IMDb user comments for
"Party of Five" (1994)

advertisement

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 3:

[1] [2] [3]

Index

29 comments in total

---

16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Series, 22 November 2004
Author: fessany (fessany@hotmail.com) from United States

This was a great series with many twist and turns along the way. Starting off, I believe it was 6 months or so after a couple is killed by a drunk driver they leave behind 5 children to care for themselves. The oldest in which was Charlie (Matt fox), was about 24yrs old or so. He had to take charge and keep his family together so they weren't split up in to foster homes. He was an average guy who liked girls and to drink and have fun. But was all of a sudden made a father of 4 kids in an instant. Next, was Bailey (Scott Wolf) about 16yrs old and throughout the series had many problems with things such as drinking, girls, and of course raising a family. In many ways Bailey was the adult. He was a take charge type person inwhich had to grow up very fast, like no sixteen year old should have to do. I could relate to Bailey's character in many ways in my own life, even though I don't drink and probably never will, I have more fun without. Now we come to Julia (Neve Campbell) she is about 15 yrs old and is going through a time in her life inwhich no girl shouldn't have a mother to talk to. Of course, she makes many mistakes such as having sex for the first time drunk at Charlie's wedding or at least we hoped would be his wedding. She also was abused by a boyfriend later on inwhich she defended his action's, but deep down knew that she needed out of that situation. She went through a lot during the 6 yrs it was on, but was a absolute wonderful character and I don't believe anyone else could of done it as well as Neve did. And now we come to child number four Claudia (Lacey Chabert) which I believe had it the hardest in many ways she is about 12yrs old and her life has changed for ever in an instant. She is such a sweet and curious girl. Lacey is so natural as an actress and I believe she will be around for as long as she likes. In her own life i'm sure being in the spotlight of millions of viewers while growing up literally in front of us had to be a difficult thing. Now the youngest of the five is Owen (Jacob Smith) inwhich was played by more then one actor when younger, but I remember him best because he had more story line during the last season or two. He was about 6 months old when the show started so he wouldn't have any memories of his parents just what his siblings tell him and from photo's. This was a great series and I would like to see a reunion movie in the future, but know that that cast will not be doing that anytime soon. I just hope that we will see all the characters in new and upcoming projects for many years to come.

---

17 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
What a show!, 3 July 1999
Author: shadow-54 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ever since 1994, Party of Five stood out as the second best drama show about youngsters, beaten only by My So-Called Life. The Salingers have been facing tragedy after tragedy since the day they lost their parents. This is as realistic as it gets. While Dawson's Creek and Felicity tend to escape reality every now and then, Party of Five stands out faithful to the world's reality.

Scott Wolf did a fantastic job portraying Bailey, especially in 1996 and 1997, during the days of his alcoholism and the following tough sobriety and subsequent management of the restaurant. He also lived through hell as he sacrificed his personal life for the sake of his family and nearly lost all faith in perfect love and affection as he dated drug addict Jill Holbrook, who killed herself with an overdose. Matthew Fox gave life to Charlie. His character suffered greatly as he took the responsibility for his siblings. It got even more dramatic when he had Hodgkin's disease, which changed his life forever. He turned from an irresponsible 24 year old to a responsible and honest 28 year old as he took care of little Diana all by himself ever since Daphne left him and her. Neve Campbell brought depth and deep emotions to Julia as the teenager grew through huge and complicated steps in her life such as her long line of relationships with Justin, Sam, Ned, Griffin and several others. She also had to deal with her pregnancy and miscarriage. Then she lived a whole year married to Griffin, which changed her deeply. After that, she was hit by Ned episode after episode until she kissed Perry Marks, which made her realize the course of her whole life in the past 5 years. Lacey Chabert is the greatest young actress ever and she changed as much as her character Claudia. From a violinist to a normal teenager, Claudia was the most affected by everything that happened in the show. Even with the constant change of young actors, Jacob Smith seems like the best actor yet to portray 5 year old Owen Salinger. He never really got to know his late parents and has seen Bailey, Charlie and Kirsten as his parents ever since. Jennifer Love-Hewitt portrayed Sarah Reeves Merrin and saw her world change as the years passed and she faced tough experiences, such as being cheated by Bailey, having discovered her orphanage and adoption, being attacked by a burglar, among several other experiences. I can't believe she may leave Party of Five next season. Paula Devicq and her character Kirsten had terrible experiences ever since she was hired as Owen's nanny. She dated Charlie, was cheated by him, got back together, nearly got married (but Charlie was afraid of commitment) and lived through a disastrous depressive state. Jeremy London also did a great job portraying Griffin. At first he seemed to be just Julia's boyfriend, but he made a character out of himself as he faced tough situations such as leaving his father, losing his sister Jill, being arrested twice and breaking up with Julia.

