In reality, my mom would have missed me, and I would have not consciously traded her in for Shirley Jones, even to become a Partridge. The dream happened because I was a fan obsessed. I tacked Teen Beat publicity photos to my walls, leaving the plaster full of holes. That kind of unabashed gaiety is now kept out of TV altogether, save during kiddie shows like Barney the Dinosaur. Pop music and television are always a precarious match.
TV usually gets it all wrong.
The Monkees succeeded because very, very hip people were involved. A tiny cadre of filmmakers that included Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper were mixed up in the creation of The Monkees. The fact that the show was cool, clever, hip and on primetime was a fluke. The Partridge Family was a strange experiment that worked. The musical family concept was loosely based on the career of The Cowsills.