The Partridge Family was an American television sitcom series about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. It ran from September 25, 1970, until March 23, 1974, on the ABC network as part of a Friday-night lineup, and had subsequent runs in syndication. Created for television by Bernard Slade, the series' Executive Producer was Bob Claver. The show was inspired by and loosely based on The Cowsills, a family pop music group that was famous in the late 1960s. In its early development, the Cowsill children were considered by the producers for featuring on The... Partridge Family, but because they were not trained actors, Slade and Claver abandoned that idea. Shirley Jones had already been signed as mother Shirley Partridge and star of the show. The pilot was filmed in December, 1969. It differs from the version that aired in 1970. In the unaired pilot, Shirley's name is "Connie", and she has a boyfriend, played by Jack Cassidy, the husband of Shirley Jones. Laurie has a line of dialogue about her late father once getting drunk at a Christmas party, and the family lives at a different address. This unaired pilot is not available on home video.
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| On the air: | September 25, 1970-March 23, 1974 |
| Number of seasons: | 4 |
| Producer: | Paul Junger Witt, Mel Swope |
| Genre: | Comedy |