The Partridge Family - Season 1, Episode 13 (13)

Title: Star Quality

First aired: December 18, 1970

Synopsis:

The influential and very famous columnist, Sheila Faber, attends The Partridge Family’s concert at one of Hollywood's clubs. She writes an enthusiastic review and on their way home Danny reads it aloud to the rest of the family. She is especially impressed with Danny and his performance. In her opinion Danny has a star quality and he is going to be a big star. The kids laugh at him. For them, he is just a part of the band and a younger brother. However, Danny takes Sheila Faber’s opinion to heart very seriously.

At home he can’t fall asleep and reads over and over again what the columnist has written about his charm and impish grin. Finally, after midnight he leaves his bedroom and calls The Partridge Family’s manager, Reuben Kincaid. He asks Reuben to fly to San Pueblo in the morning because he has something very important to say to him, something that no one knows. Reuben is not happy as this is not the first time that Danny has woken him up in the middle of the night. He doesn’t refuse the boy's request and the next day arrives. Danny is waiting for him in front of the house, he doesn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation.

Danny chooses a tree house as the best place to tell Reuben about his decision. The tree house is very high, but Reuben goes up after Danny. The boy tells him that he wants to leave the group and become a single performer. He also shows Reuben Sheila Faber’s review. Reuben wants to laugh but sees that Danny is deadly serious. When asked why he wants to leave the band, Danny replies that it is for the good of the family and of course for the money. Reuben jokingly tells him that the family won’t find anyone as good to replace him. Danny hasn’t thought about it before and asks Reuben not to tell his family about his plans for now.

The manager stays with The Partridge Family, he is always a welcomed guest. In the morning at breakfast, Keith notices that some people are going towards the Partridges’ garage. When Shirley and Reuben go to see what’s going on, it turns out that Danny arranged an audition for candidates for his place. At last Shirley finds out what her son came up with. She is quite angry with him.

Reuben has a great idea. Instead of just forbidding him, it will be the best if Danny discovers for himself how foolish his plan is. The next day, Danny is astonished when the kids don't worry about him leaving the group, and that it is not a big deal. Danny is surprised and little offended. He doesn’t know what to think about it, and what’s worse, he discovers with sadness that the band is already practicing with a new, very talented bass player. They don’t treat him as a part of the band any more.

Reuben proposes that Danny can debut as a single performer at the same gig as The Partridge Family. Danny is upset and truly speaking doesn’t know what to do. The family is also worried, Shirley and kids thought that Danny would have changed his mind before the gig. But when, very sad and lost, Danny appears on stage, the family doesn’t leave him in need. The new bassist wasn’t seriously Danny’s replacement. He was just a part of Reuben's plan. Very happily Danny takes his bass and performs with the band.

After the gig Sheila Faber visits The Partridge Family in their dressing room. It turns out that she had made a mistake. She thought that Chris’s name was Danny, and he is the one with the star quality!
Synopsis written by Weronika Cyrynger

Song:
Singin' My Song

Cast:
Shirley Partridge - Shirley Jones
Keith Partridge - David Cassidy
Laurie Partridge - Susan Dey
Danny Partridge - Danny Bonaduce
Chris Partridge - Jeremy Gelbwaks
Tracy Partridge - Suzanne Crough
Reuben Kincaid - Dave Madden

Directed by: Harry Falk

Written by: Bernard Slade

Guest Stars: Dick Clark as himself, Mitzi Hoag as Sheila Faber

Screen Shots: