Product Details
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Shocked into a beyond-their-years awareness of the fragility of ordinary life and the importance of loyalty and loving bonds, the Salinger offspring--24-year-old Charlie (Matthew Fox), high schoolers Bailey (Scott Wolf) and Julia (Neve Campbell), 11-year-old Claudia (Lacey Chabert), and baby Owen (various infant actors)--bring a deeply felt, sometimes desperate gravitas to lesser but still significant misfortunes in relationships, peer pressures, and ambitions. On top of that, each has to take on responsibilities beyond their experience--hiring nannies, raising money for mortgage payments, etc.--and make sacrifices robbing them of formative experiences. Charlie, accustomed to adult freedom, has to rejigger his plans and move back home as a surrogate, and often resented, parent. (If he doesn't do this, his brothers and sisters could be separated and sent to foster homes.) Ultra-responsible Bailey, with little time for homework, buddies, or girls, loses perspective and gets hung up on an older, appealing nanny (Paula Devicq). Top student Julia's academic career fades as she seeks a second family among undeserving thrill-seekers. Claudia, a gifted musician, pawns her violin.
Despite all that drama, the essence of Party of Five is the Salingers' homing instinct, the way they survive internal and external conflict to find their way back to reassuring family rituals--among them weekly (free) dinners at the restaurant their late father owned. The 22 episodes on six discs in this boxed set typically test the Salingers' hopes, dreams, and mettle, and while stories can certainly be unsettling, a viewer is never left with serious worries that things won't turn out all right. Among the highlights are "Homework," in which Julia, having made plans to attend a party rather than salvage her failing grade in English lit, stays home instead to save Bailey's bacon by writing his difficult term paper. The powerful "Thanksgiving" concerns a face-to-face meeting between the Salingers and the drunk driver (John Rubinstein) who killed their parents. Most memorable is a suite of episodes featuring Megan Ward as Bailey's girlfriend, Jill, a possible drug addict whose fate rocks the startling season finale, "The Ides of March." --Tom Keogh
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Party of Five drama on DVD Finally!!! Well-deserved!,
By
This review is from: Party of Five : Season 1 (DVD)
Party of Five was my favorite TV show and one the best dramas on Fox Television network during 6 seasons 1994 - 2000 on Wednesday nights 9 pm time slot is finally coming to DVD with Season 1. It is about time and finally deserved a good DVD set with commentaries and special features menus, specials, etc.I hope all seasons are released too. During January 1996, Party of Five won Best Drama Series at the Golden Globes beating formidable competition series ER, NYPD Blue, and Chicago Hope to renew for its third season. This info is from 1997 book, Party of Five: Unofficial Companion by Brenda Scott Royce at the time. I recommended it if you can find it in a bookstore. It only covers the first three seasons. I remember it well and it was well deserved family drama series with reality issues too. The Salingers deal with life and struggle without their parents. Each season gets stronger with more issues with the family and more development of the characters. I hope they come out with all the DVDs for each season within a reasonable time frame The Salingers are Bailey (Scott Wolf,), Charlie (Matthew Fox), Julia (Neve Campbell), Claudia (Lacey Chabert), Kirsten Bennett (Paula Devicq), Will McCorkle (Scott Grimes), and Owen (Brandon and Taylor Porter). Jennifer Love Hewitt joins the cast in the Second Season as Bailey's girlfriend Sarah Reeves. She is one of my favorite characters along with the Salingers. First Season 22 Episodes are the following: If you like family drama with good characters and learning experiences, you will like Party of Five. My additional favorites series are Beverly Hills 90210 and I hope they release a DVD set for that series too.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
This review is from: Party of Five : Season 1 (DVD)
I've watched Party of Five since it started it's first episode in 1994 & watched it until it's end in 2000 & I LOVE this show!!!!! I've been waiting since the last episode aired in 2000 for a set to be released..I've wrote to various sources asking & never got a straight answer, well I'm finally happy that they decided to release the first season, but EVERYONE HAS TO VOTE FOR THIS....THEY HAVE TO RELEASE THE REMAINDER of the seasons!!!!!!!!! This was one of the best shows ever aired & it would be the greatest thing in the world if they released all of the seasons so the fans have an opportunity to own them & watch them over & over!! BUY THIS DVD!!!!!!!!!!!
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent DVD release,
By A Customer
This review is from: Party of Five : Season 1 (DVD)
This is something that the true Party of Five fan will definitely want. The episodes look great and have an outstanding quality about them, and the extras are much better than what you usually see on DVD's. They have some nice commentaries, recent interviews and former television specials with the cast, and with all of it you can really see how worried they all were at Season 1's end, wondering if the show was going to be picked up for a second year. I never realized that they were that much at risk of being cancelled; with episodes like this, you would never believe it. The actors are perfect for their roles, the plots hit hard, and they just keep pounding away at the emotions. You aren't getting a little show with some drama; this is some heavy, high-impact intensity that does not start with the Salinger kids' parents' death and gradually get better. With their issues surrounding friends, school, relationships and peer pressure, it seems like the drama will never end, and this was when they were just getting started with the first season. With Julia's pregnancy and Bailey's constantly dramatic love life in season two, it only steps up higher and higher. So, all in all, the emotions presented are definitely serious, but this is one show you'll want to invest your heart into. There's almost no way you can't feel for these young orphaned kids who are just trying to stay together and make things work as they fight to rebuild their lives and everything around them. The underlying message of trust, faith and loyalty to family is one that society couldn't be more needy of at times like this, so I'd say THANK YOU to Party of Five for touching so many lives with this phenomenal gem of a TV series with real people and circumstances that will stand the test of time for years to come.
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