The Partridge Family Episode #29
Welcome to my review of The Partridge Family Episode #29! This episode is called The Undergraduate and originally aired on October 8, 1971. FYI, the number one song on the day this episode aired was Maggie May by Rod Stewart.
The episode opens with Reuben barbecuing in the backyard with Keith and Danny. Reuben and Danny go back and forth with the insults. Shirley comes out with the mail and Danny distributes. The last letter is for a Shirley Renfro so Danny assumes it’s the wrong address. Does he not know his mom’s maiden name? Shirley is happy because she received her acceptance letter into college. She’s going back to school!
First Day of School
The next scene has Shirley coming down the stairs with a stack of books for her first day of school. She’s only taking one psychology class, so not sure why she has all those books. Shirley Jones looks beautiful in the next scene as she’s walking through campus. She finds a cute boy to pick up her books and sparks fly……for him anyway.
The family and Reuben wait in the living room for Shirley to come home from her first day of school. Why is the door wide open? Don’t flies and bugs come in? She explains her lateness is because she stopped to have coffee with a student. The kids hassle her about being slutty. They start talking about The Graduate and Mrs. Robinson. Her new friend, Paul, calls the house and Keith answers. More jokes follow about Paul’s voice cracking.
Shirley drives Paul to a lecture and runs out of gas on the way home. Paul, of course, thinks he’s going to get lucky.
The next scene is of the family rehearsing in the garage. They rehearse Brown Eyes which appeared on the Sound Magazine album. Afterwards, Danny tells Shirley he knows she was out until 2:06. She tells the family she was out so late because she ran out of gas. Bow chicka bow wow.
Ho Outfit
The next scene is of the three girls in hot pants. It’s a new uniform that Reuben has suggested. They all look very cute, but Shirley feels exposed. I suppose she may be a bit too old to wear that outfit, but I think she looks great. When the doorbell rings, she assumes it’s Reuben. She runs down to tell him she doesn’t want to look like a ho. When she answers the door in her sexy hot pants, it’s not Reuben. It’s Mr. Roper! It’s actually Paul’s mom and dad, played by Norman Fell and Ann Morgan Guilbert. Their first impression of their son’s new woman is not great due to the slutty hot pants. Mr. Roper keeps checking out Shirley during the next scene. He’s creepy and a bit of a perv.
Shirley invites Paul over for dinner. Since he thinks she only has one child, Shirley thinks he’ll be surprised and stop crushing on her when he sees all five kids. Keith greets him at the door as Keith Partridge. When Paul figures out it’s THE Keith Partridge, he mumbles, “some competition”. The kids try to talk to Paul while Shirley prepares dinner. It’s awkward. He knows who The Partridge Family is but really didn’t know he was dating Mrs. Partridge. He’s heard their songs but has never seen what anybody looks like. That’s a honest mistake.
Laurie & Paul
Laurie walks out to save Paul from the other kids harassing him. He says, “I didn’t know there were two pretty Partridges”. He’s sweet. Danny’s response was, “Neither did I.” The dinner went well and the family disperses. Shirley tells Paul and Laurie to talk while she cleans up. Paul comes in to talk to Shirley in the kitchen. He talks about another lecture and Shirley thinks he’s asking her out again. Turns out he wants to date Laurie. Cool. They do the whole mother and daughter swap thing on my soap opera too.
The tag is of Laurie coming home from her date very happy. It was a good date but Paul has a request. He wants an autographed picture of Shirley in her hot pants……for his dad.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of The Partridge Family Episode #29. I thought it was cute and Paul (played by Michael Burns) was adorable and a very good actor. Please come back soon for my next review. Danny is getting his tonsils out!
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