100 free The Partridge Family trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
43 free The Partridge Family trivia questions with answers. The Partridge Family ran on ABC from 1970 to 1974 and left behind a painted school bus, a number-one single and the biggest teen idol of the decade. This quiz covers all of it: the widowed bank teller and her five kids in San Pueblo, the manager Reuben Kincaid, the two theme songs, the Wrecking Crew musicians who actually played on the records, the dog Simone, and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon that sent the family to the year 2200. Easy questions ask who played Keith and what the bus looked like; the hard ones want the songwriter of 'I Think I Love You', which cast member is a Charles Dickens descendant and why the Cowsills turned down the chance to play themselves. Made for people who still know every word of 'C'mon Get Happy'. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the show, its cast and its music, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which network did The Partridge Family air from 1970 to 1974?
ABC
It ran for 96 episodes and eight albums before cancellation.
Q 02Who created The Partridge Family?
Bernard Slade
Slade later wrote the Broadway hit Same Time, Next Year.
Q 03The show was loosely based on which real-life family band?
The Cowsills
The Newport, Rhode Island group had hits with 'The Rain, the Park & Other Things' and 'Hair'.
Q 04Why did the real family who inspired the show turn down the chance to play themselves?
Their mother was to be replaced by an actress
Screen Gems approached them in 1969, but recasting mother Barbara with Shirley Jones killed the deal.
Q 05Who played the family's widowed mother?
Shirley Jones
The producers insisted her casting was non-negotiable before anyone else was hired.
Q 06Who played eldest son Keith Partridge?
David Cassidy
The role made him the biggest teen idol of the early 1970s, with a fan club larger than the Beatles'.
Q 07What was the real-life relationship between the actors who played Shirley and Keith?
Stepmother and stepson
Jones married his father, Jack Cassidy, in 1956; her sons Shaun, Patrick and Ryan are David's half-brothers.
Q 08Who played Laurie Partridge?
Susan Dey
She was 17 and had no acting experience when she won the part.
Q 09Danny Bonaduce's wisecracking Danny Partridge played which instrument in the band?
Bass guitar
His father Joseph Bonaduce was a TV writer; Danny later became a radio host and boxed Donny Osmond for charity.
Q 10Which character was played by two different actors, Jeremy Gelbwaks and then Brian Forster?
Chris
Forster took over the drummer role in season two.
Q 11Brian Forster, the show's second Chris, is a great-great-great-grandson of which author?
Charles Dickens
He is also the stepson of actor Whit Bissell and later raced cars in northern California.
Q 12Suzanne Crough's Tracy, the youngest Partridge, mainly played which instrument?
Tambourine
The percussion job made her the least musically demanding member of a band that didn't play anyway.
Q 13Dave Madden played the family's put-upon manager. What was his name?
Reuben Kincaid
Madden had first gained notice as the confetti-throwing sad sack on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
Q 21Who produced the music for the ongoing series after the pilot?
Wes Farrell
Jazz arranger Shorty Rogers, who had worked with the Monkees, handled the pilot.
Q 22What was the show's opening theme song from season two onward?
'Come On Get Happy'
Season one used a different theme, 'When We're Singin''.
Q 23What was the title of the season-one theme song?
'When We're Singin''
The pilot is the only episode that uses no version of either theme.
Q 14Dave Madden was born in which country?
Canada
He was born in Sarnia, Ontario, and later played coach Earl Hicks on Alice.
Q 15The Partridges lived in which fictional California town?
San Pueblo
In the pilot, the kids convince their widowed mother, a bank teller, to join their band.
Q 16What was Shirley Partridge's job before joining the band?
Bank teller
The pilot has her widowed with five kids and a garage full of instruments.
Q 17The family's tour bus was painted in patterns inspired by which artist?
Piet Mondrian
The vehicle was an old 1957 Chevrolet school bus.
Q 18What kind of vehicle was the Partridge Family bus originally?
A school bus
The 1957 Chevrolet Series 6800 Superior became as famous as the cast.
Q 19Unlike The Monkees, how many cast members played instruments on the records or on the show?
None
Originally only Shirley Jones sang; Cassidy was allowed to record his own vocals after proving to producer Wes Farrell that he could sing.
Q 20Which famous group of Los Angeles session musicians played the instruments on Partridge Family records?
The Wrecking Crew
The Ron Hicklin Singers supplied the backing vocals behind Cassidy's lead.
Q 24The family's smash debut single, released a month before the show premiered, was what?
'I Think I Love You'
It came out in August 1970 and was already climbing when the pilot aired.
Q 25Who wrote the family's chart-topping debut single?
Tony Romeo
It was certified the best-selling single of 1970 and sold more than the Beatles' 'Let It Be'.
Q 26How many weeks did the debut single spend at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?
Three
It topped the chart in November and December 1970 and also hit number one in Canada and Australia.
Q 27Which alternative rock band covered the Partridges' debut single in 1991?
Voice of the Beehive
The Anglo-American band recorded it for their second album.
Q 28The Partridge Family Album, the first LP, peaked at what position on the Billboard 200?
No. 4
It went gold in December 1970, and two of its tracks do not feature Cassidy at all.
Q 29What was the name of the family dog seen in season one?
Simone
The dog was phased out during the second season.
Q 30In season four, four-year-old neighbour Ricky Stevens was added and did what in each episode?
Sang a children's song
Ricky Segall's addition is often cited as the show's cousin-Oliver moment.