The Partridge Family Episode #27

Welcome to my review of The Partridge Family Episode #27! This episode is called “In 25 Words or Less” and originally aired on September 24, 1971. It’s about when a lonely woman wins a contest to live with the Partridges for a week. Then she doesn’t want to leave.

The episode opens with the family in the living room going through tons of mail. Keith doesn’t understand how anyone would want to spend a week with his family. Has he seen himself? Reuben thought up a contest for a fan to win a week with The Partridge Family. Shirley says she needs to clean up before Reuben gets there with the winner. Why were they going through all that mail if a winner had already been chosen?

Mrs. Neugast

Reuben introduces the winner of the Bopper Beat Magazine contest, Gloria Neugast. Everyone is shocked because she’s an older woman. Older women can’t like The Partridge Family? Hey now! This lady seems super sweet and very much a fan. Keith looks miserable as Mrs. Neugast fawns all over him. Hey, Keith. Suck it up. Be kind to all your fans, not just the hot young skinny ones.

After the kids go to school the next morning, Shirley and Mrs. Neugast talk about her family. It turns out Mrs. Neugast has two sons and a daughter. Sound like they don’t care for her and don’t keep in touch. Wow. You only get one mom. Be kind. I love my mom. She’s one of my best friends.

Cut to Laurie and Shirley talking. They discuss the many things Mrs. Neugast did that day for them (shampooed the carpets, mowed the lawn, fixed Tracy’s bike, etc.). Laurie says how it’s like they won the contest. Mrs. Neugast is the best that’s ever happened to this family. That’s sweet. BTW, I love the interaction between Shirley and Laurie. The actresses appear very comfortable with each other. I’m not sure much acting was involved in this scene.

Keith’s Date

Cut to Keith on his bed looking at girlie magazines. Mrs. Neugast is quizzing him on his love life. She wants to know all about Muldoon’s Point. She reminds Keith that the winner of the contest gets to go on a date with Keith. They end up at Muldoon’s Point and watch a bunch of people making out. Some of the others recognize Keith and make fun of him for bringing an old lady to a make out spot. Mrs. Neugast sticks up for Keith and tells them to all play nice. FYI, his girlfriend Doris spots him first. She drove up with another dude to Muldoon’s Point. Hey, Keith. Maybe she’s not your girlfriend after all.

The next scene is in the living room. Good lord! What is Reuben wearing? Who dressed him? Mrs. Neugast brings home her Jewish doctor friend to date Shirley. She’s playing matchmaker!

The family meets in the kitchen to bitch about Mrs. Neugast. You can see Brian Forster mouthing all the dialogue. Mrs. Neugast comes in and tells them they need to get their sleep. Then she makes them warm milk. Ick.

Recording Studio

This next scene I clearly remember from my childhood. I’m not sure why this scene stuck in my mind all these years. The family is in the recording studio and they allow Mrs. Neugast to sit in on the session. Her first interruption is to fix Keith’s hair. The second is to talk about microphone placement. Then she digs in her purse and rattles around her package of raisins. That reminds me of something my grandma would do. The engineer then decides to bring Mrs. Neugast inside the booth so she can’t mess up the recording. Tracy is awkwardly hitting a woodblock with a clave. After the recording session, Mrs. Neugast tells Shirley to get more efficient help because it took 73 takes. Ha!

Trivia

• The song the band is recording in the studio is Echo Valley 2-6809.
• The count off that Chris gives for each of the takes was noticeably faster than the actual tempo of the song.
• Echo Valley 2-6809 was written by Rupert Holmes who had a hit in 1979 with Escape (The Pina Colada Song).

 

The next scene has Mrs. Neugast packing her bags. Her week is up. When Shirley walks in, she feigns illness and claims to have fainted. She tells Shirley she’s in no hurry to go back to her cold and empty apartment. She says, “If you live and you’re not needed, there’s no need to live.” That made me sad. How many elderly people are out there who have no one and nothing?

The family meets in the garage to discuss how to get rid of Mrs. Neugast. Danny puts Reuben down and then Reuben returns the favor. I love their relationship. I know they were close in real life.

New Job

Reuben and Shirley come to Mrs. Neugast’s room and tell her that Reuben has a friend with a child day care center who needs help desperately. Gloria is suddenly well and jumps out of bed. She’s such a mother hen.

The tag is in the kitchen. Shirley comes in with a letter from Gloria. She loves her new job at the day care. She gives the Partridge kids advice in the letter by telling Tracy not to bite her nails (as she was biting them), tells Keith not to wear his torn jeans (which he’s wearing) and more. The letter ends with her telling Shirley that she has another date with the Jewish doctor. Ha!

I hope you enjoyed my review of The Partridge Family Episode #27. This was enjoyable for me. I liked Mrs. Neugast and think the actress (Kay Medford) did a wonderful job. See you soon!