Party of Five Information

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".

Synopsis

Set in the city of San Francisco, the show centered on the five siblings of the Salinger family (the "party of five" referenced in the show's title), who become orphans after their parents were hit and killed by a drunk driver. Charlie (Matthew Fox) is the eldest, a 24-year-old, womanizing, 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 later-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, Salingers, with Charlie initially serving as bartender and manager and later with Bailey taking over. The struggles faced by the Salingers over the years included Charlie's battle with cancer (in Season 4), Bailey's battle with alcoholism (in Season 3), Julia dealing with domestic violence in a relationship (in Season 5), and the long term effects of parental loss.

As the series progressed, romantic relationships became plot points and new cast members joined the show, including Jennifer Love Hewitt as Bailey's girlfriend Sarah, Jeremy London as Julia's bad-boy boyfriend and later husband Griffin, and Paula Devicq as Owen's nanny Kirsten, who developed an on-again-off-again relationship with Charlie through most of the series.

Cast

Main

• Scott Wolf as Bailey Salinger
• Matthew Fox as Charlie Salinger
• Neve Campbell as Julia Salinger
• Lacey Chabert as Claudia Salinger
• Paula Devicq as Kirsten Bennett Thomas Salinger (seasons 1"2, 5"6, recurring otherwise)
• Scott Grimes as Will McCorkle (seasons 1"2, 6, recurring otherwise)
• Michael Goorjian as Justin Thompson (season 2, recurring otherwise)
• Jennifer Love Hewitt as Sarah Reeves Merrin (seasons 2"6)
• Alexondra Lee as Callie Martel (season 3)
• Jeremy London as Griffin Chase Holbrook (seasons 4"6, recurring seasons 2"3). The character of Griffin was originally portrayed by James Marsden in one episode in the first season.
• Jennifer Aspen as Daphne Jablonsky (season 6, recurring seasons 4"5)
• The role of the youngest, Owen Salinger, was recast three times as the character grew. He was played by Alexander and Zachary Ahnert in the pilot episode, Brandon and Taylor Porter as an infant, Andrew and Stephen Cavarno as a preschooler, and Jacob Smith until the end of the show. The Owen character was aged faster than real time, in a television process known as "SORAS-ing", when he was rapidly aged from infant to preschooler.

Supporting

The following lists all actors who appeared in five or more episodes during the run of the show.

• Tom Mason as Joe Mangus (55 episodes, seasons 1"6)
• Mitchell Anderson as Ross Werkman (22 episodes, seasons 1"6)
• Cari Shayne as Nina DiMayo (nine episodes, seasons 1"2)
• Jennifer Blanc as Kate Bishop (eight episodes, season 1)
• Michael Shulman as Artie Baum (seven episodes, season 1)
• David Burke as Bill (six episodes, season 1)
• Megan Ward as Jill Holbrook (nine episodes, season 1)
• Wendle Josepher as Lori/Mercy (six episodes, seasons 1, 3"4)
• Kathleen Noone as Ellie Bennett (six episodes, seasons 2"3, 6)
• Marla Sokoloff as Jody Lynch (seven episodes, seasons 2"3)
• Alyson Reed as Mrs. Reeves (nine episodes, seasons 2"5)
• Carroll O'Connor as Jacob (Jake) Gordon (six episodes, seasons 2"3)
• Brenda Strong as Kathleen Isley (six episodes, season 2)
• Tamara Taylor as Grace Wilcox (16 episodes, season 3)
• Ben Browder as Sam Brody (10 episodes, season 3)
• Dan Lauria as Coach Russ Petrocelli (six episodes, season 3)
• Jackie Mari Roberts as Marcia (five episodes, season 3)
• Andrew Keegan as Reed Isley (eight episodes, season 4)
• Paige Turco as Annie Mott (18 episodes, season 4)
• Allison Bertolino as Natalie Mott (15 episodes, season 4)
• Jessica Lundy as Nina Rondstadt (five episodes, season 4)
• Tim DeKay as Dr. Paul Thomas (12 episodes, seasons 4"5)
• Brenda Wehle as Dr. Stephanie Rabin (eight episodes, seasons 4"5)
• Ever Carradine as Rosalie (seven episodes, season 4)
• Ross Malinger as Jamie Burke (eight episodes, seasons 4"5)
• Scott Bairstow as Ned Grayson (20 episodes, seasons 5"6)
• Heather McComb as Maggie (11 episodes, season 5)
• Adam Scott as Josh Macon (seven episodes, season 5)
• Joanna Garcia as Hallie (five episodes, season 5)
• Lynsey Bartilson as Parker Brookes (five episodes, season 5)
• Chad Todhunter as Cody (10 episodes, seasons 5"6)
• Kyle Secor as Evan Stilman (eight episodes, season 6)
• Maggie Lawson as Alexa (seven episodes, season 6)
• Andrew Levitas as Cameron Welcott (six episodes, season 6)
• Wilson Cruz as Victor (11 episodes, season 6)
• Lauren Ambrose as Myra Wringler (five episodes, season 6)
• Rhona Mitra as Holly Marie Begins (12 episodes, season 6)
• Charles Esten as Luke (seven episodes, season 6)
• Sean Maher as Adam Matthews (seven episodes, season 6)
• Thomas Ian Nicholas as Todd Marsh (nine episodes, season 6)

Episodes

Theme song

"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.

Production

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 8:45 a.m., Party of Five is shown on Irish TV Channel 3e.

Reception and ratings

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.

Nielsen ratings

Season	Episodes	Timeslot (ET)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	Rank	Rating (Households)	Viewers (in millions)
1	22	Monday 9:00	September 12, 1994	March 15, 1995	#125	6.2
2	22	Wednesday 9:00	September 27, 1995	March 27, 1996	#96	7.1
3	25	Wednesday 9:00	August 21, 1996	April 2, 1997	#82	7.4
4	24	Wednesday 9:00	September 17, 1997	May 13, 1998	#56		11.5
5	25	Wednesday 9:00	September 16, 1998	May 19, 1999	#70		10.1
6	24	Tuesday 9:00	October 5, 1999	May 3, 2000	#113	6.6	6.135

Home video releases

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.

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. The first season DVD was re-issued on March 1, 2009. Season 4 will be released on March 5, 2013. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Amazon.com & WBShop.com and only in the US.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The Complete 1st Season	22	May 4, 2004
The Complete 2nd Season	22	December 20, 2005
The Complete 3rd Season	25	March 25, 2008
The Complete 4th Season	24	March 5, 2013

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.

Footnotes