Party of Five | |
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Intertitle |
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Format | Teen drama |
Created by | Christopher Keyser Amy Lippman |
Starring | Scott Wolf Matthew Fox Neve Campbell Lacey Chabert Scott Grimes Paula Devicq Jennifer Love Hewitt Jeremy London Jennifer Aspen Michael Goorjian Alexondra Lee |
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 142 (List of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | Fox |
Original run | September 12, 1994 | – May 3, 2000
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.
Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation. In 1996 it was the surprise winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Drama, making it one of the lowest rated shows ever to win the award.
The show launched the careers of cast members Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt, who both starred in their own box office hit slasher films, Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, respectively, while also appearing on the series. The show was also the launching pad for the careers of Lacey Chabert, who later starred in the hit movie Mean Girls; Matthew Fox, who would later go on to star in the ABC hit Lost; Scott Wolf who would star in the movie Go and the 2009 remake of V; and Jacob Smith, who later starred in the Cheaper by the Dozen films.
In 1999, the show generated a spin-off, entitled Time of Your Life, which followed the character of Sarah (Hewitt) as she moved to New York. It ran for just one season.
In 1995, TV Guide named the series 'The Best Show You're Not Watching'.[1]
Contents |
Set in the city of San Francisco the show centered on the five siblings of the Salinger family, who become orphans after their parents were hit and killed by a drunk driver. Charlie (Matthew Fox) is the eldest, a 24-year-old, immature manual laborer who struggles with the responsibility of being the new head of the family; 16-year-old Bailey (Scott Wolf) is the rebellious teen turned substance abuser; 15-year old Julia (Neve Campbell) is a sensitive teen facing adolescent issues of her own; 11-year old Claudia (Lacey Chabert) is a precocious child prodigy, and Owen is the baby, barely one year old.
The siblings take over the running of their family's restaurant, with Charlie initially serving as manager and later with Bailey taking over. The struggles faced by the Salingers over the years included cancer, alcoholism, domestic violence, and the long term effects of parental loss.[2]
As the series progressed, romantic relationships became plot points and new cast members joined the show, including Hewitt as Bailey's girlfriend Sarah, Jeremy London as Julia's husband Griffin and Paula Devicq as Owen's nanny Kirsten who developed an on-again-off-again relationship with Charlie.
the following lists all actors who appeared in 5 or more episodes during the run of the show
"Closer To Free" was performed by The BoDeans.
Early in the series "Climb on (A Back That's Strong)" by Shawn Colvin from her album Fat City was also used. Due to music licensing issues it was not included on the Season 1 DVD.
The show was created by the team of Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman, and produced by Columbia Pictures Television (CPT) and High Productions. CPT would later be folded into Columbia TriStar Domestic Television which soon after became Sony Pictures Television. In March 2009, Sony began streaming the third season of the show on Crackle. Each weekday at 8:45am, Party of Five is shown on Irish TV Channel 3e.
The show suffered from poor ratings and was slated to be canceled after its first season. In 1996, it received the Golden Globe Award for Best Drama during its second season. After the win, the shows ratings significantly improved until its fifth season, when ratings yet again fell into a slump. The ratings continued in a nose dive during its sixth and final season. The series finale, however, delivered strong ratings.
Season | Episodes | Timeslot (ET) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Rank | Rating (Households) |
Viewers (in millions) |
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1 | 22 |
Monday 9:00 |
September 12, 1994 | March 15, 1995 | #125[3] | 6.2[3] | N/A |
2 | 22 |
Wednesday 9:00 |
September 27, 1995 | March 27, 1996 | #96[4] | 7.1[4] | N/A |
3 | 25 |
Wednesday 9:00 |
August 21, 1996 | April 2, 1997 | #82[5] | 7.4[5] | N/A |
4 | 24 |
Wednesday 9:00 |
September 17, 1997 | May 13, 1998 | #56[6] | N/A | 11.5[6] |
5 | 25 | Wednesday 9:00 | September 16, 1998 | May 19, 1999 | #70[7] | N/A | 10.1[7] |
6 | 24 | Tuesday 9:00 | October 5, 1999 | May 3, 2000 | #113[8] | 6.6[8] | 6.135[9] |
On April 27, 1999 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the season 2 episode "The Wedding", the season 3 episode "Intervention", and the season 4 episode "Richer, Poorer, Sickness, and Health" on VHS.[10][11][12]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has also released the first two seasons of Party of Five on DVD in Region 1 and 2. Season 3 was released in Region 1 on March 25, 2008, more than two years after the release of season 2.[13] The first season DVD was re-issued on March 1, 2009.[14]
DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
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The Complete 1st Season | 22 | May 4, 2004[15] |
The Complete 2nd Season | 22 | December 20, 2005[16] |
The Complete 3rd Season | 25 | March 25, 2008[13] |
Due to licensing issues, the majority of the music from the original broadcasts have been replaced on the dvds. The new music was handpicked by the original music supervisors from the show.
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