The Partridge Family: The Complete First Season [4 Discs] [DVD]

This reviewer was never a particular fan of The Partridge Family, either when it was on the air new or in syndication. But the DVD set made the sale, and then some -- truth be told, while the series never had the surreal comedic (or musical) elements of The Monkees, which was the production antecedent to this program, or anyone in the cast remotely as talented as Michael Nesmith in the ranks of the performers; but the music was first-rate pop-rock of the period, and it holds up in that department, sufficient to make this four-disc/25 episode set worthwhile. The full-screen (1.33-to-1) episode transfers are clean, bright, and sharp. The colors have a beautiful tone to them, and if the volume is a tiny bit low, it pumps up nicely, especially where the music shows up, which is what counts. The chapter-breaks match the commercial and credit breaks for the original episodes. And the shows hold up surprisingly well, even in terms of comedy -- some of it is hokey, but looking at the episodes today, one really appreciates the interactions between Danny Bonaduce and Dave Madden as Danny Partridge and Reuben Kincaid. And one doubly appreciates the contribution of Shirley Jones, as the anchor of the series. But it's the bonus features that make this box worth owning. The featurettes explaining the evolution of the casting and the characters, and the development of the music, are worth the price of admission -- the latter feature includes interview material with the members of the Love Generation, who were engaged to do most of the singing (especially the background voices). Jones and David Cassidy, along with Bonaduce and creator Bernard Slade, contribute to both featurettes, and are extremely generous in their comments and praise. There are also two episode commentaries, one by Danny Bonaduce and the other by Shirley Jones, for the pilot episode and episode five, "When Mother Gets Married". Bonaduce is sometimes a little too silent over places where he obviously can't think of anything to say (and simply quotes what he was saying 35-plus years ago in other spots), and a little unpleasant at moments in his remarks about a couple of fellow players. Jones is more pleasant to listen to, but neither is really capable -- at least the way these recordings were done -- of filling 26 minutes of audio. But the shortcomings of that bonus feature don't detract from the value of the featurettes, or the fun to be found in the series itself. The set comes with a bonus fourth disc, which is a four-track sampler CD showing off the remastered sound of the Ultimate Partridge Family collection, released concurrently with this set.