There were great recurring players in the show as well. Michael Goorjian did a great job with Justin from 1995 to 1996. Tamara Taylor did a fantastic job, portraying Grace Wilcox in 1996 and 1997. Alexondra Lee's performance as Callie was magnific, which made her a regular for the whole season (1996-1997). Carrol O'Connor did a good job as Grandpa Jake, but his storyline was cut short. I don't understand why he left the show. His disease wasn't a good excuse at the 1996 christmas. Paige Turco was the best of them all when she portrayed Annie Mott along with young Allison Bertolino as little Natalie from 1997 to 1998. Paige brought Annie the full force she also brought to her NYPD Blue gay character Abby Sullivan. Jennifer Aspen did a great job portraying Daphne and her involvement with the show.

Great job to Columbia Pictures Television. Well done Christopher Keyser and you too Amy Lippman!

---

13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the best TV shows, 15 June 2004
Author: kurksu from Europe

I started to see this show from the beginning and I was fascinated by the whole concept of it. The struggle for survival of the Salinger family after their parents being killed in a car accident is the plot of the story. Only five of them, Charlie (the oldest), Julia, Beily Claudia, and a little Owen left in the big family house. They had to solve all the problems by themselves, and there were lots of problems: money problems, Beily's alcoholism, Claudia teenage crisis and, finally, Charlie's cancer. They had to be strong to keep going. The show was very realistic, very often particular situations did not have a Happy end, like in other shows( Beverly Hills 90210, for example).It was fascinating, because at that time it was the only series that actually dealt with real life situation. We all know that life is tough, and the script writers dared to show it up.

The cast was just great: Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf, Lecey Chabert, Jennifer Love Hewit, all of them are extremely talented and they did their best in the show. I loved it so much! It was definitely one of the best TV shows!

---

13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
The most touching show in television history, 15 March 2000
Author: po5mrk from Kentucky

Everyone can relate to Party of Five. The show has dealt with every major or controversial issue in society today, and they have done it with talented scripts and actors. The best thing about the show is when decisions are made, the consequences, whether good or bad, are shown as well. The Salinger family has helped many people deal with their real life problems. They will always have a special place in our hearts, even after they are gone.

---

10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
I wish I could vote for this., 13 August 1999
Author: Ian-79 from Essex, England.

Party of Five is great. Most comments have focused upon the superb acting and I'd agree, the acting's excellent. But a rapturous round of applause must go to the directors and producers who've made the show a pleasure to watch. Best drama on TV, I'd give it 10/10 - if it were possible to vote for tv-shows.

---

6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The BEST show on television!, 22 January 2000
Author: papillon13_2000 (papillon13_2000@yahoo.com) from Georgia

Party of Five is by far the best show on television. It deals with all kinds of problems that we face in the "real world". They have characters that are very three-dimensional and you get closer to them each time you watch the show. There is a powerful message in every show. With an all star cast (Lacey Chabert, Neve Campbell, Matthew Fox, and Scott Wolf just to name a few), Po5 is really a 90's show. You learn from their experiences and if you miss an episode, it's really not to hard to get caught up (unless you missed the episode with Derrick). You laugh through some episodes, you cry through some episodes, and in others you just scream at the T. V. The show is wonderful and I am so glad that this show was created!

---

6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Overly dramatic, but excellent, 7 February 1999
Author: anonymous from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In four years, Party of Five became one of the best drama series ever created

for TV. The Salingers are the best family on TV. The cast is excellent, especially Lacey Chabert and Neve Campbell. The 97-98 season was the most dramatic moment on the show as we witnessed Charlie's cancer, Claudia's loneliness and the disastrous Julia/Griffin marriage. It was getting so dramatic, it was starting to get scary. Now it seemed to cool off a little bit as the newest Salinger (Diana) arrived. Even with all the constant fights and yelling, Party of Five manages to be one of the best shows on TV these days, rivalled only by Babylon 5 and ER. Party of Five seems endless. It still has a lot to show us.

---

7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best Drama On Television Today, 17 July 1999
Author: Jack-247 from Manchester, New Hampshire

This show is the best. Unlike the other dramas on television today, this show shows it from all sides. Other shows only stick with one genre, mostly teens, but this show shows what the adults and kids are feeling. It is very rare to see this today. The acting is great. Neve Campbell, Lacey Chabert, and Jennifer Love Hewitt do a fine job on the female side, as do Scott Wolf and Matthew Fox do for the men. I hope this show continues to do well and has a successful run on television.

