Party of Five

This article is about the original 1994 Fox series. For the 2020 Freeform series reboot, see Party of Five (2020 TV series).

Party of Five
Genre
Created by
Starring
Opening theme"Closer to Free" by BoDeans
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes142 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Paul Marks
  • P.K. Simonds
  • Bruce J. Nachbar
  • Steven Robman
  • Daniel Attias
  • Ian Biederman
  • Allan Heinberg
Editors
  • Richard Freeman
  • Steve Potter
  • David Dworetzky
Running time43–45 minutes
Production companiesKeyser/Lippman Productions
Columbia Pictures Television (1994–1997) (Seasons 1–3)
Columbia TriStar Television (1997–2000) (Seasons 4–6)
Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Co. Medien KG (1998–1999) (Season 5)
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseSeptember 12, 1994 (1994-09-12) –
May 3, 2000 (2000-05-03)
Related
Time of Your Life
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Party of Five is an American teen and family drama television series created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000, with a total of six seasons consisting of 142 episodes. The series featured an ensemble cast led by Scott Wolf as Bailey, Matthew Fox as Charlie, Neve Campbell as Julia, and Lacey Chabert as Claudia Salinger, who with their baby brother Owen (played by several actors) constitute five siblings whom the series follows after the loss of their parents in a car accident. Notable co-stars included Scott Grimes, Paula Devicq, Michael Goorjian, Ben Browder, Jeremy London, and Jennifer Love Hewitt. While categorized as a series aimed at teenagers and young adults, Party of Five explored several mature themes, including substance and domestic abuse, teen pregnancy, mental illness, cancer, and the long-term effects of parental loss.[1]

Despite receiving positive reviews from television critics after its debut, including TV Guide naming it "The Best Show You're Not Watching" in 1995,[2] the series suffered from low ratings during its first and second seasons, during which speculation arose that it would soon be cancelled.[3] In 1996, Party of Five won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, after which ratings and popularity grew for the majority of the remainder of the series.[4]

A spin-off, Time of Your Life, starring Hewitt debuted on the network in 1999, and was cancelled after one season.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chicago Tribune was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ TV Guide Book of Lists. Running Press. 2007. pp. 212. ISBN 978-0-7624-3007-9.
  3. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (September 3, 2014). "'Everybody Wants to Live': An Oral History of Party of Five's First Season". Vulture. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  4. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (July 22, 2013). "Party Of Five is the great forgotten drama of the '90s". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 27, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2019.