'' was an
American Television Series that aired for the first time on
September 12 ,
1994 and ended on
May 3 ,
2000 after six seasons.
The show, a
Drama aimed at the teenage market and set in
San Francisco , centered on five siblings who grow up orphans after their parents were killed by a drunk driver in a road accident. Before becoming a hit, it dodged cancellation due to disappointing ratings for the early episodes.
The general guideline was to approach the hardships that an average citizen could face in Western society (in this case, the average U.S.
Middle-class ). The Salingers were not really average, however, since the show had them face arguably every single difficulty possible. Over the show's six-year run, the family had to deal with a variety of themes such as
Alcoholism ,
Domestic Violence ,
Date Rape ,
Gambling problems,
Cancer in the form of
Hodgkin's Disease , and
Post-traumatic Stress .
Several of the key cast members, including
Jennifer Love Hewitt and
Neve Campbell , went on to carve out careers in
Hollywood during and after the series.
Matthew Fox went on to star in the 2004
ABC primetime hit drama ''
Lost '', while Scott Wolf would go on to co-star in ''
Everwood '' on the
WB
The show was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, High Productions and Keyser/Lippman Productions and distributed by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television and the
Fox Network , which aired the show in the U.S. Reruns of the show are distributed by Sony Pictures Television.
The show was also followed by a ''
Spinoff '' titled ''
Time Of Your Life ''.
The first season, consisting of 22 episodes, was released in May
2004 on Region 1
DVD from
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. Season Two, again 22 episodes, was released on December 20, 2005.
- Paula Devicq played .
- Jeremy London played .
- Scott Grimes played .
- Jennifer Aspen played .
- The role of the youngest, , was recast no less than three times, as the character grew. He was played by Alexander and Zachary Ahnert as an infant, Andrew and Stephen Cavarno as a preschooler, and Jacob Smith until the end of the show.
- John J. O'Connor. "Trying to Make a House a Home." ''The New York Times . '' October 17 , 1994 . C16.
- Brenda Scott Royce. ''Party of Five: The Unofficial Companion''. Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 1998 .
