The Partridge Family Episode #22
Hello again. Thanks for joining me for my Partridge review. The Partridge Family Episode #22 is about the family helping a runaway girl. The title of this episode is Road Song and it originally aired on February 26, 1972.
The show opens with the family eating in this crappy looking diner. Keith is complaining to Reuben about how he picked a bad restaurant. Poor baby. In walks a young girl which makes Keith sit up straight. This young girl saw the bus outside the diner and was hoping she could get a ride to Albuquerque to see her father. Shirley agrees of course because she’s so nice. The girl is thankful and after the family gets up from the table, she sneaks their leftover food into her bag. Poor thing. She be hungry.
FYI, the sign in the diner states that you can get ham & eggs, potatoes, and coffee for only 59 cents. What a bargain!
After the family and girl depart the diner, a policeman stops by with a picture asking the waitress if she has seen her. The policeman says she’s wanted. Oh, no!
The Storyteller
Maggie is riding with the family in the bus and telling all kinds of stories. She has a great imagination. Shirley starts to get suspicious. When they get to their hotel, Shirley offers to house Maggie as well. Maggie decides she wants to take off instead.
The policeman shows up at their hotel looking for Maggie. Shirley tells him they gave her a ride but that she left them a few hours ago. The next morning they find Maggie asleep on the bus. She tells Shirley more lies and they take off for Albuquerque.
They stop in Kumquist, New Mexico which is a few hours from Albuquerque. Shirley and Reuben check in with the county sheriff who gives them the 411. Maggie is a runaway who runs away about every other week and is usually found near Albuquerque. Her father does live there. That wasn’t a lie, but her grandparents are her legal guardians and they live in Nebraska.
Maggie has escaped yet again so the family begins their search around Kumquist for her. They play their song “Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque” while they show the search for Maggie. FYI, I know how to spell Albuquerque because of this song.
Trivia
There’s a scene with Danny and a cowboy at a saloon. The cowboy is actor Dick Wilson. You may know him as Mr. Whipple from the toilet paper commercials. Funny.
The family can’t find Maggie so decide to head to Albuquerque. They see her hitchhiking on the side of the road on their way to Albuquerque. They all jump off the bus and chase her. A silly comical chase ensues and ends with her trying to steal the bus.
Shirley the Social Worker
Maggie freaks out and pretends she’s going to shoot them (with her guitar). Shirley tells Maggie to chill out because they’re taking her to see her dad. They arrive at Pops and he’s very happy to see her. All is well.
The next scene is with Maggie’s grandpa. The grandpa hates Maggie’s dad and is not happy that Maggie is with him. Shirley arranges an intervention. The grandpa and dad argue back and forth. “You’re a weasel in a chicken coop. Why don’t you go suck eggs?” Them’s fightin’ words. Shirley makes everything all better. Shirley Partridge, the social worker.
My thoughts on The Partridge Family Episode #22 is that the actress playing Maggie, Laurie Prange, is a very good actress. I am also impressed with the amount of extra time the family had to deal with this issue. Reuben must have scheduled in a LOT of extra time to get to Albuquerque in order for them to deal with the Maggie dilemma.
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