The Partridge Family Episode #31
Welcome to my review of The Partridge Family Episode #31! This is the whale episode. Danny thinks of a new way to make money by using whales but ends up loving animals more than money. Good lesson there. This episode is called Whatever Happened to Moby Dick and originally aired on October 22, 1971.
The Partridge Family Episode #31 opens with Shirley sound asleep in her bed. She hears strange noises and reaches to turn off her alarm. When she figures out it’s not her alarm, she gets up to go explore. She runs into Keith in the hallway who is exploring with a baseball bat. It turns out the sound is coming from the garage. The noise is because of Danny (of course). He’s playing Laurie’s new album that consists of whales singing. He’s playing it in the garage so that he doesn’t wake up the family. Instead, it seems like he’s woken the entire neighborhood. Danny thinks the family should cut an album with the whales. My jazz professor, Dave Eshleman, wrote and recorded an album about whales. It’s called Deep Voices. Check it out here if you’re interested.
Danny’s Idea
Danny continues his talk about his brilliant million-dollar whale idea at breakfast with the family. Laurie is upset because she loves animals and doesn’t think anyone should profit from them. Shirley feels the same way. I agree with the girls.
Cut to Danny in the garage holding animal auditions. His ad specifically asked for a whale, but he ends up with a bird, a seal, a dancing bear, etc. Didn’t Danny just hold auditions in the garage in the last episode for an 11-year old to replace him? He must spend a lot on newspaper ads. Danny gets a phone call afterwards and has located a whale to sing in their act. Yay!
Marineland
The next scene is at Marineland with Bert Convy, who plays Dr. Whelander on this episode. (He’s on other Partridge Family episodes as different characters.) I think he’s so handsome. His character thinks the family should do a recording with the whale to bring more exposure to them. If more people know they’re almost extinct, maybe they’ll stop being slaughtered. They kill whales to make dog food. Shirley and Laurie want to donate their profit from the album to the New York Zoological Society. Danny thinks he’s being generous by offering 10% of the profit. Reuben says 5% would be even better so as not to put them in a higher tax bracket. Shirley puts her foot down and says they’re going to donate 100% of their profits. You go, girl.
E.J. Flicker
Cut to the recording studio. Their same engineer is there from earlier this season when Gloria Neugast won the contest to live with the family for a week. She offered him raisins. Remember? Anyway, some old codger (E.J. Flicker) interrupts the recording and says he understands the family is making a recording with HIS whale. He asked Marineland to take it out of the inlet four years ago and referred to it as “that thing”. He’s now claiming it’s his whale and he’s brought legal papers from his lawyer. He wants 50% of the profit.
In the next scene, Reuben tells Shirley and Danny that Flicker doesn’t have a case. If he takes them to court, he’ll lose. Shirley thinks that’s good news, but she doesn’t realize that court cases can go on for years. Even though he’d lose, the whales would be extinct by the time the case was over. Shirley gets a great idea about recording the album. She calls Flicker and invites him to the recording. She is very sweet in talking to him. She’s a sly one.
Howard Cosell
The next shot is of Howard Cosell. Seeing him or hearing his voice always makes me think of the night John Lennon was killed. I was watching Monday Night Football when he gave us the bad news. Anyway, Shirley is talking to Cosell and telling him to be brutal. Howard goes live with an interview with Flicker and The Partridge Family. Shirley announces that her 50% will be donated. Howard asks Flicker what he’s going to do with his profit and adds that ten million viewers are watching. Feeling the pressure, Flicker agrees to donate his 50%. Reuben is waiting with forms so Flicker can sign away his profit right there on live TV. Yay!
The next scene is of the family performing with the whale. I remember this scene from my childhood. I believe this is one of only a few songs where Shirley sings lead. The song is called Whale Song and it was never released on any of their albums. It’s a beautiful song and Shirley Jones can sing her butt off. FYI, this episode was shot at Marineland in Los Angeles which closed in 1987.
The tag is of Shirley thanking Howard Cosell and Bert Convy. Bert said he had a back up plan in case Flicker didn’t sign. He was going to charge him for storage and feeding his whale for the last four years. Ha!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of The Partridge Episode #31. I liked this episode. See you again soon! Hey! Check out my Partridge items available in my eBay store.