---

5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty excellent, 8 September 2000
Author: Petri Pelkonen (petri_pelkonen@hotmail.com) from Finland

Party of Five was a TV series about five siblings whose parents had died.The Salinger family were on their own dealing with the every day problems.The show ran from 1994 to 2000.It had many talented young actors like Matthew Fox (Charlie), Neve Campbell (Julia), Scott Wolf (Bailey), Lacey Chabert (Claudia) Jennifer Love Hewitt (Sarah), Paula Devicq (Kirsten), Jeremy London (Griffin) and Jennifer Aspen (Daphne).Scott Grimes (Will) and Michael A. Goorjian (Justin) left the show and came back.Too good of show to stay gone I guess.There were also great guests that were seen in the show such as the late great Carroll O'Connor of All in the Family, Wilson Cruz of My So Called Life and Boy Meets World guys Rider Strong and Ben Savage.Party of Five was a great drama series and it was also very educational.Watch Party of Five if you want to see a touching and a dramatic TV show about young people dealing with many kind of problems.

---

4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Family without a family., 23 March 2006

Author: shadowwarriorsamurai from United States

In TV shows as well as in real life, kids always turn to there mom and dad for guidance, protection, and love. Whenever we're in trouble we hope they will give us a solution to our problem. The mom and dad are always in kids eyes considered King and Queen of the Castle, knowing what's best for their people to prosper. But what happens when both the mom and dad are taken out of the equation? Can their children still function and be a family without them? That's the question that revolves around this show.

Basically it's about an ordinary family like anyone else's, the kids get tragic news that their parents got killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. This is a troubling time for the kids since it's now taking place at a most crucial time in their lives. They must make dramatic changes and face the toughest of circumstances in order to function and make their love for one another survive.

This show was rather unique because not just is it a family show without a family but all of the characters including a few minor characters all feel like real people. These people aren't any cheesy stereotypical all smiles family there literally ourselves. All of them have strengths and weaknesses, make good decisions or bad decisions, deal with dilemmas with mixed results, have relations with right or wrong significant others as well as change for better or worse.

Charlie (Matthew Fox) once an irresponsible young man now has to finally take responsibility whether he likes it or not. Baliey (Scott Wolf) and Julia (Neve Cambell) both are your typical teenagers that want to focus on what they want out of life and do teen stuff. But are forced to broaden it. Cladia (Lacey Chabert) strives to keep her childhood normal as much as she plays the violin. Yet, at times she feels slowly but surely childhood is slipping away when reality invades. Finally the baby brother Owen fades in the background but has to grow up without knowing his mom and dad. We emphasize with each of these characters from how unsafe they are dealing with their painful struggles and feelings of loss they feel. Your heart bleeds or you can't help at times to shed a tear whenever they visually and verbally display pain. From hearing them trying to talk about their parents (it almost looks like their just struggling to say mom or dad), looking at themselves in the mirror (as if trying to find a reflection of their own), doing things they normally wouldn't do and don't want to, and dealing with so many burdens they carry so young.

The shows second strength is in character and story development. Throughout each season each of the characters has a dramatic story arc which do affect the other characters or sometimes intersect with one another. In these experiences these characters slowly change and grow gradually. And the problems are not solved immediately, usually in many shows problems have an immediate answer and discarded as fast as anyone would buy and finish a soda from a vending machine. But like the mission in Appacalipse Now it's not the destination that matters, it's about the journey how you get their that counts. And that's what this show is really about it's a coming of age tale.

The arcs were memorable: Charlie who was going to be married to his girlfriend but suddenly run away from his own wedding because he's not ready to commit after all which result is a few bad repercussions. Julia having sex with boyfriend Justin and getting pregnant but then miscarriage; then enduring a year long marriage with new significant other Griffin which doesn't last. But the most memorable arc which ran a couple of seasons was Bailey and his alcholism. It's just painful and frighteningly honest just seeing how Baliey is self destroying his life and pushing and hurting the people he knows and loves in his life. Down to him slowing and painfully putting his life back together. In this we see a memorable love triangle develop with two minor characters involved. Sarah (Jennifer Love Hewitt) closest friend and ex girlfriend is smart, spunky, funny, young, and beautiful who actually became an iconic character in the show. And Annie Mott(Paige Turco), who is a single mom, broke, former alcholic, frustrated, but beautiful, mature, and understanding. You don't really pick sides because you like both women and depending on how things go you want Baliey to be with one of them. Predictably you might already know who gets who in the end but like I said it's the journey that matters.

But soon after season 4 fatigue in the party begin to set in. Season 5 was a pritty decent follow up but you couldn't help but sense fatigue in the writing in some places. And when Season 6 started fatigue finally took it's course. Once Sarah was unnecessarily out of the picture (in a spin off that didn't work) all the characters except Cladia seemed to feel lost in story direction. It felt like the writers were trying to push the reset button in dramatic arcs like getting Baliey into Alcholism again and a new love Holly (who was beautiful but is just no Sarah) which didn't work. We knew the party was over but the show didn't know it. Still it ended on a graceful and emotional note.

Party of Five is a family and journey you not just can see on TV, but also within yourselves.

Rating: 4 stars

---

---

Page 1 of 3:

[1] [2] [3]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Awards
External reviews	Plot keywords	Main details
Your user comments	Your vote history