The Partridge Family The Complete Third Season (1972 73/Sony DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: C+
Past the
half-way point of their hit show, The
Partridge Family The Complete Third Season (1972 73) still had some
appeal and energy left, establishing the fictional family-as-band enough that
any similarity to The Cowsills was lost.
That band was known for a much darker tale of an overbearing father who
pushed them until the family unraveled as they had hits like The Rain, The Park & Other Things
and the theme from the hit stage musical Hair. Ironically, the recordings of The Partridge
Family sold more records and produced more hits.
This
season includes guest actors like Charlotte Rae, Bert Convy, Ray Bolger, John
Astin, Arte Johnson, Anthony Geary and the famous Jodie Foster show among
others. Well let you see who else you
can spot. This was never one of my
favorite shows, though I could totally understand its appeal as part of a teen
wave of live action shows like The Brady Bunch and Room 222, but the show has its moments and its humorous, upbeat
attitude is always a plus. Even if you
cant get happy over all of it, you might at least smile
The 1.33
X 1 image has some good detail and usually the vibrant color that is iconic
color associated with the series, but there can still be variances in quality,
with a few prints looking second-generation.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also good, though I am surprised Sony did
not go back and drop the stereophonic tracks into the soundtrack or even offer
an alternate stereo soundtrack. The only
extras are two butchered webisodes, but as this was posted, another attempt to
revive the name was on the way.
- Nicholas Sheffo
