell had considered releasing "Morning Rider On The
Road" instead (a song Tony Romeo had originally written for Glen
Campbell). Strangely, "Morning
Rider On The Road" was never used in an episode.
- While the series was on hiatus, Wes Farrell and the Partridge Family
musicians and singers reunite in the studio to start working on songs for
"Sound Magazine." The album is released in July. It hits #9 on the
charts in September. In August, they start working on "A Partridge Family
Christmas Card."
- "I Woke Up In Love This Morning" was the Partridge Family's fourth
hit single, rising to #13 on the Billboard charts, on August 21, 1971.
- By the end of the first season, the series was a bonafide hit, record albums
were racking up incredible sales, and a truck load of Partridge Family product
began flooding the store shelves. Tiger Beat magazine began publishing the
"Official Partridge Family Magazine" and David Cassidy became the
nation's #1 teen idol. This was just the beginning of an incredible four-year
ride!
